Brigitte Bardot, the French actress who rose to international fame in the 1950s and 1960s and became an advocate for animal welfare, has died at the age of 91, her foundation announced on Sunday. 

Bardot burst onto the scene with her breakout role in And God Created Woman in 1956. The film made her an international sex symbol and helped redefine on-screen portrayals of women during a time of social transformation, according to the Associated Press.

Over the course of her acting career, she appeared in dozens of films that contributed to making her one of France’s most recognizable cultural exports. 

After retiring from acting in the early 1970s at the age of 39, Bardot dedicated her time to animal protection. In 1986, she established the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for Animal Protection, campaigning against what she saw as cruelty towards animals, involving commercial seal hunts and intense farming practices.