Who are the men in Brigitte Bardot’s life?
A true sex symbol in the 1960s, Brigitte Bardot was the fantasy of many men and, in turn, experienced fleeting liaisons, idylls and great love stories. A look back at the men who shaped the life of the icon of French cinema…
Roger Vadim – He was Brigitte Bardot’s first love. Roger Vadim spotted her when she was on the cover of ELLE magazine. She is still a shy young dancer. At the time, Roger Vadim was assistant to director Marc Allégret and a journalist for the magazine Paris match. He asks Marc Allégret, the French director and photographer, to audition for Brigitte Bardot. Love at first sight is mutual. She is only 16 years old. He was 22 years old. They were married on December 19, 1952 at the town hall in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, after she had come of age, which was a condition of her father’s for the marriage to take place. The exchange of vows takes place two days later at the Notre-Dame de Grâce church in Passy. In 1956, Roger Vadim played Brigitte Bardot in the cult film And God created woman. But their marriage will not last… They separate on December 6, 1957, even though they continue to make other films together (The rest of the warrior 1962, Don Juan 73, 1973…).
Jean Louis Trintignant – It’s right on the set of And God created woman, three years after her marriage to Roger Vadim, Brigitte Bardot met Jean-Louis Trintignant, then 25 years old. And yet nothing preordained the birth of a passionate affair between BB and the actor… While Roger Vadim had organized a meeting between the two for the filming of the film, she had explained: ” It’s cake! I can never pretend I’m in love with this guy ! “. For his part, the actor had thought that ” She was a little slut “. She eventually falls in love with her partner on screen, under the eyes of her husband and director of a film that will end on high tension. In her memoirs, Brigitte Bardot recalls: ” By being natural in my love scenes with Jean-Louis, I end up loving him naturally. I felt a consuming passion for him. “It will destroy his marriage to Roger Vadim. Back in Paris, she left the shared apartment to move in with the man she called “Jean-Lou”, who left his wife Stéphane Audran to live with Brigitte Bardot. Their relationship will only last a year. He leaves her when he finds out that she is having an affair with Gilbert Bécaud.
Gilbert Becaud – Brigitte Bardot cheats on Jean-Louis Trintignant with Gilbert Bécaud. Time for a sentimental adventure… Brigitte wrote in her memoirs: ” Gilbert was a charmer, he wooed me a bit just for fun! (…) I was fascinated, enchanted, a little enchanted, out of time. I had fallen in love, an unpredictable clap of thunder that ripped at my guts (…). »
Sacha Distel – In the summer of 1958, Brigitte Bardot fell in love with the young singer and pop singer Sacha Distel. Their affair will be short-lived. They published together you are the sun of my life “. It is Brigitte Bardot who will put an end to their relationships.
Jacques Charier – A year later Brigitte Bardot fell in love while filming “ Babette goes to war “. The two actors will know a beautiful love story and on June 18, 1959 they decide to get married in the town hall of Louveciennes, in the Yvelines. From their union, their first child and only son by BB, Nicolas-Jacques, is born in 1960: a media event! On January 30, 1963, the divorce was declared. Jacques Charrier then asks for custody of their son.
Sami Frey It’s in the arms of Sami Frey, who he’s on the set of ” The truth by Henri-Georges Clouzot that Brigitte Bardot finally forgot Jacques Charrier. The two young stars will begin an affair that will last two years. About this connection she will say: I can’t be friends with the men I loved so much. I think Jean-Louis and Sami were the greatest loves of my life, the most important, the deepest, the most irreplaceable. Maintaining friendship after knowing passion would be a charity not befitting me. i am too complete Better nothing at all ».
Gunter Sachs – L’Idylle goes back to the summer of 1966. Brigitte Bardot met the German photographer and billionaire Gunter Sachs. Brigitte Bardot is already an icon and Gunter is under a spell. The latter realizes her dream by dropping ten thousand roses by helicopter in the garden of his estate in Saint-Tropez. It was love at first sight and a few weeks later the couple flew to Las Vegas and were married on July 15, 1966. They divorced on October 1, 1969. Many years later, in 2011, the name will forever be linked to BB, who took his own life at the age of 78 in his chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, to escape the decline of Alzheimer’s disease.
Serge Gainsbourg – Brigitte Bardot and Serge Gainsbourg first crossed paths in 1959 while filming “ would you dance with me ‘, but it wasn’t until 1967 that Brigitte Bardot began a relationship with him. She is still married to Gunter Sachs. Serge Gainsbourg offers to write songs for him. Several achievements will come from their union, such as ” Harley-Davidson », « Bonnie & Clyde “, but also ” I love you, neither do I “. This last song is not being marketed at this point because Gunter Sachs has no intention of letting it go… However, BB’s relationship with Serge Gainsbourg will be very short: three months, then she leaves him.
Bernard d’Ormale – In June 1992, at the age of 58, Brigitte Bardot met industrialist and political adviser Bernard d’Ormale during a dinner organized by Jany Le Pen, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s second wife, and Jean-Louis Bouguereau, the lawyer the actress. Two months after this meeting, she married him: their wedding was celebrated on August 16, 1992 in Norway. Brigitte Bardot has shared her life for more than thirty years. At 88, she still lives by his side in his mythical mansion Catch, in Saint Tropez. This ultimate relationship had the merit of placating Brigitte Bardot. She had written it in her memoirs: “Love at first sight together. He will be my husband for the rest of my life.”.
