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Former bombshell tells men's magazine before 78th birthday of 'nightmare' of stardom and that she now considers herself ugly

Brigitte Bardot, who shot to world fame in 1956 after writhing on a beach in a gingham bikini in the cult film And God Created Woman, has described how stardom crushed her.

The French former actor, who retired in 1973 saying she was "fed up" with fame and wanted to devote her life to the plight of animals, told a men's magazine she was "literally crushed by celebrity … nobody can imagine at what point it was appalling. A nightmare. I couldn't live like that," she said.

"Bb", who will celebrate her 78th birthday at the end of September, added that she now considered herself "ugly".

"I try to make myself as pretty as possible and even then I think I'm ugly. I find it madly difficult to go out, to show myself," Bardot told Vogue Hommes International.

Sotheby's to auction off trove of art treasures and memorabilia owned by the renowned playboy. Mark Brown, meets his son Rolf

Picture the scene. A ruggedly handsome, impeccably dressed man is enjoying a snack with his superstar wife, Brigitte Bardot, in St Tropez's Gorilla bar in the late spring of 1967. A pale, odd-looking white-haired man with a large entourage notices him and marches straight over, complaining that the Cannes film festival, of all places, has refused to screen his film because of its nudity. The man agrees to see the film, Chelsea Girls, and everyone bundles into speedboats and heads for the Carlton Hotel on La Croisette.

That chance meeting between the millionaire playboy Gunter Sachs and artist Andy Warhol had a profound effect on both men. For Sachs, a serious collector, it led to a sea change in his art buying; for Warhol it marked a vital first foothold in Europe.

An Andy Warhol portrait of Brigitte Bardot is expected to fetch as much as $6.4 million (£4 million) when her late ex-husband's art collection goes under the hammer.

The silkscreen print was commissioned by Gunter Sachs in 1974 - five years after he divorced the French beauty - and is expected to be the star lot in an upcoming auction of the German playboy's paintings.

Nearly 300 works will hit the auction block, including photos taken by Sachs and paintings by Roy Lichtenstein, Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte.

Experts predict the collection, which is being sold by Sachs' widow Mirja Larsson, will pull in more than $32 million (£20 million) in total.

Sotheby's director Cheyenne Westphal says, "This remarkable collection... truly captures the essence of Gunter Sachs' life in the 1960s and 1970s and reveals his little-known side as one of the most visionary and influential collectors of the 20th century. (It is) among the most desirable single owner collections ever to come to market."

The sale, to be held in London on 22 and 23 May, comes a year after Sachs shot himself dead, leaving behind a suicide note stating he didn't want to live with "hopeless illness A" - widely believed to be Alzheimer's disease.

Among 300 works are pieces by Magritte, Dali, Lichtenstein and Warhol screenprint of Sachs' second wife, Brigitte Bardot

Nearly 300 art works belonging to one of the most fun-loving of playboys, the late Gunter Sachs, are to be auctioned in London with a collective asking price of more than £20m.

Sachs was known for his glamorous jet-setting lifestyle but Sotheby's director Cheyenne Westphal, the auction house's chair of contemporary art in Europe, said the works also reveal his "little-known side as one of the most visionary and influential collectors of the 20th century".

It was, she said, "among the most desirable single-owner collections ever to come to market".

The collection includes pop art by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein; surrealist pieces by René Magritte, Salvador Dalí and Max Ernst; works by Arman and Yves Klein; and furniture by some of the world's most revered cabinet-makers and designers including Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Louis Majorelle.

Billionaire, Opel heir, philanthropist, documentary filmmaker and renowned art collector Gunter Sachs shot himself in the head last month in his home in the exclusive Swiss Alpine restort Gstaad. He was the third husband of Brigitte Bardot, whom he married July 14, 1966, in an eight minute ceremony in Las Vegas.  The day after they met, he flew his helicopter over her villa in St. Tropez and dropped a hundred red roses.   "It was love at first sight," he said. "I met her in a restaurant and when we spoke, it was as though lightning had...

French movie icon Brigitte Bardot has been left "literally destroyed" by the tragic suicide of her billionaire ex-husband Gunter Sachs, insisting she "cannot understand" why he would end his own life.

The 78-year-old German filmmaker and photographer was found dead at his chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland last weekend. Reports suggest Sachs, who had been battling a mystery illness, shot himself.

Bardot, who wed Sachs in 1966 after a whirlwind three-week romance, admits his passing has come as a big shock.

She tells Germany's Bunte magazine the news "literally destroyed" her, adding, "I cannot understand what he did. Nobody expected it."

But the actress-turned-animal rights activist, who remained close to Sachs following their 1969 divorce, will always look back on their time together with fondness.

She says, "That was a wonderful period of my life. After we split up he never stopped proving how generous and friendly he was.

"I think Gunter had a special tenderness for me because I never asked him for anything. When we were together I paid my way."

Sachs, a playboy during his youth, famously wooed Bardot after commissioning a helicopter to fly over her home in Saint-Tropez and shower it with hundreds of red roses.

By Bertrand Laforet/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.Last weekend, European society lost one of its most noteworthy veterans. The legendary German playboy and accomplished photographer Gunter Sachs committed suicide on Saturday at his chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland. Reports say Sachs, 78, took his own life to escape the symptoms of an incurable degenerative disease, believed by many to be Alzheimer’s.

Industrialist, playboy and former husband of Brigitte Bardot

The term "playboy" was more than a century old before Gunter Sachs, who has taken his own life aged 78, ordered the first magnum of champagne to be sent up to his suite, yet he defined the job description during its era of optimum use, the 1960s. He later took seriously his roles as a photographer, documentary film-maker and industrialist, but fellow Germans thought of him as the crown prince of pleasure, living it up internationally on their behalf while they were at work on the production line, bolting together the postwar German miracle. He led those who made St Tropez fashionable and for three years (1966-69) was married to the queen regnant of the Côte d'Azur, Brigitte Bardot.

The money for Sachs's toys (yacht, planes, handbuilt cars, go-karts and sports gear, cameras and a navy's worth of chronometers) came from his maternal great-grandfather,...

Brigitte Bardot is mourning the death of her billionaire ex-husband Gunter Sachs after he committed suicide at his home in Switzerland at the age of 78.

The German filmmaker and photographer took his own life on Saturday at his chalet in Gstaad, his son Rolf has confirmed. Reports suggest he shot himself.

Sachs, the grandson of automobile mogul Wilhelm von Opel, was a trained mathematician and economist but found fame in the 1960s after turning his attention to making documentaries.

A famed playboy during his youth, Sachs fell in love with French actress Bardot after meeting her in 1966 and famously commissioned a helicopter to fly over her home in Saint-Tropez and shower it with hundreds of red roses.

They wed weeks later in Las Vegas; the marriage ended in divorce in 1969.

Bardot, who has since dedicated her life to fighting for animal rights, remained close to her third husband after their break-up and was informed of Sachs' death this weekend (07-08May11).

A representative for Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals tells the Afp, "We called Gunter Sachs' private secretary who confirmed the suicide to us, but we have no details on the circumstances."

A source adds, "(Bardot) has been informed and is devastated. She had kept close ties with Gunter Sachs, who was a guest when we celebrated 20 years of the foundation."

Bardot was Sachs' second wife. He went on to wed Mirja Larsson within months of his split from the French icon.

The German filmmaker and photographer Gunter Sachs took his own life on Saturday at his chalet in Gstaad, his son Rolf has confirmed. Reports suggest he shot himself.

Sachs, the grandson of automobile mogul Wilhelm von Opel, was a trained mathematician and economist but found fame in the 1960s after turning his attention to making documentaries.

A famed playboy during his youth, Sachs fell in love with French actress Brigitte Bardot after meeting her in 1966 and famously commissioned a helicopter to fly over her home in Saint-Tropez and shower it with hundreds of red roses.

They wed weeks later in Las Vegas; the marriage ended in divorce in 1969.

Bardot, who has since dedicated her life to fighting for animal rights, remained close to her third husband after their break-up and was informed of Sachs' death this weekend.

A representative for Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals tells the Afp,...