Jane Birkin, the English-French singer and actress, who died 16 July, 2023, aged 76, attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She also had a prolific career as an actress in British and French cinema.
In 1969, Gainsbourg and she released the duet "Je t'aime... moi non plus" ("I love you ... me neither"). Gainsbourg originally had written the song for Brigitte Bardot. Birkin has said it was “jealousy” that drove her to sing the song. The song caused a scandal for its sexual explicitness, and was banned by radio stations in Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
She was a scion of the Birkin baronets and a descendant of the Dukes of Bedford, and from King Charles II.. She was a first cousin once removed of Freda Dudley Ward (nee Birkin) (1894-1983), for several decades the mistress of the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor).
She was born Jane Mallory Birkin, 14 December, 1946, the elder daughter of Lieutenant-Commander David Leslie Birkin, RN, DSC (1914-1991), and his actress wife, the former Judy Mary Gamble (1916-2004) (known as Judy Campbell). Judy's roles include Joanna in Noel Coward's Present Laughter, and Ethel in his The Happy Breed. The song 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square', was written for her.
Jane Birkin married 16 October, 1965 (div 1968), the composer John Barry Prendergast (aka John Barry), OBE (1933-2011), by whom she had a daughter, Kate Barry (1967-2013).
Jane Birkin had a romantic and creative relationship with French musician Serge Gainsbourg, whom she met on the set of the film Slogan in 1968. They were together for 12 years but never married, despite rumours and misreporting to the contrary. They had a daughter, actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg (born 1971). On 4 September 1982, she gave birth to her third daughter, Lou Doillon, from her relationship with director Jacques Doillon.
Jane Birkin's studio albums include: Je t'aime... moi non plus (1969, with Serge Gainsbourg), Di doo dah (1973), Lolita Go Home (1975), Ex fan des sixties (1978), Baby Alone in Babylone (1983), Lost Song (1987), Amours des feintes (1990), Versions Jane (1996), À la légère (1999), Rendez-vous (2004), Fictions (2006), Enfants d'Hiver (2008), Birkin/Gainsbourg: Le symphonique (2017), Oh! Pardon tu dormais… (2020).
She was appointed OBE in 2001.
Descent from the Dukes of Bedford-
The 6th Duke of Bedford > Lord Charles James Fox Russell > Rev Henry Charles Russell > Olive Russell > David Leslie Birkin > Jane Birkin
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