Jane Birkin, who died this Sunday at the age of 76 in Paris, was one of the icons of the 60s and 70s, especially for her song ‘Je t’aime, moi non plus’ (‘I love you, neither do I’), composed by her then husband the composer Serge Gainsbourg, which came to be censored in 1975.
After suffering a cerebral vascular attack in 2021, he had announced his return to the stage on a tour to promote his latest album “Oh! pardon, tu dormais…!”, as well as the presentation in Cannes of a documentary about his life directed by his daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Born on December 14, 1946 in London, this well-known British actress, singer and film director, French by adoption, worked in more than eighty films, directed several of them and some television series, in addition to her well-known musical successes.
He debuted in London’s West End with the play ‘Carving a Statue’ (1964) by Graham Greene.
She began in the cinema with a fleeting appearance in ‘The snack and how to get it’ (1965) and acted shortly after in ‘Kaleidoscope’ and ‘Blow up’ (1966), in which she appears nude.
She settled in France in 1967 and worked on three films ‘Wonderwall’ (1968), ‘La Piscina’ (1969) and ‘Slogan’ (1969), during which she met her husband Serge Gainsbourg.
Then came ‘Les chemins de Katmandu’ (1969), ‘Murder in Oxford’ (1970), ‘My Tiny Murderer’ (1970), ‘Cannabis’ (1970), ‘Romance of a horse thief’ (1971), ‘ Seven dead in the cat’s eye’ (1973) and ‘If Don Juan were a woman’ (1973).
He continued his work in films such as ‘Private screening’, ‘The climber’, ‘Dark places’, ‘My mustard went up’ and ‘The onion race’.
He later acted in ‘Je t’aime, moi non plus’ (‘I love you, neither do I’, 1975), directed by Gainsbourg, and in which Andy Warhol and Joe Dallesandro appeared, as well as a very young Gérard Depardieu, who It caused an international scandal and was censored by the Vatican and even banned by the BBC.
He also worked on ‘Le diable au Coeur’ (1976), ‘Consumed by burning passion’ (1976) and ‘The animal’ (1977), among his many films.
She played Queen Gertrude of Denmark in a version of ‘Hamlet’ (2005) at the Royal Theater in Northampton (United Kingdom). She also starred in Sophocles’ ‘Electra’ in 2006 at Le Quartz, in Brest, and then at the Amandiers Theater in Nanterre, directed by Philippe Calvario. That same year she directed the telefilm “Boxes” (2007).
His album “Baby alone in Babylone” (1983) had a great impact and he sang live and solo for the first time at Le Bataclan (Paris) in 1987.
But he consolidated his musical career with the release of “À la lègere” (1999), in collaboration with Djamel Benyelles, which was followed by ‘Arabesque’ (2002), ‘Rendez-Vous’ (2004) and ‘Fictions’ ( 2006).
Her first husband was the composer John Barry with whom she had her daughter, Kate, who died in 2015. She lived for ten years, between 1970 and 1980, with the composer, singer and actor Serge Gainsbourg, who died in 1991, and father of her second daughter. , Charlotte.
In 2017, it was she herself who told that she had been treating herself for leukemia.
Defender of Amnesty International, she worked for child protection organizations.
Official of the British Empire, he was in possession of the Order of National Merit in France.