The singer and actress Jane Birkin, irreverent figure of the French bohemia, died at the age of 76

Birkin had suffered a cerebrovascular attack (CVA) in 2021 and, although he had returned to the stage, he had to cancel the scheduled concerts in recent months due to some complications.

Although he was born in London and had started his career there in the midst of the so-called swinging london, in the mid-’60s, in the second half of that decade he settled permanently in Paris, where he forged a memorable couple with Serge Gainsbourg.

Together with him, she achieved great international fame, when she recorded the sensual song “Je t’aime…moi non plus”, which scandalized the prudent ears of the time with its suggestive moans.

Before that, Birkin had already crossed the limits of provocation with a nude commentary in the famous film “Blow-Up” by Michelangelo Antonioni, in what was just one of the dozens of interventions he had in the cinema.

It was precisely a set where he met the man with whom he would form one of the most irreverent duos that was going to give the Parisian media a topic of conversation in the late 60s and throughout the 70s.

Curiously, Birkin was born on December 14, 1946 into a conservative family, made up of a frigate captain father and an actress mother.

Owner of great beauty and a model bearing, her figure began to emerge strongly in the fury of Swinging London, from her participation in “The Knack and how to achieve it”, a comedy by Richard Lester from 1965, an absolute symbol of The time.

But the great impact would come the following year when he was placed under the orders of Michalangelo Antonioni in the well-remembered film “Blow-Up”, where he starred in the commented nude.

In those years, she contracted her first marriage with the composer John Barry, recognized for being the author of the distinctive music of James Bond, with whom she had her first daughter named Kate.

In the midst of the failure of that union, around 1968, and after having attracted attention at the Cannes Festival for her commented film appearances, Birkin was summoned by the French director Pierre Grimblat for the film “Slogan”, where she had to play a young man who was in a relationship with a married man, a role that fell to Gainsbourg.

There the loving and artistic relationship between the two was born, on which all the spotlights of Parisian social and cultural life would focus.

Jane Birkin’s career

Birkin’s great consecration worldwide would be linked to his famous partner when in 1969 they recorded the song together “Je t’aime, moi non plus”, a piece that Gainsbourg had originally recorded with another French sex icon, actress Brigitte Bardot, but never saw the light of day.

It happened that the “enfant terrible” from French bohemia had had an affair with the famous sex-symbol and, when they broke up, she forbade him to publish the scandalous song. Unknowingly, Bardot opened the doors for Birkin so that he could spread his fame around the world.

Birkin’s suggestive moans, while Gainsbourg with his cavernous voice was reeling off the lyrics, caused an impact that is remembered to this day. A famous photo of both of them in bed, in which she sensually bites his finger, completed the public image that the couple had projected through the famous song.

The marriage that symbolized the bohemia of the time lasted until 1980, a period in which they had their only daughter, the also actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg; and in which Serge wrote various songs especially for Birkin to perform.

In those years, his film career He remained active, with some milestones such as his participation in the film “The Pool”, starring Alain Delon, and “Death on the Nile”, with a stellar cast that included Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow and Bette Davis, among others.

The problems with alcohol and the violent nature of Gainsbourg marked the end of the famous couple, despite the fact that both continued to be linked artistically. An example of this was the album “Baby Alone in Babylon”, from 1983, in which Birkin recorded several songs composed especially for her by her ex-husband.

Meanwhile, the actress and singer rebuilt her life with the French filmmaker Jacques Doillon, a relationship that would last until 1992 and with whom she had her third daughter, the actress and singer Lou Doillon.

Although since then she has remained linked to cinema by the hand of prestigious directors, such as the case of Alan Renais in the film “I know the song”, and to music, Birkin’s image was forever linked to that of Serge Gainsbourg.

In 2013, Birkin suffered a new blow when he lost his first daughter Kate Barry, and later in the decade he began to suffer from some physical problems. That did not stop her from starting a show in recent times with songs by her most iconic couple and, even, in 2018 she had one last step in Argentina, where she gave a show at the Teatro Ópera.

A few months ago, she announced that she was suspending her presentations for health reasons and this morning, the people who were in charge of her care found her dead when they went to wake her up. But it will be the moans of her remembered song and the mischievous gesture of her biting her partner’s finger that will forever remember Jane Birkin’s impact on popular culture.