French actor and singer Brigitte Bardot, a screen siren of the 1950s and 1960s who in later life became a prominent animal rights campaigner, has died at the age of 91.
Bardot had rarely been seen in public in recent months but was hospitalised in October and in November released a statement denying rumours that she had died.
The foundation did not say when or where she died.
"The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announces with immense sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation," it said in a statement sent to AFP, without specifying the time or place of death.
Bardot became a global star after appearing in And God created Woman in 1956, and went on to appear in about 50 more movies before giving up acting.
She retired from film to settle permanently near the Riviera resort of Saint-Tropez where she devoted herself to fighting for animals.
Her calling apparently came when she encountered a goat on the set of her final film, The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot.
To save it from being killed, she bought the animal and kept it in her hotel room.
In 2015 Bardot condemned then-environment minister Greg Hunt's plan to cull 2 million feral cats to stop them harming native animals in Australia.
Bardot argued in an open letter to Mr Hunt that the money set aside to destroy the animals would be better spent on setting up a large-scale sterilisation campaign.
