Crowds pay tribute as late French cinema star Brigitte Bardot is buried in Saint-Tropez

By Marco Trujillo and Lucien Libert

SAINT-TROPEZ, France, Jan 7 (Reuters) - People lined the streets of Saint-Tropez on Wednesday, applauding as the coffin of French cinema icon Brigitte Bardot, who died last month aged 91, was driven through the Riviera resort after her funeral.

Bardot shot to international fame in her early 20s in the film "And God Created Woman", her tousled hair and fierce energy radiating a sexual magnetism which captivated 1950s France.

Known affectionately as B.B. by many in France, Bardot's roles made her not just a sex symbol, but a pop culture icon and a touchstone for changing social attitudes. She became the first celebrity to model for a bust of Marianne, the traditional symbol of the French Republic that adorns French town halls.

"For me, Brigitte Bardot is France," said singer Mireille Mathieu, 79, who sang at the funeral. "She was the most beautiful woman in the world," Mathieu told reporters, praising "that freedom she (Bardot) had, that boldness to say what she thought."

At the funeral, in the town's Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption church, a black-and-white picture of Bardot hugging a baby seal was on display, with the words "Merci Brigitte" (Thank you Brigitte), near her coffin, covered in mostly orange and yellow flowers. Outside, one man held a placard that read: "The animals thank Brigitte Bardot".

"It was really magnificent," Bardot fan Fanny Wisselmann said of the ceremony. "I found that it reflected Brigitte Bardot, it was simple, it was very respectful," she said. Displaying a tattoo of Bardot on her leg, Wisselmann, who lives in Frejus, about an hour's drive away, said she is such a fan it was unthinkable she wouldn't be there to pay tribute.

ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST, FAR-RIGHT SYMPATHIES

Bardot made the last of her 42 films in 1973. Disenchanted with the industry, she declared the world of cinema "rotten".

She became a tireless crusader for animal rights while her political sympathies shifted to the far-right National Front. Incendiary remarks on immigration, Islam and homosexuality saw her convicted multiple times for inciting racial hatred.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen was among those attending Wednesday's funeral. Bardot had publicly endorsed the National Front's successive leaders, Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter Marine, whom she once referred to as "the Joan of Arc of the 21st century".

Aurore Berge, Macron's minister for equality and a defender of animal rights, was there to represent the government. Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson was also among the guests at the funeral.

PRIVATE BURIAL

After the funeral, Bardot was buried in strict privacy in a cemetery in the glitzy town where she lived for much of her later life behind high walls, surrounded by a menagerie of cats, dogs and horses.

A tribute open to locals and fans will take place later in the day at the Pre des Pecheurs area in the old town quarter called La Ponche, the historic centre of the former fishing village.

Bardot told Le Monde in 2018 that she wished to be buried in a quiet corner of her garden. But the Var Prefecture said it never received any request for a private burial, which would have been needed to bury her in her garden.

(Writing by Ingrid Melander and Richard Lough; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Philippa Fletcher)