Hounded by photographers for years, Bardot identified with the animals she later set out to save

Bardot earned the title of one of the greatest sex symbols of the 20th century after her teenage breakthrough role dancing naked on tables in “And God Created Woman,” directed by the first of her four husbands, Roger Vadim. She traveled to the Arctic to blow the whistle on the slaughter of baby seals; she condemned the use of animals in laboratory experiments; and she vigorously opposed Muslim sheep-slaughtering rituals. Among her films were “A Parisian” (1957); “In Case of Misfortune,” in which she starred in 1958 with Jean Gabin, France’s Clark Gable; “The Truth” (1960); “Private Life” (1961); “A Ravishing Idiot” (1963); “A Happy Heart” (1967); “Shalako” (1968); “Women” (1969); “The Bear And The Doll” (1970); “Rum Boulevard” (1971); and “Don Juan” (1973).