Brigitte Bardot’s funeral will be held Jan. 7 in Saint-Tropez
Brigitte Bardot: Photographs and flowers adorn the Saint-Tropez home of actress Brigitte Bardot, who died on Sunday. (Frederic Dides/ AFP via Getty Images)
By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
The funeral for French actress Brigitte Bardot will be held next week in the city she helped make famous, her foundation announced.
Bardot, whose sex appeal resonated in films such as “... And God Created Woman” before she abandoned her movie career to become a vigorous animal rights activist, died Sunday. She was 91.
The funeral ceremony is set for Jan. 7 in the French Riviera resort of Saint-Tropez, where she lived for more than 50 years.
The funeral in the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption church will be broadcast on screens across the town, followed by a “private” burial, according to Fondation Brigitte Bardot, the organization she established in 1986 for the protection of animals.
Bardot’s burial will then take place “in the strictest privacy” at a cemetery overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, town officials said in a statement. The ceremony will be followed by a public gathering at a nearby site for fans to pay tribute.
“Brigitte Bardot will forever be associated with Saint-Tropez, of which she was the most dazzling ambassador,” the statement said. “Through her presence, personality and aura, she marked the history of our town.”
Bardot told Le Monde in 2018 she wished to be buried in her garden, to avoid a “crowd of idiots” trampling on the tombs of her parents and grandparents.
Brigitte Bardot: The actress in a publicity shot during the 1950s. (United Archives/FilmPublicityArchive/United Arch)
Brigitte Bardot: The actress strikes a pose during a 1952 photo session. (Alex QUINIO/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: The French actress during a 1950s photo shoot. (Reporters Associati & Archivi/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Im)
Brigitte Bardot: The actress from a scene in the 1956 film, "The Bride is Much Too Beautiful." (Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: The actress featured on a movie poster for her signature movie, "... And God Created Woman" in 1956. (LMPC/LMPC via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: The French actress and friend on the set of "Naughty Girl" in 1956. (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: A bathtub scene from the 1957 film, "La Parisienne." (Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot?: The French actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 1957. (GAROFALO Jack/Paris Match via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: Brigitte Bardot on the set of "Le Mepris" ("Contempt") in 1963. (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: The actress during a 1965 news conference publicizing the film "Viva Maria." (-/AFP via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: The actress takes aim during the 1968 film, "Shalako." (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Con)
Brigitte Bardot: The actress and fellow French actor Guy Marchand on the set of "Rum Runners" in 1971. (Michel Ginfray/Sygma via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: The actress rides a horse during the 1971 film "The Legend of Frenchie King." (Gianni Ferrari)
Brigitte Bardot: The actress and her husband, French film director Roger Vadim, in 1972. (AFP/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Ima)
Brigitte Bardot: On the set of the 1973 film, "If Don Juan Were a Woman." (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: Brigitte Bardot became an animal rights activist during the 1970s. (JARNOUX Patrick/Paris Match via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: The French actress published a children's book in 1978. (GAROFALO Jack/Paris Match via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: The French actress in 1979. (Hulton Deutsch/Corbis via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: Pope John Paul II met the French actress Brigitte Bardot at his private library in the Apostolic Palace on Sept. 27, 1995. (Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: The animal rights activist visited her dog refuge in Paris on Oct. 7, 2001. (Charly Hel/Prestige/Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: The actress stepped out for her 70th birthday in 2004. (WANDYCZ Kasia/Paris Match via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: Brigitte Bardot celebrates the 20th anniversary of her foundation in Paris on Sept. 28, 2006. (Thomas SAMSON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: A picture taken on Sept. 24, 2009, at the MA30 Espace Landowski museum in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, shows magazine coverage of Brigitte Bardot through the years. (FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP via Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: Employees pose next to a painting by Andy Warhol entitled "Brigitte Bardot' during a press preview at Sotheby's on Oct. 10, 2014, in London. (Carl Court/Getty Images)
Brigitte Bardot: A statue of Bardot graces the Riviera resort of St Tropez on Oct. 4, 2017. It was based on a watercolor illustration by Italian illustrator Milo Manara. (AFP Contributor/AFP via Getty Images)