Biography of Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin is a legendary actress, songwriter and singer who gained fame thanks to a long-term romantic and creative union with an iconic figure in French culture, poet and composer Serge Gainsbourg.
Pictured: Jane Birkin
With the release in 1969 of their scandalous joint hit “Je t'aime... Moi Non Plus” (“I love you... I don’t love you either”), containing imitation of sounds during hot sex (sighs, moans, etc.) and prohibited, As a result, in a number of countries, the girl became one of the main sex symbols of the planet.
The celebrity, mother of three daughters, has more than eight dozen films, 13 studio and 6 concert albums in her collection.
Jane Mallory Birkin
She has been awarded the French National Order of Merit, the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. A women's Birkin bag from the French brand Hermès was named in her honor in 1984. Over the years, this accessory has become a symbol of high status; its cost can reach seven figures.
Basket bag
In the photo: Mango bag, price: RUB 2,999.
The wicker basket was Jane Birkin's favorite accessory, replacing the bag that she carried with her in winter and summer. Legend has it that the actress once flew on a plane next to Jean-Lu Dumas from the Hermès fashion house. During the flight, Jane's clothes fell out of her basket. This incident inspired Jean-Liu to create a roomy model of the Birkin bag (it was named after Jane).
Childhood
The future representative of the world of high art was born on December 14, 1946 in London, into the bohemian family of an English aristocrat, naval officer David Birkin and actress Judy Campbell, the muse of Oscar-winning playwright Noel Coward.
Jane Birkin in her youth
The girl spent her childhood in the prestigious area of Chelsea. Her parents were creative people and raised her and their other children - eldest son Andrew and youngest daughter Linda - in liberal traditions. Together they made home movies with funny real stories and organized exciting trips during the holidays.
Childhood and youth
The future actress and singer was born in the winter, December 14, 1946, in London. The girl's father, David Birkin, was a naval officer and a hero of the Second World War. The baby's mother, Judy Campbell, is a film and musical actress. The family was already raising their eldest son, Andrew. Subsequently, Jane's brother became a director and screenwriter. Later, another daughter appeared in the family, who was named Linda.
Jane Birkin in her youth
Birkin's house was located in the prestigious Chelsea area. There was money in the family: parents allowed themselves and their children to buy luxurious things, and during the holidays they sent their children on trips.
In the sixties of the last century, London became the capital of the arts. Such an event did not pass by the daring girl, and at the age of 16 she dropped out of school and set off to conquer the world of cinema.
Development of a creative path
At the age of 16, the young beauty, deciding to follow in her mother’s footsteps, began participating in theater auditions. A year later, she received her first role in one of the capital’s theaters (Haymarket Theater) - in the play “Carving a Statue”. Then she appeared in the musical “Passion Flower Hotel”, demonstrating her vocal and choreographic abilities along with drama. Its premiere was a success in July 1965 at the Palace Theater in Manchester. Subsequently, this performance with her participation was performed 148 more times at the Prince of Wales Theater in London.
At the age of 16, Jane decided to become an actress.
Jane's film career began with the romantic comedy "The Knack." Then she starred in the drama “Idol” and in the crime film “Kaleidoscope”. But fame (albeit of a scandalous nature) was brought to her by the picture-parable of the classic auteur cinema Michelangelo Antonioni “Blow-up”, which received the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967. She played in it (while completely naked) a girl who aspired to become a model.
Still from the film “Blow-up”
In 1968-1969 With the participation of the actress in key roles, four films were released. This is the psychedelic film “The Miracle Wall” with a soundtrack performed by Beatle George Harrison, the detective story “Swimming Pool”, where her co-stars were Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Maurice Ronet, the crime-drama film “Roads of Kathmandu” and the film “ Slogan”, which became fateful for her due to her acquaintance with Serge Gainsbourg.
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
In 1970, Jane and Serge played key characters in the crime film Cannabis. A year later, both of them could be seen in the adventure drama “The Romance of a Horse Thief,” then in the comedy “Too Beautiful to Be...”.
Jane Birkin in the 70s
Not only an actor, but also a talented composer contributed to the development of the singing career of his muse, who did not have outstanding vocal abilities, but attracted everyone with her sensual, hoarse and mysterious voice. Gainsbourg selected her repertoire and dedicated many interesting compositions to her. In the 1970s, she released three solo albums: Di doo dah, Lolita go home and Ex fan des sixties.
In the 70s, Birkin made a name for herself as a singer
However, Jane devoted most of her time to cinema, appearing in more than twenty films during the same period. It is interesting that in 1973 she starred with her ex-lover Serge, Brigitte Bardot, in the drama “Don Juan in a Skirt,” directed by the ex-husband of the film actress Roger Vadim, the son of a native of Kiev, nobleman Igor Plemyannikov.
Jane Birkin and Pierre Richard
In 1974, Claude Zidi's comedy “He's Getting Angry” was released, warmly received by the audience, where Birkin played opposite Pierre Richard. A year later, they again shone in the comedy film by the same director, “Don't Lose Sight.”
Jane Birkin's love story
When you look outside the window of a gray panel, you see the soulless roofs of a residential area, you want to find inspiration somewhere else. Find something that will energize you. And, if not self-isolation, even in a gray city there are many places of power that would give me a boost.
Let's put it aside, okay, we sit at home with the Cat at home, don't stick our nose out. We travel through biographies and eras, inspired by the beauty, strength and versatility of human lives. It is easy for humanists to find shelter from oppressive reality in the world of their fantasies.
If you've read up to this point, that's good. Today I want to go to Maryleben, London.
It was here that a stunningly beautiful girl was born, after whom the famous bag was named.
This happened on December 14, 1946 in the family of an actress and a World War II lieutenant.
Jane married a composer early and gave birth to a daughter, Kate Barry, a famous photographer and actress. The marriage lasted three years, after which Jane returned to London and began attending acting auditions.
Without knowing French, in 1969 she received the main role in the French satirical drama Slogan, where she starred alongside Serge Gainsbourg. Yes, his companion was Brigitte Bardot, after their separation, Serge painted the walls of the room black and posted photographs of his beloved everywhere. But young Jane was able to immediately push these sufferings into the background. Jane performed the world famous song “Je t'aime... moi non plus”, intended for Brigitte Bardot. From Serge Jane gave birth to an equally famous daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg (familiar to many from the films of Lars von Trier).
Source: m.spletnik.ru
For Serge, Jane became a real muse.
“In her, Serge found a dream: the girl combined aristocratic blood and natural artistry, ardor and fragility, audacity and sophistication. With Jane, it was possible to translate the most provocative fantasies into reality: on the one hand, the press always reproached them for being too frank in public, on the other hand, they spoke enthusiastically about Gainsbourg’s films, in which Birkin starred, and about Serge’s songs, performed by her.” — Amateur Media.
Their combination was a real creative cocktail. They lived together for 30 years and were not even married. Jane said about him:
Serge was an important part of my life. He was my comrade, my best friend. He could come to me at any time of the day or night, and we always had a room for him. I would cook him dinner or bring him a cup of tea and sit and chat with him. I was lucky: in fact, I never lost Serge.
They loved parties and dancing. They could stay out all night, come home and wake up their daughters for school. Then go to bed. They got up during the day and went to pick up the children, walked with them, fed them dinner, put them to bed and went for a walk again.
He was very melancholic, drank and was not at peace with his soul. They fought like it was the last time. He could search her bag, and she would throw a cake at him, she would run away from him down the street, and he would catch up with her. To “resolve” the situation, she jumped into the Seine. At some point, Jane could not tolerate his antics and left. But they remained connected for life.
When Jane gave birth to director Jacques Doillon's third daughter, not long after their separation, Gainsbourg sent her a box of baby clothes and a card with the inscription "papa deux" (second dad), and later became her godfather.
She felt his death very passionately and on her last journey she put her favorite toy in his coffin.
I love you... I don't love you either
In 1976, the film “I love you... I don’t love you either” was released, which became Gainsbourg’s directorial debut. The film often features music from the song of the same name, performed by Birkin and Gainsbourg. Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin - Je t'aime... moi non plus (Fontana 1969) Jane played the key role of the young waitress Johnny, who looks like a boy, and for this role she was nominated for a national Cesar film award. One day, two cheerful guys entered her heroine’s cafe - Krasski (Joe Dalessandro) and Padovan (Hugh Kester). They worked on a garbage truck and were lovers.
Birkin and Gainsbourg
The girl was captivated by the courageous Krasski, and he was fascinated by her naive love, inexperience and readiness for anal sex. When Padovan tried to kill the homewrecker out of jealousy, Krasski saved her but returned to his lover, leaving her alone and heartbroken.
Jane Birkin in the movie "I Love You...Neither Do I Love You"
Due to a number of explicit scenes, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) banned its screening. However, later the film became, one might say, “the banner of the coming era.” One of the main characters says the phrase: “It doesn’t matter where I take you, the main thing is that I do it with you.” Jane Birkin – Di doo dah
Je t'aime...Moi Non Plus
They really liked to shock, anger, and give reasons for gossip. In 1969, Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg released their album “Je t'aime... Moi Non Plus” (“I love you... I don’t love you either”). Serge wrote this song when he was having an affair with Brigitte Bardot, but Brigitte didn’t like it, it was too frank. But Jane didn't care. She performed this song, every now and then switching to erotic moans. Serge claimed that these sounds were not imitation, that he and Jane recorded them in their bedroom.
In Puritan Britain and many other European countries, this song was banned from playing on radio stations, and the Vatican angrily condemned it. But it seems that this made the composition only become more popular; it has been listened to for forty years now... It has become a monument to this love.
Further career
A year later, Birkin’s fans could see her in the comedy melodrama “The Beast,” where the main characters were embodied by women’s favorite Jean-Paul Belmondo and the 1960s sex symbol Raquel Welch. She then starred in two film adaptations of Agatha Christie's novels: Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun.
Still from the film “Death on the Nile”
In 1981, the actress appeared in the role of the key character Anne in Jacques Doillon’s film “The Prodigal Daughter,” which touched on the delicate topic of incest. Three years later, in the drama “Pirate” by the same director (with whom she began an affair), she again played the central and controversial character – Alma (receiving another Cesar nomination). Her heroine tried to understand who she really loved, her husband or her friend Karol.
Young Jane Birkin
The singer’s musical collaboration with Gainsbourg continued after their breakup in 1980. Thus, in 1983, her new solo album “Baby alone in Babylone” was released, containing 11 compositions by her ex-husband with magnificent lyrics that allowed her to express confusion, pain and sadness. According to her, he watched their recording, standing behind glass in the studio and crying. The disc was recognized as the most beautiful in her career and subsequently went gold.
Serge Gainsbourg
She continued to receive a lot of offers for filming. In 1985, five films were released with her participation, including the drama “Dust,” where she brilliantly played the main role of Magda, a farmer’s daughter who killed her tyrant father (Trevor Howard) and then lost her mind. In 1988, she appeared with her mother Judy Campbell, brother Andrew and daughters Charlotte and Lou in the drama Kung Fu Master.
Jane Birkin in the movie "Kung Fu Master"
In the late 1980s, the actress expanded her scope of activity - she began working on television, playing the main role in the television film “The Ex-Wife of My Life,” and directing and writing the drama “Oh Pardon!” tu dormais”, and also began performing solo concerts. The first of them was a success at the Le Bataclan concert hall - Jane, who had a powerful acting charm, always found contact with the audience.
Jane Birkin gives an interview
In 1987, the star released the album Lost Songs, written by Gainsbourg, and in 1990, Amours des feintes. On the cover of the latter he himself depicted a sad Jane - he was then thinking about taking up painting again. A year later, the author who “raised the song to the level of art” (according to French President Francois Mitterrand) passed away. During the same period, his muse played in a musical on the stage of the popular Le Casino de Paris, dedicating the performance (planned before Serge's death) to the memory of her former lover.
Jane Birkin in the 90s
In 1994, the actress appeared at the National Theater, playing the tragic role of Andromache in the play “The Trojan Women” based on the plays of Euripides. At the end of the same year, at the London Savoy, she gave a dedication concert to Gainsbourg, appearing before the audience as a true professional with amazing artistic talent and finally saying goodbye to the role of a scandalous person.
But she did not say goodbye to the legacy of the brilliant composer, having recorded a medley of his songs “Version Jane” by 1996, performing with them on the stage of the famous Olympia concert hall and then going on a European tour. In 1999, she presented a new disc, “A la Legere,” the first created without Serge’s participation, and also performed at the Avignon Festival with versions of his compositions re-orchestrated in the “Arabesque” concert. After the incredible success of this program, she made a world tour, visiting Scandinavian countries, the USA, Canada, Japan, and Asia.
Jane Birkin - English rebel
Jane Birkin is perhaps one of the most controversial figures in show business.
A bright actress and singer with a rather weak voice, but her records always sold millions of copies. It was she who was called “the sexiest kitten in France” in the rebellious 60s of the last century. Her father was an English aristocrat, a captain in the British Royal Navy and a hero of the Second World War, and her mother loved the stage to madness, sang and acted in the theater. At the age of 17, Jane first appeared on the stage in the image of a deaf-mute girl in Graham Greene's play. Then her career began as a musical actress.
Soon Birkin moves to France. In 1966, Jane starred in Antonnioni's famous film Blow-Up, in which she was not afraid to appear naked. Her mother supported this action. In general, Birkin was never afraid of bold experiments, either in films or in real life. In 1981, she starred in the infamous film of her then future third husband, Jacques Doillon, “The Prodigal Daughter,” which raised the topic of incest. In total, Jane was married three times, giving each spouse a daughter. Her first husband was the English composer John Barry, known as the author of the music for one of the Bond films. Birkin was still very young at that time and the marriage did not last long.
The second husband of the already famous actress was the famous director Serge Gainsbourg, who was 20 years older than his wife. Jane said it was love at first sight. They were the most fashionable couple in France.
It was thanks to him that Jane began to sing. In 1969, they released a joint single, Je t'aime... moi non plus ("I love you... I don't love you either"), in which Birkin moaned and then faked an orgasm.
This song broke all sales records in France, and was banned from radio broadcast in a number of countries. The Pope even condemned this composition, which did not prevent it from becoming the calling card of the Birkin singer.
The family union with Gainsbourg lasted 12 years and ended in divorce due to Serge’s difficult character. But the creative tandem of the two people continued until the director’s death in 1991.
The actress’s third husband was again from a creative background—the cult director Jacques Doillon, for whom Jane starred in the film “The Prodigal Daughter.” It was on the set of the film that Jacques fell in love with the actress like a boy.
Jane has lived in Paris for the last 30 years, spending several months a year in a country house in Brittany. She is still active and has many different musical, theater, musical and humanitarian projects.
In the new millennium
Continuing to act in films, in 2004 the star released a new album “Rendez-Vous”, highly praised by critics, and 2 years later - the album “Fictions”, where almost all the songs were recorded by her in her native English. The original compositions included by the singer in the next album “Enfants d'Hiver” contained many childhood memories and bitter reflections on age.
With the advent of the 2000s, Jane continues to act and record songs
In 2020, she starred in the short film “La femme et lt TGV”, announcing that the role in it would be the last in her film career.
In 2020, her most personal, touching and nostalgic album “Birkin / Gainsbourg: Le symphonique” was released, combining 21 cover versions of Gainsbourg’s songs, including those that he wrote for other performers: Dalida, Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, Isabelle Adjani, Vanessa Paradis, etc. The compositions were performed with the support of a symphony orchestra.
Personal life of Jane Birkin
One of the most iconic women of the 20th century first married composer John Barry at age 19. According to Jane's recollections, she was terribly in love, flattered and excited that such a brilliant man chose her among other girls.
Jane Birkin and John Barry
At the same time, the parents were horrified, because the groom had previously been married twice and had three children. The marriage, which lasted until 1968, produced a daughter, Kate. She became a famous photographer and played a number of film roles, but in 2013 she committed suicide.
Jane Birkin and daughter Kate from her first marriage
In 1968, on the set of Slogan, 23-year-old Jane met forty-year-old Serge Gainsbourg, at that time already a famous composer, poet and bard. They soon became one of the most shocking, stylish and mysterious couples of that time.
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg with children
The reason for this was the actress’s sexy vocals in the erotic single of his authorship “Je t’aime... Moi Non Plus” (officially condemned by the Pope himself, but which became an international hit), and candid photo shoots, and their public quarrels with extravagant acts like the Birkin jump to the Seine.
In a similar way, she decided to defuse the situation after they had a row in the popular Castel bar. There, the beauty, in a fit of rage and passion, threw a cake at her lover (who had an equally fiery temperament) and ran away from him along the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Then, without ceremony, she threw herself into the river and emerged in a completely wet dress. Serge was a fan of grand gestures like this. Having made peace and laughing, they went home.
Charlotte Gainsbourg
In 1971, their baby Charlotte was born, who later became an actress and singer.
In 1980, tired of the alcoholism, provocations and depression of her eccentric lover, Jane broke off their relationship.
Jacques Doillon and Jane Birkin
Then, until 1992, she was in a de facto marriage with the cult director and screenwriter Jacques Doillon, and in 1982 she gave him a daughter, Lou, who later also chose the profession of a singer and actress, acting in her youth for magazines.
Lou Doillon
In 1992, Birkin separated from her husband. As the media wrote, “he could not withstand competition with her sadness about Gainsbourg’s passing.” Later, the singer and actress had an affair with writer Olivier Rolin.
In 2020, Jane admitted that she had leukemia, but she managed to overcome the disease.
Jane Birkin in 2017
She called her favorite anti-aging remedy, which can remove at least ten years, not Botox, but a wide smile.
Jane Birkin
“I don’t think about the fact that Gainsbourg has been gone for a long time when I sing his songs, because I will definitely cry. But I can’t afford it, it’s a shame,” says Jane Birkin. They were together for 11 years, from 1969 to 1980, but they communicated and were close until Gainsbourg’s death. “He called me and said that he bought me a large diamond - instead of the one that I had lost at one time. I said: “Serge, stop drinking already.” It was March 1st. The next day he was gone.”
“The arrogant, disgusting Serge Bourguignone” (as Jane, who did not know a word of French, called Serge after their first meeting on the set of the film “Slogan”) became her main man. Neither her early marriage to John Barry (father of her first daughter, Kate Barry) nor her long-term relationship with Jacques Doillon (from which her third daughter Lou was born) influenced Jane Birkin so much. “Lou gets annoyed when I say that Serge made me. I understand what exactly irritates her - the recognition of my lack of independence against the background of Lou herself, and Kate, and Charlotte, who have achieved a lot on their own.”
The last decade has been a serious challenge for Birkin. Kate's death in 2013, cancer, which took a year and a half of struggle - all this was very difficult. However, in 2017, Birkin returned to action: she released the album Birkin / Gainsbourg - Le Symphonique, versions of Gainsbourg’s songs recorded with a symphony orchestra, and sang this program live at various venues. “This is her return to the ring after several years marked by mourning and illness. “I will never go to the bottom. “I am a very optimistic person,” says Birkin in his inimitable voice,” wrote an admiring journalist from the Spanish El Pais following a conversation with Jane.
Keith Barry
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Posted by Lou Doillon ☕ (@loudoillon) Apr 8, 2020 at 3:48 am PDT
The eldest of Jane Birkin's daughters was born in London. Her father is composer John Barry, author of the music for the first Bond films. Birkin and Barry's marriage was short-lived; they separated in 1968. Kate was only one year old at that time. She and her mother moved to Paris, where Jane soon began a relationship with Serge Gainsbourg, who adopted Kate. Birkin Jr. first saw her father at the age of 13, after her mother left Gainsbourg. “Having met him, I found a part of myself,” she later said. “I have a father, John Barry, and I have a love, Serge Gainsbourg, they have a lot in common. But if one struggled with melancholy, the second allowed melancholy to take over him completely.”
After coping with drug addiction, which took her several years in her youth, Kate made an excellent career as a photographer, collaborating with both glossy magazines and prestigious newspapers, working with the brands Dior and La Redoute. “The camera is my protection from eternal melancholy,” Barry admitted. She also spearheaded the launch of two addiction treatment centers and regularly appeared there herself to talk to and support patients.
At the end of September 2013, Barry's solo exhibition opened at the Galerie Cinema in Paris. The exhibition closed on November 20, and three weeks later Kate died - she fell from the window of her apartment in the 16th arrondissement. She was 46 years old. The reasons for the incident are still unknown. Kate was very close to her mother and half-sisters, and for them her death was a huge shock. “My sister’s departure upset my existence so much that I no longer know what could scare me more. And I’m no longer afraid of death,” admitted Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Kate is survived by her son Roman de Kermadec, whom she gave birth to at the age of 20. The novel, caught in the media lens at his mother’s funeral, avoids publicity. He has an Instagram account, there are few photos there, but one of them, taken a year and a half ago, indicates that he became a father. This means that Jane Birkin is now a great-grandmother.
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Posted by Roman de Kermadec (@romandekermadec) Mar 10, 2020 at 7:41 am PST
