Jane Mallory Birkin (/ˈbɜːkɪn/; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British-French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly inFrench cinema.
After separating from Gainsbourg in 1980, Birkin continued to work both as an actress and a singer, appearing in various independent films and recording numerous solo albums. In 2016, she starred in theAcademy Award-nominated short filmLa femme et le TGV, which she said would be her final film role.
Jane Mallory Birkin was born on 14 December 1946,[4] inMarylebone, London.[5] Her father, Lt- Cdr David Leslie Birkin (1914–1991), grandson ofSir Thomas Birkin, 1st Baronet and a member of the wealthyBirkin family, was aRoyal Navy lieutenant commander and World War IIspy who had worked with the French Resistance.[6] His first cousin wasFreda Dudley Ward, a mistress ofEdward VIII while he wasPrince of Wales.[7][8] Through her father, Birkin was a first-cousin-once-removed of film directorCarol Reed, whom Birkin turned to for advice about becoming an actress when she was a teenager, and a second cousin of Reed's nephew, actorOliver Reed.[9] Reed told her it all depended on if the camera loved her. Her mother,Judy Mary Campbell, was an actress best known for her work on stage, whose family was acquainted with the family ofMargaret Thatcher while living inGrantham. She wasNoël Coward's muse and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" was written for her.[10] Birkin's elder brother is screenwriter and directorAndrew Birkin.[11][12]
Birkin was raised inChelsea[13] and described herself as a "shy English girl".[14] She said that she was bullied for her looks; "I suffered a lot because of my physique, especially at boarding school. The others said I was half boy, half girl. I had no breasts, not even a developing bosom. It was horrible."[15][16] She said she wanted to be as pretty asJean Shrimpton, calling herself a "bad version" of her.[17] Her middle name, "Mallory", was invented by her mother; it was partly inspired by the name of Arthurian author SirThomas Malory.[18]
Birkin attendedMiss Ironside's School in Kensington[19][20] andUpper Chine School on theIsle of Wight.[16] In 2021, she said she had started taking sleeping pills at 16 and never stopped. At the age of 17 she met composerJohn Barry, whom she married in 1965 and with whom she had her first daughter,Kate, in 1967. After Barry left for the United States, the couple divorced in 1968 and Birkin returned to live with her family in London.[15] She began auditioning for film and television roles in Britain and in Los Angeles.[14]
Birkin emerged in theSwinging London scene of the 1960s, appearing in an uncredited part inThe Knack ...and How to Get It (1965).[21] In 1965 she also appeared in a musical,The Passion Flower Hotel, for which John Barry wrote the music.[22] Barry, aged 30, proposed to 17-year old Birkin but her father forbade it as she was still a minor. They married when she was 18.[23]
In 1965 she had her first film role in Richard Lester'sThe Knack.[24] She had a small role inMichelangelo Antonioni'sBlowup (1966) withVanessa Redgrave andSarah Miles as a brunette model. The movie gained notoriety because of Birkin's nude scene, which she later said she did because John Barry had told her she would not have the courage to show up naked on set.[25][15] Birkin also said that on the day of her audition, she had no idea who Antonioni was.[15] She had a more substantial role in thecounterculture era filmKaleidoscope (1966) and a starring role as a fantasy-like model in Joe Massot'spsychedelic filmWonderwall (1968).
Birkin metSerge Gainsbourg when she auditioned for the lead female role in the French filmSlogan in which he was starring (1969).[26][27] Although she did not speak French[28] she won the role, co-starring alongside Gainsbourg, and she performed with him on the film's theme song, "La Chanson de Slogan", the first of many collaborations between the two. After filmingSlogan, Birkin relocated to France permanently.[29] She had a role in the French thrillerLa Piscine (1969) and said that the movie had enabled her to stay in France: "The film saved me and enabled me to stay in France. I just finishedSlogan and was due to go back to England."[15] Though her heavy accent in French eventually did prevent her from getting some roles, it turned out to be an asset in her career, as French audiences found it charming. She later stated: "Without my accent, I would have had a different career."[15]
Collaborations with Serge Gainsbourg and other work
Birkin and Barry divorced in 1969 and Birkin moved in with Gainsbourg in the Rue de Verneuil in Paris.[30] Their relationship was volatile; on one occasion after a quarrel she threw herself into the Seine.[31] In 1969 she appeared with Gainsbourg in two films,Les Chemins de Katmandou andCannabis, and by herself in Jacques Deray's psychological thrillerLa Piscine, which starredRomy Schneider andAlain Delon.[32] Birkin sang backing vocals on two tracks of Gainsbourg's albuml'Histoire de Melody Nelson and her portrait appeared on the album cover.[33]
In 1969, Gainsbourg and Birkin released the duet "Je t'aime... moi non plus" ("I love you ... me neither"). Gainsbourg had originally written the song forBrigitte Bardot and Birkin said it was "jealousy" that drove her to sing it.[15] Shortly after making the recording, Birkin and Gainsbourg went for dinner at the Hotel des Beaux Arts in Paris and without saying anything, Gainsbourg put the record on the record player. Birkin recalled that all of a sudden, all the couples around them stopped talking with their knives and forks frozen in mid-air. Gainsbourg said, "I think we've got a hit record".[34] The song caused a scandal for its sexual explicitness and was banned by radio stations in Italy,[35] Spain and the United Kingdom.[36] In Italy, the head of their record label was jailed for offending public morality.[37]
[It is] very flattering to have the most beautiful songs, probably, in the French language written for [you]. [But] how much talent did I really have? Perhaps not that much.
— Birkin reflecting on her working relationship with Gainsbourg, 2013[38]
"Je t'aime" made UK chart history when on 4 October 1969 and the following week on 11 October, the song was at two different chart positions, despite being the same song, the same artists, and the same recorded version, the only difference being that they were on different record labels. It was originally released on theFontana label, but because of the controversy, Fontana withdrew the record, which was then released on theMajor Minor label. Fontana singles were still in the shops, along with the Major Minor release, and on 4 October 1969 the Major Minor release was at number three and the Fontana single at number 16. At that time it was the biggest-selling single ever for a completely foreign-language record.
Birkin appeared on Gainsbourg's 1971 albumHistoire de Melody Nelson, portraying theLolita-like protagonist in song and on the cover.[39] Reflecting on being a muse and collaborator of Gainsbourg's, Birkin commented: "[It is] very flattering to have the most beautiful songs, probably, in the French language written for one. [But] how much talent did I really have? Perhaps not that much."[38] During the 1970s she released three albums, all mainly written by Gainsbourg:Di doo dah (1973),Lolita Go Home (1975) andEx-fan des sixties (1978).[40]
She took a break from acting in 1971–1972 after her daughter Charlotte was born, and returned in 1973 as Brigitte Bardot's lover in Roger Vadim'sDon Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman.[41] She called Bardot "fabulously beautiful", saying: "I observed Bardot in the tiniest detail to find a flaw in her. Her mouth, her nose, her skin, her hair... She was fabulously beautiful."[15] The same year, she had a supporting role in the horror filmDark Places withChristopher Lee andJoan Collins.[42] She made five films in 1975, including Claude Zidi's box-office hitLa course a l'echalote and Gainsbourg's first film as a director,Je t'aime moi non plus, which created a stir for its frank examination of sexual ambiguity, and was banned in the United Kingdom by theBritish Board of Film Classification. For this performance, she was nominated for a Best ActressCésar Award.[41] Further albums followed, including the well-receivedEx-fan des sixties, and more films, among themJohn Guillermin'sDeath on the Nile, in which she appeared oppositePeter Ustinov,Bette Davis,Mia Farrow andMaggie Smith.[43] In 1978, Birkin modeled in trade advertisements forLee Cooper jeans.[44]
By 1980 Birkin was becoming disillusioned with the "hard-drinking, domineering" Gainsbourg.[45] She left him and bought a house in the 16th arrondissement Paris, where she lived for the next 15 years. They remained on good terms and shared custody of their daughter.[46] Birkin began a relationship with film-makerJacques Doillon after they met on the set of his filmLa fille prodigue and a daughter, Lou, was born in 1982. She later appeared in his filmLa Pirate andJacques Rivette'sL'Amour par Terre.[47]
Birkin renewed her professional partnership with Gainsbourg, who had continued to write music for her after their breakup and recorded several albums with him, fromBaby Alone in Babylone (1983), their first collaboration after their separation in 1980, toAmours des feintes (1990), the last he wrote before his death from a heart attack in March 1991. Birkin said in 2011 that Gainsbourg had been someone who "drank a vast amount. It started out being funny and then it got monotonous, (but) our friendship went on until his dying day."[48]
OfBaby Alone in Babylone Birkin has said: "This was the album of the break-up when everything changed. All of a sudden, Serge got me to sing of his wounds and his feminine side. It was very unsettling to sing about the wounds that you have triggered." While recording the album, she sang as high as she could and said she had become "tired of singing as the little girl who excites gentlemen in trains". She also chose "Les Dessous chics" as "a portrait of Serge." She said: "It represents the modesty of feelings, made up outrageously in blood red. Les Dessous chics means keeping one's true feelings deep inside, as fragile as a silk stocking."[15]Lost Song (1987) was also written by Gainsbourg.
Birkin starred in two films directed byJacques Doillon: as Anne inLa fille prodigue (The Prodigal Daughter, 1981) and as Alma inLa pirate (1984, nominated for a César Award). She saidThe Prodigal Daughter (1981) was the first time her performance had been well received and "It touched [her] deeply to be taken seriously". Before working with Doillon she did not know about his work and said: "No one had ever offered me a part like that or asked me to have a nervous breakdown". She cited this film as her favorite, saying: "Piccoli and I were really good. If I die, I would like the film to be shown on television, even at midnight." When it was screened at Cannes it caused a scandal, which led to an invitation for Birkin fromPatrice Chéreau to star on stage inLa Fausse suivante byMarivaux atNanterre. Recalling her experience on the stage, she said: "That was my first stage experience, which finally gave me the courage to sing at theBataclan."[15]
Birkin recorded the song "Beauty" on French producerHector Zazou's albumStrong Currents (2003).[41] The album brought together a number of well-known soloists and featured her alongsideLaurie Anderson,Irene Grandi and Melanie Gabriel, among others. On this album Birkin and Melanie Gabriel covered songs byNina Hynes. Birkin undertook world tours in which she performed Gainsbourg's songs and recorded more albums, includingLolita Go Home,Rendez-vous (2004), an album of duets with, among others,Francoise Hardy andBryan Ferry,Fictions (2006) andEnfants d'hiver (2008).[51]
The cover art ofHave You Fed the Fish? (2002) by singer-songwriterBadly Drawn Boy featured her image. The album included backing vocals by her daughter,Charlotte Gainsbourg.[41] In 2006 Birkin recorded and released the albumFictions,[29] and in 2010, recorded a duet, "Marie," with Brazilian singerSérgio Dias, which appeared onWe Are the Lilies, an album by Dias and French band Tahiti Boy and the Palmtree Family featured contributions fromIggy Pop and others.[52]
On 24 March 2017, Birkin releasedBirkin/Gainsbourg: Le Symphonique, a collection of songs Gainsbourg had written for her during and after their relationship, reworked with full orchestral arrangements.[13] In September 2017, she performed live inBrussels to promote the album.[13]
On 16 October 1965, 18-year-old Birkin married British composer and conductorJohn Barry, 13 years her senior, in a private ceremony atChelsea Register Office, London.[55] They met in 1964 when Barry cast Birkin in his musicalPassion Flower Hotel. Their daughter was photographerKate Barry (1967–2013).[56] Barry "turned out to be a cold and unfaithful husband" and Birkin wrote in her diary, aged 19, "The feeling of being unwanted, undesired and unloved is beginning to strangle me".[57] Their marriage ended in 1968.[58] She said she was insecure during the relationship and "couldn't believe that this sophisticated, talented genius chose [her] and not any of the other girls." She did not want him to see her with her "tiny, piggy eyes" so she would sleep with an eye pencil under her pillow and put it on if he woke up in the night. He eventually went to the United States and left Birkin with their daughter in England.[15]
Birkin had a romantic and creative relationship with French musicianSerge Gainsbourg, 18 years her senior, whom she met on the set ofSlogan in 1968. They were together for 12 years[59] but never married, despite rumours and misreporting to the contrary.[60][61][62] She eventually became a French citizen.[2][3]
In 1971, Birkin and Gainsbourg had a daughter, actress and singerCharlotte Gainsbourg. The couple separated in 1980, because of hisalcoholism and violence.[63][64][65][66] She described him as "a very difficult man to live with",[67] and said that during recording sessions he would scream at her and hit her with a ruler if she could not sing a part.[68][69] She took credit for helping him to develop his style later in life, saying: "It's all about me, he listened to me a lot."[15]
On 4 September 1982, she gave birth to her third daughter,Lou Doillon, from her relationship with directorJacques Doillon.[70] She said: "Meeting Jacques was a real turning point in my career. In my private life, after I left Serge, Jacques and I lived together for thirteen years, and had Lou."[15] She said she was surprised and happy to find out that Doillon was not "an old man". They separated in 1993.The Observer reported in 2007 that Doillon "could not compete with her grief for Gainsbourg" (who died in 1991), and that she had lived alone since their separation.[71] Birkin said that Doillon lost interest in casting her in his movies, and she felt "pain for Jacques going off with all these young girls making all these films all the time". Later, Birkin had a relationship with French writerOlivier Rolin.[72]
Birkin became a political activist, and joined protest marches through the streets of Paris against racism, in defence of illegal immigrants, and in support of Palestinian rights,Amnesty International and the fight againstAids.[73] In 2001 she received anOBE award atBuckingham Palace in London. In 2004 she was awarded France's Ordre nationale du Merite.[74]
In 2002, she was diagnosed withleukaemia and underwent rounds of treatment.[75] Birkin often spent time with her six grandchildren.[76][77] Her daughter, Kate Barry, died in December 2013 after falling from her fourth floor apartment in Paris.[78]
Birkin mainly resided in Paris from the late 1960s onwards.[79][13] She was described as "a fixture of theSaint-Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood on the Left Bank".[80] In 2020, recalling 1970s Paris, she said: "it was a time of great innocence, and I don't think social problems were as they are today."[67] On 6 September 2021, it was reported that Birkin was doing well after having astroke.[81]
On 16 July 2023, Birkin was found dead at home in Paris. She was 76.[2] No cause of death was disclosed. The premiere of the documentaryJane by Charlotte, about Birkin's relationship with her daughter Charlotte, on 8 July 2021, was one of her last public appearances. Her funeral took place at theChurch of Saint-Roch in the1st arrondissement of Paris on the morning of 24 July. After the funeral, her remains were cremated at the crematorium ofPère Lachaise Cemetery and her ashes were interred atMontparnasse Cemetery, in the grave of her daughter,Kate Barry, in the same cemetery where Gainsbourg was buried.[82]
As a child, Birkin demonstrated in the streets of London againstcapital punishment. In the 1970s, she campaigned for the right to abortion and appeared at the Bobigny trial in support of four women accused of having helped the high school studentMarie-Claire Chevalier to have an abortion following a rape.[85]
Birkin also demonstrated support for immigrants, denouncing theFrench government's policy towards undocumented migrants in 2010. The same year, she protested outside the residence of the Minister of Immigration,Éric Besson. She also announced that she was sponsoring a young Congolese who had requested political asylum. In 2015, she marched in Paris in support of refugees.[85]
In September 2018, following the resignation of French environment ministerNicolas Hulot, Birkin was one of the 200 artists and scientists who signed an open letter published on the front page of the dailyLe Monde titled "The Greatest Challenge in the History of Mankind", which urged politicians to act "firmly and immediately" in fightingclimate change and the "collapse of biodiversity".[86]
Birkin won the "Best Actress" award at the 1985 Orleans Film Festival forLeave All Fair. The jury of the 1985Venice Film Festival recognised Birkin's performance inDust as amongst the best of the year. They decided not to award a best actress prize because all of the actresses they judged to have made the best performances were in films that won major awards.Dust won theSilver Lion prize.[90]
In 2018, she was awarded theOrder of the Rising Sun in the Spring Conferment for her efforts in promoting cultural exchanges between Japan and France.[96]
Birkin was described as having carried a hand-woven straw basket fromCastro Marim inAlgarve,Portugal, everywhere she went,[97] from the market,[98] to nightclubs,[99] to formal events until her husband Jacques Doillon intentionally ran over it with his car in the early 1980s.[100][101][102][103]
In 1983,Hermès chief executiveJean-Louis Dumas was seated next to Birkin on a flight from Paris to London. Birkin had just placed her straw basket in the overhead compartment of her seat when the contents fell out onto the floor, leaving her scrambling to recover them. Birkin explained to Dumas that it had been difficult to find a leather weekend bag she liked.[104] In 1984, he created a black supple leather bag for her: theBirkin bag,[105] based on a 1982 design. She used the bag initially, but later changed her mind because she was carrying too many things in it: "What's the use of having a second one?" she said laughingly. "You only need one and that busts your arm; they're bloody heavy. I'm going to have an operation fortendinitis in the shoulder."[106] Nonetheless, Birkin did use the bag for some time.[107] The Birkin bag has, over the years, become astatus symbol, with prices ranging from US$10,000 to $500,000.[108]
In 2015, Birkin wrote a public letter to Hermès requesting her name be removed from the bag,[108] stating she wanted the company to "debaptise the Birkin Croco until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place", referring to the cruel methods used to acquire the skins for thecrocodile variant of the bags.[109] Hermès announced soon afterwards that it had satisfied Birkin with new reassurances on this.[110]
^Robinson, Lisa (November 2007)."The Secret World of Serge Gainsbourg".Vanity Fair. Retrieved3 September 2011.Contrary to rumors, Jane and Serge never did marry. "He said in France I'd need to be fingerprinted and have a blood sample", Jane says, "and I was slightly offended and said, 'What on earth for?' I also had a secret fear that marriage changed things, and so, in fact, we weren't."
^McKie, Andrew (25 February 2011)."Death Is Not the End".The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved26 September 2011.Serge Gainsbourg and actress Jane Birkin often referred to each other as husband and wife, but in fact they were never married, according to Ms. Birkin's agent. An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Ms. Birkin twice as Gainsbourg's third wife
^Adams, William Lee (26 January 2010)."French Chanteuse Charlotte Gainsbourg".Time. Archived fromthe original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved26 September 2011.My parents weren't married so I don't have an ideal image of marriage that I'm hoping for.
