After the inevitable divorce, Nicolas did not see his mother for decades.
He sued Bardot for emotional damage when she published an autobiography in which she stated that she would have preferred to “give birth to a little dog”.
Brigitte was now the highest paid actress in France, with some suggesting that she was more valuable in terms of foreign trade than the country’s car industry.
But she wanted to be taken seriously as an actress. “I have not had very much chance to act,” she complained, “mostly I have had to undress.”
She began to attract the attention of Europe’s most respected film-makers, winning critical acclaim in Jean-Luc Godard’s powerful, New Wave drama, Le Mépris (Contempt).
But the overall quality of her output was mixed, especially when she ventured outside France and into Hollywood.
A third marriage, to a millionaire German playboy, was followed by a string of lovers – although, uncharacteristically, she did reject Sean Connery.
