Late in life, Brigitte Bardot made a vow that reframed decades of silence, offering a revealing glimpse into a private family struggle.

The death of Brigitte Bardot at 91 has again put her legendary film career and activist exploits in the spotlight, and of course her personal life.

Brigitte Bardot, the model and actor who gained fame as an onscreen sex symbol and later committed her life to animal activism, died Sunday, December 28, at age 91 in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. Bardot’s animal protection organization, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, confirmed her death.

The French actress, who became a controversial figure in her later years, had several high-profile relationships, including four marriages: she was wed to director Roger Vadim from 1952 to 1957, to actor Jacques Charrier from 1959 to 1962, to German millionaire Gunther Sachs from 1966 to 1969, and to businessman Bernard d’Ormale in 1992.