French cinema legend Brigitte Bardot has reportedly been hospitalised in Toulon, southern France, for what local media have described as a “serious illness.”
According to the French newspaper Var-Matin, the 91-year-old actress and animal rights activist has been receiving treatment for the past three weeks and recently underwent surgery related to her condition. Sources cited by the outlet said Bardot’s health remains “worrying,” though doctors are reportedly optimistic that she may be discharged in the coming days.
Bardot, who lives in nearby Saint-Tropez, has spent much of her later life away from the spotlight, dedicating herself to animal welfare causes through her Brigitte Bardot Foundation. Representatives of the foundation have not commented publicly on her health.
The screen icon, famed for her performances in classic films such as And God Created Woman (1956) and Contempt (1963), was one of the defining figures of 1950s and 1960s European cinema and became a global symbol of French beauty and sensuality.
Bardot, who retired from acting in the 1970s, has faced occasional health challenges in recent years. In 2023, she suffered breathing difficulties at her home in Saint-Tropez, though paramedics later determined she did not require hospitalisation at that time, her husband Bernard d’Ormale told Var-Matin.
Now 91, Bardot continues to live quietly on the French Riviera with her husband, far from the glamour that once made her an international star.
