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Saluting the sexiest woman of all

It is said that a particular Brigitte Bardot postcard, with her in a white corset, outsold those picturing the Eiffel Tower.

There's never been a sex symbol quite like Brigitte. Today, as she turns 75, here's a look at her life and times.

Saluting the sexiest woman of all

Brigitte Bardot wanted to be a ballet dancer. Accepted to one of Paris' finest Conservatories, she learnt ballet for three years from top Russian choreographer Boris Knyazev, alongside danseuse and actress Leslie Caron.

When she was 15, one of her mother's friends pulled Brigitte into a fashion show, and it was a short step from there to the cover of Elle magazine when she was just 16.

Saluting the sexiest woman of all

The Elle magazine cover got a lot of attention, and caught the eye of young filmmaker Roger Vadim. He bestowed the young girl with attention and married her in 1952, the year she turned 18, right after Bardot made her debut in Le Trou Normand.

Within the next four years, she had already appeared in 17 films.

Saluting the sexiest woman of all

Her first major splash happened in April 1953, when she attented the Cannes Film Festival.

A local girl, she was barely 19 when she attended the world's premiere film festival and her luscious body in a bikini entranced cameramen and journalists alike. An icon was indeed born, but none could quite predict how far Brigitte would soar.

Saluting the sexiest woman of all

Bardot became highly popular doing comic films but her husband didn't think this was enough. He directed And God Created Woman, a sexually explicit art-house success which made Bardot a global sensation.

Bardot divorced Roger Vadim the year after and married actor Jacques Charrier, and while this kicked up quite a controversy, Bardot was too big a star now for it to detract from her spotlight.

Saluting the sexiest woman of all

Over her long career, Bardot worked with directors as varied as Vadim, Louis Malle and Jean Luc Godard. Her co-stars made for a stellar list, including Alain Delon, Sean Connery, Claudia Cardinale and Jane Birkin.

As a style icon, she has been immense over the years, popularising the bikini, a hairstyle and a style of shoulder-exposing neckline, now simply called the Bardot neck. Rockstars through the ages -- from The Beatles to Bob Dylan to the Red Hot Chili Peppers -- have been influenced by her.

Brigitte Bardot, we salute you. Happy Birthday.