Jane Birkin Biography

Jane Birkin OBE (born December 14, 1946) is an actress and singer born in London who has lived in France since 1968.

She was born into a notable family including:

David Birkin, father, Royal Navy commander and World War II espionage hero.
Judy Campbell (née Gamble), mother, an actress in Noel Coward musicals.
Freda Dudley Ward nee Winifred (Freda) May Birkin, great aunt, mistress of the Prince of Wales.
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In the swinging 60s in London, Birkin starred as one of the nude models in the controversial film Blowup in 1967.

She 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.

In 1968 Jane Birkin went to France to audition for the lead female role in Slogan. Though she did not speak French, she got the role. On the set, she met Serge Gainsbourg, whith whom she cohabitated until 1980. They had a daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg.

In 1969 she and Serge Gainsbourg released "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 UK, it was a commercial success all over Europe. The song debuted at #1 on the UK charts

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 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.

In 1982 Birkin had a third daughter, Lou, with film director Jacques Doillon.

JANE BIRKIN PICTURES

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JANE BIRKIN BIOGRAPHY