The French fashion model and actress was one of the best-known sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s. Bardot was an aspiring ballerina in early life. She started her acting career in 1952 and after appearing in 16 routine comedy films, with a limited international release, became world-famous in 1957, with the controversial film And God Created Woman. Bardot caught the attention of French intellectuals. She was the subject of Simone de Beauvoir's 1959 essay, The Lolita Syndrome, which described Bardot as a 'locomotive of women's history' and built upon existentialist themes to declare her the first and most liberated woman of post-war France. During her career in show business, she starred in 47 films, performed in several musical shows, and recorded over 60 songs. She is widely regarded as one of the hottest women to grace the silver screens on both sides of the Atlantic.