Jane Birkin
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Image:Birkin.JPG Jane Birkin OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an actress and singer.
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Early life
Birkin was born in London to David Birkin, a Royal Navy commander and World War II espionage hero, and Judy Campbell (née Gamble), an actress in Noel Coward musicals. Her great aunt was Freda Dudley Ward née Winifred (Freda) May Birkin, mistress of the Prince of Wales.
Career
Birkin emerged in the swinging 60s in London, starring as one of the nude models in the controversial film Blowup in 1967. In 1968, Birkin went to France to audition for the lead female role in Slogan. Though she did not speak French, she got the role.
In 1969 she and Serge Gainsbourg released the song "Je t'aime... moi non plus" ("I love you... me neither"), written by Gainsbourg and featuring both of them singing, which caused a scandal for its sexual explicitness. Thanks to the publicity it got from being banned at radio stations in Italy, Sweden, Spain, and the U.K., it was a commercial success all over Europe.
Birkin took a short break from her acting career in 1971-72, but returned as Brigitte Bardot's lover in Don Juan (or if Don Juan were a woman) in 1973. In 1975, she appeared in Gainsbourg's first film, also titled Je t'aime... moi non plus, which created quite a stir for its frank examination of sexual ambiguity.
Birkin has starred in the Agatha Christie films Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun, and recorded several albums. She has been awarded an OBE for her services to acting, as well as the Ordre National du Mérite in France. She is noted for being the inspiration for fashion house Hermès' popular Birkin Bag.
Private life
Birkin was married to John Barry, an English composer who wrote the musical score to the James Bond movies. Their daughter, Kate Barry, was born in 1968. On the set of Slogan, she met Serge Gainsbourg, with whom she cohabitated until 1980. They had a daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg.
In 1982 Birkin had a third daughter, Lou, with film director Jacques Doillon.
Discography
- 1969 - Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg
- 1973 - Di Doo Dah
- 1975 - Lolita Go Home
- 1978 - Ex Fan des Sixties
- 1983 - Baby Alone in Babylon
- 1987 - Lost Song
- 1987 - Jane Birkin au Bataclan
- 1990 - Amours des Feintes
- 1992 - Integral au Casino de Paris
- 1996 - Versions Jane
- 1996 - Integral a l'Olympia
- 1999 - A la Legere
- 2002 - Arabesque
- 2004 - Rendez-Vous
- 2006 - Fictions