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Jane Mallory Birkin (, French: [dʒɛn malɔʁi biʁkin]; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress and singer. She had a decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She also had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, appearing in minor roles in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup (1966), and Kaleidoscope (1966). In 1968, she met Serge Gainsbourg while co-starring with him in Slogan, which marked the beginning of a years-long working and personal relationship. The duo released their debut album Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg (1969), and Birkin also appeared in the Je t'aime moi non plus (1976) under Gainsbourg's direction. Though she mostly worked in France where she had become a major star, Birkin occasionally appeared in English-language films such as the Agatha Christie adaptations Death on the Nile (1978) and Evil Under the Sun (1982), as well as James Ivory's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998). After separating from Gainsbourg in 1980, Birkin continued to work as both an actress and a singer, appearing in various independent films and recording numerous solo albums. In 2016, she starred in the Academy Award-nominated short film La femme et le TGV, which she said would be her final film role. Birkin lived mainly in France from the late 1960s onwards, and would acquire French citizenship. She was the mother of photographer Kate Barry, with her first husband John Barry; actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, with Serge Gainsbourg; and musician Lou Doillon, with Jacques Doillon. In addition to her acting and musical credits, she lent her name to the Hermès Birkin handbag. Early life Jane Mallory Birkin was born on 14 December 1946, in Marylebone, London. Her mother, Judy Campbell, was an English actress, best known for her work on stage. Her father, David Birkin, was a Royal Navy lieutenant commander and World War II spy. Her brother is screenwriter and director Andrew Birkin. Birkin was raised in Chelsea, and described herself as a "shy English girl". 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." She said she wanted to be as pretty as Jean Shrimpton, calling herself a "bad version" of her. Her middle name "Mallory" was invented by her mother, partly inspired by the name of Arthurian author Sir Thomas Malory. Birkin attended Miss Ironside's School in Kensington. She was also educated at Upper Chine School, Isle of Wight. In 2021, she said she started taking sleeping pills at 16 and never stopped. At the age of 17, she met composer John Barry, whom she married in 1965, and 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. She began auditioning for film and television roles in England and in Los Angeles. Career Early acting credits Birkin emerged in the Swinging London scene of the 1960s, appearing in an uncredited part in The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965). She had a small role in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup (1966) as a brunette model. At the time, 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. Birkin also said that on the day of her audition, she had no idea who Antonioni was. She had a more substantial role in the counterculture era film Kaleidoscope (1966) and appeared as a fantasy-like model in the psychedelic film Wonderwall (1968). In 1968, she auditioned for the lead female role in the French film Slogan (1969). Though she did not speak French she won the role, co-starring alongside Serge 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 filming Slogan, Birkin relocated to France permanently. She had a role in the French thriller La Piscine (1969) and said that the movie had enabled her to stay in France after finishing Slogan: "The film saved me and enabled me to stay in France. I just finished Slogan and was due to go back to England." 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." Collaborations with Serge Gainsbourg In 1969, Gainsbourg and she released the duet "Je t'aime... moi non plus" ("I love you ... me neither"). Gainsbourg had originally written the song for Brigitte Bardot. Birkin said it was "jealousy" that drove her to sing the song. It caused a scandal for its sexual explicitness, and was banned by radio stations in Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. "Je t'aime" made UK chart history in that 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 the Fontana label, but due to the controversy, Fontana withdrew the record, which was then released on the Major Minor label. Because Fontana singles were still in the shops, along with the Major Minor release, on 4 October 1969, the Major Minor release was at number three and the Fontana single at number 16. Also at that time, it was the biggest-selling single ever for a completely foreign-language record. Birkin appeared on Gainsbourg's 1971 album Histoire de Melody Nelson, portraying the Lolita-like protagonist in song and on the cover. 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." During the 1970s she released three albums, all mainly written by Gainsbourg: Di doo dah (1973), Lolita Go Home (1975) and Ex fan des sixties (1978). She took a break from acting in 1971–1972, but returned as Brigitte Bardot's lover in Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman (1973). 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." The same year, she had a supporting role in the horror film Dark Places with Christopher Lee and Joan Collins. In 1975, she appeared in 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 the British Board of Film Classification. For this performance, she was nominated for a Best Act.... Discover the Barry Mouton popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Barry Mouton books.