Brigitte Bardot – Manina, The Girl in the Bikini – 1952

Against a French coastal setting, Brigitte Bardot’s breakout role in “Manina, the Girl in the Bikini,” released in 1952, captures her wearing a bikini. This choice famously defied her conservative father’s wishes. In the film, Brigitte plays Manina, a lighthouse keeper’s daughter whose beauty catches the eye of a young student on a treasure-hunting expedition.

During a notable scene captured in a timeless black-and-white photo, she sports a bikini, stunning onlookers with her effortless charm and the youthful exuberance that would soon define her cinematic persona. Brigitte looks radiantly beautiful. Her appearance in the bikini marks one of the first such instances in mainstream film, setting a trend.