Jane Mallory Birkin OBE (December 14, 1946 - July 16, 2023) was an English-French Singer-Songwriter, actress, model and director.
She was most famous for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg, being his most famous muse. In 1969 they released what is perhaps their most famous duet, "Je t'aime... moi non plus" ("I love you ... me neither"), which Gainsbourg originally had written for Brigitte Bardot. The song caused a scandal for its sexual explicitness, and was banned in some countries. Birkin has also had a long acting career in British and French cinema, and was something of a sex symbol in the '60s and '70s. In 2007 she made her feature film directing debut with Boxes (and starred in it).
Birkin lived in France for most of her life and acquired French citizenship. She was the mother of the late photographer Kate Barry (from her 1965–68 marriage to John Barry), as well as actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg (from her 1968–80 relation with Serge) and actress and singer Lou Doillon (from her 1980–91 relation with director Jacques Doillon).
She was found dead at her home in Paris on July 16, 2023, at the age of 76. She had been recovering from a stroke in the previous years.
Actress Lucy Gordon portrayed her in the 2010 biopic Gainsbourg (Vie Héroïque). Charlotte Gainsbourg released a documentary about her mother in 2021, Jane by Charlotte.
Works on TV Tropes:
- The Knack... and How to Get It (1965) as Girl on a Motorbike (uncredited)
- Blowup (1966) as The Blonde
- Kaleidoscope (1966) as Exquisite Thing
- Wonderwall (1968) as Penny Lane
- La Piscine (1969) as Penelope
- Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman (1973) as Clara
- Death on the Nile (1978) as Louise Bourget
- Evil Under the Sun (1982) as Christine Redfern
- Kung-fu Master (1988) as Mary-Jane
- La Belle Noiseuse (1991) as Liz
- Boxes (2007) as Anna (also directed)
- La Femme et le TGV (2016) as Elise
Tropes & Trivia in her works:
- Directed by Cast Member: She directed and starred in 2007's Boxes.
- The Immodest Orgasm: Most of the lyrics in "Je t'aime... moi non plus" are not so much sung as they are moaned orgasmically by Jane.
- Intercourse with You: Her songs with Serge Gainsbourg were loaded with this, which caused some scandals and censorships.
- Ms. Fanservice: A number of her French movie appearances in The '70s owed more to her gorgeous physique than anything else. As an actress she grew beyond that later on, however.
