Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot became an international sensation with Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman (1956) and spent the next decade as the most famous French film star in the world — a commercial phenomenon as much as an actress. Her image, more than any single performance, defined a certain idea of French glamour for a global audience.

Her most lasting role came when Jean-Luc Godard cast her as Camille in Contempt (1963), an art film built around, and partly against, her stardom; the producers had financed it for her fame, and Godard answered them with a cool, ironic portrait. She retired from acting in 1973 to campaign for animal welfare.