French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot to get statue in Saint Tropez
French screen goddess Brigitte Bardot
will be be honoured Thursday in the Riviera resort of St Tropez, where a
2.5-metre (eight-foot) statue of the actress will be unveiled on her 83rd
birthday.
Although Bardot was not born in the luxury seaside resort, she made her name by starring in the 1956 hit And God Created Woman, which was filmed in the town.
She moved there in 1958 and has lived in villas surrounding the town ever since.
The 2.5m tall statue will sit opposite the local cinema museum, Le Musée de la Gendarmerie et du Cinéma which was opened in 2016.
“The town wanted to pay tribute to her. The link is very strong,” Claude Maniscalco, manager of Saint Tropez's tourist office, told AFP Marseille.
“When you say Saint Tropez, people reply ‘Brigitte Bardot’,” he added.
The auctioneer Alexandre Millon has offered to loan the 700kg bronze statue, based on an Italian illustrator's drawings of a young Bardot, to the town.
“She is a timeless star,” said Mr Maniscalco.
“She changed how women were seen and undeniably contributed to their liberation,” he explained.
Bardot has not made any on-screen appearances for 40 years and has become somewhat of a recluse.
She will not attend the inauguration ceremony herself but her husband Bernard d’Ormale will be at the event instead on Thursday at place Blanqui.
Nevertheless, the film star handwrote a note to the Saint Tropez’s residents.
“With tears in my eyes, I’m writing to you all to say a big thank from me for giving me this immense honour of a magnificent statue that immortalizes the woman the God created in Saint Tropez!!”, she said.
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Although Bardot was not born in the luxury seaside resort, she made her name by starring in the 1956 hit And God Created Woman, which was filmed in the town.
She moved there in 1958 and has lived in villas surrounding the town ever since.
The 2.5m tall statue will sit opposite the local cinema museum, Le Musée de la Gendarmerie et du Cinéma which was opened in 2016.
“The town wanted to pay tribute to her. The link is very strong,” Claude Maniscalco, manager of Saint Tropez's tourist office, told AFP Marseille.
“When you say Saint Tropez, people reply ‘Brigitte Bardot’,” he added.
The auctioneer Alexandre Millon has offered to loan the 700kg bronze statue, based on an Italian illustrator's drawings of a young Bardot, to the town.
“She is a timeless star,” said Mr Maniscalco.
“She changed how women were seen and undeniably contributed to their liberation,” he explained.
Bardot has not made any on-screen appearances for 40 years and has become somewhat of a recluse.
She will not attend the inauguration ceremony herself but her husband Bernard d’Ormale will be at the event instead on Thursday at place Blanqui.
Nevertheless, the film star handwrote a note to the Saint Tropez’s residents.
“With tears in my eyes, I’m writing to you all to say a big thank from me for giving me this immense honour of a magnificent statue that immortalizes the woman the God created in Saint Tropez!!”, she said.
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