Legendary French actress’ husband revealed she died of cancer; D’Ormale did not specify the type
The legendary French actress underwent two surgeries to treat a before dying last month, she revealed her husband to the French press on the eve of his funeral, this Wednesday(7), in Saint-Tropez. Cinema icon and animal rights defender, Bardot “endured very well the two surgeries she had to treat the cancer that took her life,” said her husband, Bernard d’Ormale, in an interview published Tuesday night on the Paris Match website.
D’Ormale did not specify the type of cancer the actress, who died on December 28 at age 91, had. Bardot was hospitalized twice in the European autumn, although the reasons for her hospitalization were not disclosed at the time. She had suffered from breast cancer in the 1980s. “She always wanted to return to La Madrague,” her famous residence in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera, where she died, her husband added.
“And there, the situation was more complicated, mainly because of persistent back pain that didn’t go away, causing him suffering and exhaustion. It was uncomfortable, even when he was in bed.” “However, she remained conscious and concerned about the fate of the animals until the end,” he added.
In this interview with Paris Match, D’Ormale also explained the reasons for Bardot’s burial in the Saint-Tropez seaside cemetery, despite her having expressed several times her desire to be buried in La Madrague. “A few years ago, she realized that the city council wouldn’t be able to manage this… Imagine the crowds of tourists crowding the narrow coastal trail,” he said.
Bardot then resigned herself to abandoning the preparations and accepted the idea of being buried next to her parents in the resort town’s seaside cemetery. The funeral, scheduled for this Wednesday in Saint-Tropez, will be held “in a simple way”, said Bruno Jacquelin, spokesman for the foundation created by the actress to protect animals.
*With information from AFP
