Sixties ‘wildchild’ actress, singer and Hermes’ handbag inspiration Jane Birkin dies
- Known for the erotic hit ‘Je t’aime...moi non plus’, which she sang with her French lover Serge Gainsbourg, she also appeared naked in the iconic film Blow Up
- She was also the inspiration behind the best-selling luxury Hermes handbag, designed for her when she couldn’t find one that would fit all her travel essentials
British-born actress and singer Jane Birkin, a 1960s wildchild who became a beloved figure in France, has died in Paris aged 76, the French Culture Ministry said on Sunday.
French media reported she had been found dead at her home, citing people close to her. Birkin had a mild stroke in 2021 after suffering heart problems in previous years.
Birken was best known overseas for her 1969 hit in which she and her then-lover, the late French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, sang the sexually explicit Je t’aime...moi non plus.
She had lived in her adopted France since the break-up of her marriage to British composer John Barry in the late 1960s. Apart from her singing and roles in dozens of films, she was a popular figure in France for her warm nature, stalwart fight for women’s and LGBT rights.
“This departure is so sad. She was a beautiful person,” former Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot said.
Jane Mallory Birkin was born in London in December 1946, daughter of British actress Judy Campbell and Royal Navy commander David Birkin.
Before venturing across the Channel aged 22, she achieved notoriety in the controversial 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni film Blow-Up, appearing naked in a threesome sex scene.