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Jane Birkin

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Jane Birkin
Image:Fictionsjaneb.jpg
Birkin in recent years
Born December 14, 1946
London, England
Official site Official site

Jane Birkin OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an actress and singer.

Birkin was born in London, England to David Birkin, a Royal Navy commander and World War II espionage hero, and Judy Campbell, an actress in Noel Coward musicals. Her great aunt was Freda Dudley Ward, a mistress of Edward VIII while he was Prince of Wales.

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[edit] Career

Birkin emerged in the swinging 60s in London, starring as one of the models in the controversial film Blow Up<ref>. In "Blowup" Birkin had the distinction of being the first actress to show pubic hair in a mainstream British movie</ref> in 1967.

In 1968, Birkin went to France to audition for the lead female role in Slogan. Though she did not speak French, she got the role.

In 1969, she and Serge Gainsbourg released the song "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 by radio stations in Italy, Sweden, Spain, and the UK, it was a commercial success all over Europe. The song's fame is a result of its salacious lyrics (sung in French) against a background of female moaning and groaning, culminating in an orgasm at the song's conclusion (which some claim to be the result of Jane and Serge actually engaging in sex during the recording of the song).

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, also titled Je t'aime... moi non plus, which created quite a stir for its frank examination of sexual ambiguity. For this performance she was nominated for a Best Actress César Awards.

Birkin has starred in the Agatha Christie films Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun, and recorded several great albums including Baby Alone in Babylone, Amours des Feintes, Lolita Go Home and Rendez-vous. She has obtained in the category Female Artist of the year in France the Victoires de la Musique award in 1992 .

In 1980, she met Jacques Doillon when she starred in his film La fille prodigue, they worked and lived together for the next 10 years. 1984's Doillon's film "La pirate" (also nominated for a César Award) led to an invitation from Patrice Chéreau to star on stage in La Fausse suivante by Marivaux at Nanterre. After this, she also began to appear frequently on stage in plays and concerts (France, Japan, UK then US).

Jacques Rivette also collaborated with her for Love on the Ground (1983) and La belle noiseuse (1991, Nominated Césars best supporting actress), and for Merchant Ivory's A Soldier's Daugther Never Cries (1998, also used her song "Di Doo Dah"), Merci Docteur Rey (2002) and also Le Divorce's end title song featured her singing "L'Anamour" composed by Serge Gainsbourg.

In 2006, she will play Elektra directed by Philippe Calvario in France.

Jane Birkin's humanitarian interests led her to work with Amnesty International, on immigrant welfare and AIDS issues. Birkin has also visited Bosnia, Rwanda. and Palestinian Territories, often working with children. She has been awarded an OBE for her services to acting, as well as the Ordre National du Mérite in France.

She was married from 1965 until 1968 to the famous film composer John Barry with whom she has a daughter, the photographer Kate Barry. Afterwards she had a very passionate and creative relationship with her mentor Serge Gainsbourg . They divorced in 1980 but Jane continued to be his absolute muse until his death . Their daughter is Charlotte Gainsbourg . In 1982 she gave birth to her third daughter, Lou Doillon from her marriage with the director Jacques Doillon .

She has made musical collaborations and duets with artists such as Feist , Beth Gibbons from Portishead , Bryan Ferry , Brian Molko from Placebo , Franz Ferdinand , Manu Chao , Brett Anderson from Suede , Mickey (3d) , Françoise Hardy , Cali , The Divine Comedy , The Magic Numbers , Paolo Conte , Beck, Rufus Wainwright , Yann Tiersen , Alain Souchon , Les Negresses Vertes , Johnny Marr from The Smiths , Zazie , MC Solaar , Yosui Inoue , Étienne Daho , Alain Chamfort , Jimmy Rowles , Goran Bregović ,Sonny Landreth and many others.

[edit] Trivia

  • Birkin recorded the song "Beauty" on French producer Hector Zazou's 2003 album Strong Currents.
  • She is noted for being the inspiration for fashion house Hermès' popular Birkin Bag after the actress was seen struggling with several bags while boarding an aeroplane.
  • Her image features on the cover art of Have You Fed the Fish? by singer song writer Badly Drawn Boy.

[edit] Discography

Image:Birkin.jpg

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Private life

Birkin 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.

On the set of Slogan, she met Serge Gainsbourg, with whom she cohabitated until 1980. They had a daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg.

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

[edit] Footnotes

<references />

[edit] Links

Official Website

Other links
Yahoo Movies Bio
Jane Birkin at the Internet Movie Database
A Tribute to Gainsbourg, zoom sur Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin biography
CNN interview with Jane Birkin



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