Brigitte Bardot Hospitalized After Emergency Surgery

French actress Brigitte Bardot, 91, has been recovering for nearly three weeks at a private hospital in Toulon, France, following surgery, according to the French newspaper Var-Matin on Oct. 17.

The outlet reported that Bardot underwent the procedure after battling a “serious illness,” and that her condition remains “worrying.”

Still, she is expected to be released soon and return to her home in St. Tropez to continue her recovery.

Brigitte Bardot’s latest hospital stay comes two years after emergency services were called to her home in 2023 when she began having trouble breathing, according to French media reports per E!News.

“At around 9 a.m., Brigitte had difficulty breathing,” her husband Bernard d’Ormale told Var-Matin at the time. “It was worse than usual, but she didn’t lose consciousness. The firefighters came, gave her oxygen, and stayed to keep an eye on her.”

The incident happened during a heatwave in July 2023, and d’Ormale suggested the weather played a role, saying that, like many older people, Bardot “can no longer tolerate the heat.”

Brigitte Bardot is a French actress, model, and singer who became one of the most iconic sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s. Born on September 28, 1934, in Paris, she rose to fame with films like And God Created Woman (1956), which made her an international sensation and helped establish her as a symbol of liberated femininity.

Over her two-decade acting career, Bardot appeared in more than 40 films, including Contempt (1963) and Viva Maria! (1965). Known for her beauty and bold personality, she became a global cultural icon, inspiring fashion trends and artists alike.

Bardot retired from acting in 1973 at age 39 to focus on animal rights activism, founding the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986 to protect animals worldwide.

She has been married four times and has one son, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, from her marriage to actor Jacques Charrier. Today, Bardot lives a quiet life in St. Tropez, France.