Jane Birkin

Jane Mallory Birkin (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The duo released a debut album, Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg, in 1969, and Birkin appeared in the film Je t'aime moi non plus in 1976 under Gainsbourg's direction. She mostly worked in France, where she had become a major star, and 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).

Birkin lived mainly in France from the late 1960s onwards and acquired French citizenship.<ref name="leparisien">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="auto6">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was the mother of photographer Kate Barry with her first husband John Barry; of actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg with Serge Gainsbourg; and of musician Lou Doillon with Jacques Doillon. She lent her name to the Hermès Birkin handbag.

After separating from Gainsbourg in 1980, Birkin continued to work both as 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.

Early life

Jane Mallory Birkin was born on 14 December 1946,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in Marylebone, London.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Her father, Lt- Cdr David Leslie Birkin (1914–1991), grandson of Sir Thomas Birkin, 1st Baronet and a member of the wealthy Birkin family, was a Royal Navy lieutenant commander and World War II spy who had worked with the French Resistance.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His first cousin was Freda Dudley Ward, a mistress of Edward VIII while he was Prince of Wales.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Through her father, Birkin was a first-cousin-once-removed of film director Carol Reed, whom Birkin turned to for advice about becoming an actress when she was a teenager, and a second cousin of Reed's nephew, actor Oliver Reed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Reed told her it all depended on if the camera loved her. Her mother, Judy Mary Campbell, was an actress best known for her work on stage, whose family was acquainted with the family of Margaret Thatcher while living in Grantham. She was Noël Coward's muse and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" was written for her.<ref name="thetimes.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Birkin's elder brother is screenwriter and director Andrew Birkin.<ref name="auto5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Birkin was raised in Chelsea<ref name="mclean">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and described herself as a "shy English girl".<ref name="mother">Template:Cite AV media</ref> 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."<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> She said she wanted to be as pretty as Jean Shrimpton, calling herself a "bad version" of her.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her middle name, "Mallory", was invented by her mother; it was partly inspired by the name of Arthurian author Sir Thomas Malory.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Birkin attended Miss Ironside's School in Kensington<ref name="Walsh1997">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Ironside1995">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Upper Chine School on the Isle of Wight.<ref name=":2" /> In 2021, she said she had 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 with whom she 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.<ref name=":1" /> She began auditioning for film and television roles in Britain and in Los Angeles.<ref name="mother" />

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).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1965 she also appeared in a musical, Passion Flower Hotel, for which John Barry wrote the music.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/> Barry, aged 30, proposed to 17-year old Birkin but her father forbade it as she was still a minor. They married when she was 18.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/>

In 1965 she had her first film role in Richard Lester's The Knack.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She had a small role in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup (1966) with Vanessa Redgrave and Sarah Miles. The movie gained notoriety because of Birkin's nude scene, which she later said she did because Barry had told her she would not have the courage to show up naked on set.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Birkin also said that on the day of her audition, she had no idea who Antonioni was.<ref name=":1" /> She had a more substantial role in the counterculture era film Kaleidoscope (1966) and a starring role as a fantasy-like model in Joe Massot's cult psychedelic swinging London film Wonderwall (1968).

Birkin met Serge Gainsbourg when she auditioned for the lead female role in the French film Slogan in which he was starring (1969).<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although she did not speak French<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> she won the role, co-starring alongside 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.<ref name="cnn">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She had a role in the French thriller La Piscine (1969) and said that the movie had enabled her to stay in France: "The film saved me and enabled me to stay in France. I just finished Slogan and was due to go back to England."<ref name=":1" /> Though her heavy English accent did prevent her from getting some roles, it turned out to be an asset in her career, as French audiences found it charming when she spoke French. She later stated: "Without my accent, I would have had a different career."<ref name=":1" />

Collaborations with Serge Gainsbourg and other work

Birkin and Barry divorced in 1969 and Birkin moved in with Gainsbourg in the Rue de Verneuil in Paris.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/> Their relationship was volatile; on one occasion after a quarrel she threw herself into the Seine.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/> In 1969 she appeared with Gainsbourg in two films, Les Chemins de Katmandou and Cannabis, and by herself in Jacques Deray's psychological thriller La Piscine, which starred Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/> Birkin sang backing vocals on two tracks of Gainsbourg's album l'Histoire de Melody Nelson and her portrait appeared on the album cover.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/>

In 1969, Gainsbourg and Birkin released the duet "Je t'aime... moi non plus" ("I love you ... me neither"). Gainsbourg had originally written the song for Brigitte Bardot and Birkin said it was "jealousy" that drove her to sing it.<ref name=":1" /> Shortly after making the recording, Birkin and Gainsbourg went for dinner at the Hotel des Beaux Arts in Paris and without saying anything, Gainsbourg put the record on the record player. Birkin recalled that all of a sudden, all the couples around them stopped talking with their knives and forks frozen in mid-air. Gainsbourg said, "I think we've got a hit record".<ref name="thetimes.com"/> The song caused a scandal for its sexual explicitness and was banned by radio stations in Italy,<ref name=italy>Template:Cite book</ref> Spain and the United Kingdom.<ref name=omm>Template:Cite news</ref> In Italy, the head of their record label was jailed for offending public morality.<ref name="thetimes.com"/>

"Je t'aime" made UK chart history when 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 because of the controversy, Fontana withdrew the record, which was then released on the Major Minor label. Fontana singles were still in the shops, along with the Major Minor release, and on 4 October 1969 the Major Minor release was at number three and the Fontana single at number 16. 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.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 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."<ref name=owen>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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).<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/>

She took a break from acting in 1971–1972 after her daughter Charlotte was born, and returned in 1973 as Brigitte Bardot's lover in Roger Vadim's Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman.<ref name="ALLMUSIC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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."<ref name=":1" /> The same year, she had a supporting role in the horror film Dark Places with Christopher Lee and Joan Collins.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> She made five films in 1975, including Claude Zidi's box-office hit La course a l'echalote and 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 Actress César Award.<ref name="ALLMUSIC" /> Further albums followed, including the well-received Ex-fan des sixties, and more films, among them John Guillermin's Death on the Nile, in which she appeared opposite Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow and Maggie Smith.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/> In 1978, Birkin modeled in trade advertisements for Lee Cooper jeans.<ref name="vogue" />

By 1980 Birkin was becoming disillusioned with the "hard-drinking, domineering" Gainsbourg.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/> She left him and bought a house in the 16th arrondissement Paris, where she lived for the next 15 years. They remained on good terms and shared custody of their daughter.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/> Birkin began a relationship with film-maker Jacques Doillon after they met on the set of his film La fille prodigue and a daughter, Lou, was born in 1982. She later appeared in his film La Pirate and Jacques Rivette's L'Amour par Terre.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/>

Later performances and recordings

File:Jane Birkin07.JPG

Birkin in 1985

File:Jane Birkin Cannes 2001.jpg

Birkin at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival

Birkin renewed her professional partnership with Gainsbourg, who had continued to write music for her after their breakup and recorded several albums with him, from Baby Alone in Babylone (1983), their first collaboration after their separation in 1980, to Amours des feintes (1990), the last he wrote before his death from a heart attack in March 1991. Birkin said in 2011 that Gainsbourg had been someone who "drank a vast amount. It started out being funny and then it got monotonous, (but) our friendship went on until his dying day."<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/>

Of Baby Alone in Babylone Birkin has said: "This was the album of the break-up when everything changed. All of a sudden, Serge got me to sing of his wounds and his feminine side. It was very unsettling to sing about the wounds that you have triggered." While recording the album, she sang as high as she could and said she had become "tired of singing as the little girl who excites gentlemen in trains". She also chose "Les Dessous chics" as "a portrait of Serge." She said: "It represents the modesty of feelings, made up outrageously in blood red. Les Dessous chics means keeping one's true feelings deep inside, as fragile as a silk stocking."<ref name=":1" /> Lost Song (1987) was also written by Gainsbourg.

Birkin starred in two films directed by Jacques Doillon: as Anne in La fille prodigue (The Prodigal Daughter, 1981) and as Alma in La pirate (1984, nominated for a César Award). She said The Prodigal Daughter (1981) was the first time her performance had been well received and "It touched [her] deeply to be taken seriously". Before working with Doillon she did not know about his work and said: "No one had ever offered me a part like that or asked me to have a nervous breakdown". She cited this film as her favorite, saying: "Piccoli and I were really good. If I die, I would like the film to be shown on television, even at midnight." When it was screened at Cannes it caused a scandal, which led to an invitation for Birkin from Patrice Chéreau to star on stage in La Fausse suivante by Marivaux at Nanterre. Recalling her experience on the stage, she said: "That was my first stage experience, which finally gave me the courage to sing at the Bataclan."<ref name=":1" />

She worked with director Herbert Vesely on Egon Schiele Exzess und Bestrafung in 1980, appearing as the mistress of Austrian artist Egon Schiele, played by Mathieu Carrière. She appeared in the Agatha Christie films Death on the Nile (1978) and Evil Under the Sun (1982). Jacques Rivette collaborated with her in Love on the Ground (1983) and La Belle Noiseuse (1991, nominated Césars best supporting actress). In 1985, she co-starred with John Gielgud in Leave All Fair (1985). She won Female Artist of the Year in the 1992 Victoires de la Musique.<ref name="ALLMUSIC" />

In 1995 Birkin played one of the lead roles in the Euripides tragedy The Trojan Women at the National Theatre in London.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/> She appeared in Merchant Ivory's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998) (which also used her song "Di Doo Dah") and in Merci Docteur Rey (2002). The end title song for Le Divorce (2003) featured her singing "L'Anamour", composed by Gainsbourg.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2006, she played the title role in Elektra, directed by Philippe Calvario in France.<ref name="ALLMUSIC" />

Birkin recorded the song "Beauty" on French producer Hector Zazou's album Strong Currents (2003).<ref name="ALLMUSIC" /> The album brought together a number of well-known soloists and featured her alongside Laurie Anderson, Irene Grandi and Melanie Gabriel, among others. On this album Birkin and Melanie Gabriel covered songs by Nina Hynes. Birkin undertook world tours in which she performed Gainsbourg's songs and recorded more albums, including Lolita Go Home, Rendez-vous (2004), an album of duets with, among others, Francoise Hardy and Bryan Ferry, Fictions (2006) and Enfants d'hiver (2008).<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/>

File:2017.04.19. Jane Birkin Warsaw Poland Fot Mariusz Kubik.JPG

Birkin performing in Warsaw in 2017

The cover art of Have You Fed the Fish? (2002) by singer-songwriter Badly Drawn Boy featured her image. The album included backing vocals by her daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg.<ref name="ALLMUSIC" /> In 2006 Birkin recorded and released the album Fictions,<ref name=cnn /> and in 2010, recorded a duet, "Marie," with Brazilian singer Sérgio Dias, which appeared on We Are the Lilies, an album by Dias and French band Tahiti Boy and the Palmtree Family featured contributions from Iggy Pop and others.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2016 Birkin appeared in an advertising campaign for Yves Saint Laurent shot by Hedi Slimane which featured various female musicians, including Marianne Faithfull, Courtney Love, and Joni Mitchell.<ref name=vogue>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The same year, she had the lead role in La femme et le TGV, a short film directed by Swiss filmmaker Timo von Gunten.<ref name=indie>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In a 2017 interview, Birkin stated that La femme et le TGV would be her final acting performance and that she had no plans to return to acting.<ref name=indie />

On 24 March 2017, Birkin released Birkin/Gainsbourg: Le Symphonique, a collection of songs Gainsbourg had written for her during and after their relationship, reworked with full orchestral arrangements.<ref name=mclean /> In September 2017, she performed live in Brussels to promote the album.<ref name=mclean />

Personal life

On 16 October 1965, 18-year-old Birkin married British composer and conductor John Barry, 13 years her senior, in a private ceremony at Chelsea Register Office, London.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They met in 1964 when Barry cast Birkin in his musical Passion Flower Hotel. Their daughter was photographer Kate Barry (1967–2013).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Barry "turned out to be a cold and unfaithful husband" and Birkin wrote in her diary, aged 19, "The feeling of being unwanted, undesired and unloved is beginning to strangle me".<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/> Their marriage ended in 1968.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She said she was insecure during the relationship and "couldn't believe that this sophisticated, talented genius chose [her] and not any of the other girls." She did not want him to see her with her "tiny, piggy eyes" so she would sleep with an eye pencil under her pillow and put it on if he woke up in the night. He eventually went to the United States and left Birkin with their daughter in England.<ref name=":1" />

Birkin had a romantic and creative relationship with French musician Serge Gainsbourg, 18 years her senior, whom she met on the set of Slogan in 1968. They were together for 12 years<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> but never married, despite rumours and misreporting to the contrary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She eventually became a French citizen.<ref name="leparisien" /><ref name="auto6" />

File:Charlotte Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin 2010 b.jpg

Birkin with her second daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg in 2010

In 1971, Birkin and Gainsbourg had a daughter, actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg. The couple separated in 1980, because of his alcoholism and violence.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She described him as "a very difficult man to live with",<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and said that during recording sessions he would scream at her and hit her with a ruler if she could not sing a part.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She took credit for helping him to develop his style later in life, saying: "It's all about me, he listened to me a lot."<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 4 September 1982, she gave birth to her third daughter, Lou Doillon, from her relationship with director Jacques Doillon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She said: "Meeting Jacques was a real turning point in my career. In my private life, after I left Serge, Jacques and I lived together for thirteen years, and had Lou."<ref name=":1" /> She said she was surprised and happy to find out that Doillon was not "an old man". They separated in 1993. The Observer reported in 2007 that Doillon "could not compete with her grief for Gainsbourg" (who died in 1991), and that she had lived alone since their separation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Birkin said that Doillon lost interest in casting her in his movies, and she felt "pain for Jacques going off with all these young girls making all these films all the time". Later, Birkin had a relationship with French writer Olivier Rolin.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>

Birkin became a political activist, and joined protest marches through the streets of Paris against racism, in defence of illegal immigrants, and in support of Palestinian rights, Amnesty International and the fight against AIDS.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/> In 2001 she received an OBE award at Buckingham Palace in London. In 2004 she was awarded France's Ordre nationale du Merite.<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/>

In 2002, she was diagnosed with leukaemia and underwent rounds of treatment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Birkin often spent time with her six grandchildren.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her daughter, Kate Barry, died in December 2013 after falling from her fourth floor apartment in Paris.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Birkin mainly resided in Paris from the late 1960s onwards.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=mclean /> She was described as "a fixture of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood on the Left Bank".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2020, recalling 1970s Paris, she said: "it was a time of great innocence, and I don't think social problems were as they are today."<ref name=":0" /> On 6 September 2021, it was reported that Birkin was doing well after having a stroke.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Death

File:Kate Barry tombe 2021.jpg

The grave of Kate Barry and Jane Birkin in Cimetière Montparnasse in Paris

On 16 July 2023, Birkin was found dead at home in Paris. She was 76.<ref name="leparisien"/> No cause of death was disclosed. The premiere of the documentary Jane by Charlotte, about Birkin's relationship with her daughter Charlotte, on 8 July 2021, was one of her last public appearances. Her funeral took place at the Church of Saint-Roch in the 1st arrondissement of Paris on the morning of 24 July. After the funeral, her remains were cremated at the crematorium of Père Lachaise Cemetery and her ashes were interred at Montparnasse Cemetery, in the grave of her daughter, Kate Barry, in the same cemetery where Gainsbourg was buried.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Many fans gathered to watch the ceremony on a large screen outside of the church. France's First Lady Brigitte Macron and Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak, Catherine Deneuve and her daughter Chiara Mastroianni; Vanessa Paradis; Maïwenn; Sandrine Kiberlain; Carole Bouquet; Charlotte Rampling and Anthony Vaccarello were among those who attended.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Philanthropy

Birkin's humanitarian interests led her to work with Amnesty International on immigrant welfare and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Countries she visited included Bosnia, Rwanda and Palestine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Political views and activism

As a child, Birkin demonstrated in the streets of London against capital punishment. In the 1970s, she campaigned for the right to abortion and appeared at the Bobigny trial in support of four women accused of having helped the high school student Marie-Claire Chevalier to have an abortion following a rape.<ref name="Herreros">Template:Cite news</ref>

Birkin campaigned against the far-right in France, participating in a protest denouncing the qualification of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the second round of the 2002 presidential election. In 2017, she performed at a free concert at the Place de la République organised in opposition to Marine Le Pen in the 2017 presidential election.<ref name="Herreros"/>

Birkin also demonstrated support for immigrants, denouncing the French government's policy towards undocumented migrants in 2010. The same year, she protested outside the residence of the Minister of Immigration, Éric Besson. She also announced that she was sponsoring a young Congolese who had requested political asylum. In 2015, she marched in Paris in support of refugees.<ref name="Herreros"/>

In September 2018, following the resignation of French environment minister Nicolas Hulot, Birkin was one of the 200 artists and scientists who signed an open letter published on the front page of the daily Le Monde titled "The Greatest Challenge in the History of Mankind", which urged politicians to act "firmly and immediately" in fighting climate change and the "collapse of biodiversity".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In late 2022, Birkin, among other French women, cut her hair in support of Iranian women and girls who had been killed in protests at the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by Iranian morality police.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Awards and honours

Birkin won the "Best Actress" award at the 1985 Orleans Film Festival for Leave All Fair. The jury of the 1985 Venice Film Festival recognised Birkin's performance in Dust as amongst the best of the year. They decided not to award a best actress prize because all of the actresses they judged to have made the best performances were in films that won major awards. Dust won the Silver Lion prize.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Jane Birkin Cannes 2016.jpg

Birkin at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival

In the diplomatic and overseas list of the 2001 Birthday Honours, Birkin was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire "for services to acting and UK-French cultural relations".<ref>The London Gazette, 16 June 2001, Supplement 56237, p. 24</ref> She received the Order from the Prince of Wales in April 2002.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2013, she and her daughter, Lou Doillon, were appointed to the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres as Chevaliers.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> In 2022, she was raised to the highest rank in the order, Commandeur.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> She was also awarded the French Ordre National du Mérite in 2004 and 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2018, she was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun in the Spring Conferment for her efforts in promoting cultural exchanges between Japan and France.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In popular culture

Birkin basket

Birkin was described as having carried a hand-woven straw basket from Castro Marim in Algarve, Portugal, everywhere she went,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> from the market,<ref name="flickr/53052340715">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to nightclubs,<ref name="flickr/53056141460">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to formal events until her husband Jacques Doillon intentionally ran over it with his car in the early 1980s.<ref name="vogue/birkin-basket">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="lofficielbaltic/birkin-basket">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="i-d.vice/akw8xb">Template:Cite news</ref>

Birkin bag

File:Hermes Ostrich Birkin Bag.jpg

Hermès ostrich Birkin bag

In 1983, Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was seated next to Birkin on a flight from Paris to London. Birkin had just placed her straw basket in the overhead compartment of her seat when the contents fell out onto the floor, leaving her scrambling to recover them. Birkin explained to Dumas that it had been difficult to find a leather weekend bag she liked.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1984, he created a black supple leather bag for her: the Birkin bag,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> based on a 1982 design. She used the bag initially, but later changed her mind because she was carrying too many things in it: "What's the use of having a second one?" she said laughingly. "You only need one and that busts your arm; they're bloody heavy. I'm going to have an operation for tendinitis in the shoulder."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Nonetheless, Birkin did use the bag for some time.<ref name="rules">Template:Cite news</ref> The Birkin bag has, over the years, become a status symbol, with prices ranging from US$10,000 to $500,000.<ref name="maura">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2015, Birkin wrote a public letter to Hermès requesting her name be removed from the bag,<ref name="maura" /> stating she wanted the company to "debaptise the Birkin Croco until better practices in line with international norms can be put in place", referring to the cruel methods used to acquire the skins for the crocodile variant of the bags.<ref>"Jane Birkin Asks Hermes To Take Name Off Crocodile Handbag," AFP, 28 July 2015.</ref> Hermès announced soon afterwards that it had satisfied Birkin with new reassurances on this.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Discography

Template:Col-beginTemplate:Col-break Studio albums

• Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg (1969; with Serge Gainsbourg)<ref name="auto2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Di doo dah (1973)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Lolita Go Home (1975)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Ex fan des sixties (1978)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Baby Alone in Babylone (1983)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Lost Song (1987)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Amours des feintes (1990)<ref name="bfmtv">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Versions Jane (1996)<ref name="bfmtv" />
• À la légère (1999)<ref name="obit" />
• Rendez-vous (2004)<ref name="obit" />
• Fictions (2006)<ref name="obit">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Enfants d'Hiver (2008)<ref name="obit" />
• Oh! Pardon tu dormais... (2020)<ref name="obit" />

Live albums

• Jane Birkin au Bataclan (1987)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Intégral au Casino de Paris (1992)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Intégral à l'Olympia (1996)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Arabesque (2002)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Au palace (live) (2009)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Jane Birkin Sings Serge Gainsbourg via Japan (2012)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	The Knack ...and How to Get It	Girl on a motorbike	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1966	The Idol	A blonde	Uncredited<ref name=":3" />
1966	Kaleidoscope	Exquisite Thing	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1966	Blowup	The Blonde	<ref name="auto"/>
1968	Wonderwall	Penny Lane	<ref name="auto"/>
1969	La Piscine	Penelope	<ref name="auto"/>
	Les Chemins de Katmandou	Jane	<ref name="auto"/>
	Slogan	Evelyne	<ref name="auto"/>
1970	Trop petit mon ami	Christine Mars / Christine Devone	<ref name="auto"/>
	Cannabis	Jane Swenson	Also known as: French Intrigue<ref name=":3" /><ref name="auto"/>
	May Morning	Flora Finlake	Also known as: Alba Pagana<ref name="auto"/>
1971	Devetnaest djevojaka i jedan mornar	Milja	<ref name=":3" />
	Romance of a Horsethief	Naomi	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1972	Trop jolies pour être honnêtes	Christine	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1973	Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye	Corringa	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman	Clara	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Dark Places	Alta	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Private Screening	Kate / Hélène	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1974	Le Mouton enragé	Marie-Paule	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	How to Do Well When You are a Jerk and a Crybaby	Jane	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Serious as Pleasure	Ariane Berg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Lucky Pierre	Jackie Logan	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1975	La Course à l'échalote	Janet	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Catherine et Compagnie	Catherine	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Sept morts sur ordonnance	Jane Berg	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1976	Burnt by a Scalding Passion	Virginia Vismara	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Je t'aime moi non plus	Johnny	Nominated – César Award for Best Actress<ref name="auto1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1977	L'Animal	Female film star	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1978	Death on the Nile	Louise Bourget	<ref name="auto"/>
1979	Au bout du bout du banc	Peggy	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Melancoly Baby	Olga	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	La miel	Inés	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1980	Egon Schiele – Excess and Punishment	Wally Neuzil	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1981	Template:Ill	Anne	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Rends-moi la clé!	Catherine	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1982	Evil Under the Sun	Christine Redfern	<ref name="auto"/>
	Nestor Burma, Shock Detective	Hélène Chatelain	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1983	Circulez y a rien à voir!	Hélène Duvernet	<ref>Circulez y a rien à voir!</ref>
	L'ami de Vincent	Marie-Pierre	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Love on the Ground	Emily	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1984	Le garde du corps	Barbara Penning	<ref name="auto"/>
	The Pirate	Alma	Nominated – César Award for Best Actress<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>
1985	Dust	Magda	<ref name="auto"/>
	Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea	Nikos' former love	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Beethoven's Nephew	Johanna	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Leave All Fair	Katherine Mansfield	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1986	La Femme de ma vie	Laura	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1987	Kung-Fu Master	Mary-Jane	<ref name="auto3"/>
	Keep Your Right Up	Fun-loving woman	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Comedy!	Her	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1988	Jane B. par Agnès V.	Herself / Calamity Jane / Claude Jade / Joan of Arc	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1990	Daddy Nostalgie	Caroline	<ref name="auto3"/>
1991	La Belle Noiseuse	Liz	Nominated – César Award for Best Supporting Actress<ref>Jane Birkin bcactionfund.org Template:Webarchive</ref>
1995	One Hundred and One Nights	Madame Radin	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1997	Same Old Song	Jane	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1998	A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries	Mrs. Fortescue	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1999	The Last September	Francie Montmorency	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2001	A Hell of a Day	Jane	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2002	Merci Docteur Rey	Pénélope	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2003	The Very Merry Widows	Renée	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2006	Boxes	Anna	Herself<ref name="auto2"/>
2009	36 Views from the Pic Saint-Loup	Kate	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2010	Thelma, Louise et Chantal	Nelly	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2012	Twice Born	Psychologist	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2013	Nobody's Daughter Haewon	Herself	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	Quai d'Orsay	Molly Hutchinson	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2016	Whoever Was Using This Bed	The Caller	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	La Femme et le TGV	Elise	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2020	Paolo Conte Via von me		<ref name=":3" />
2021	Jane by Charlotte	Herself	<ref name="auto2"/>

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Armchair Mystery Theatre	Anthea Langridge	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1967–68	Armchair Theatre	Babs / Judy	Episodes: "Recount"; "Poor Cherry"<ref name="auto"/>
1974	Bons baisers de Tarzan	Jeanne	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1985	La fausse suivante	La Comtesse	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1988	Médecins des hommes	Joy	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1990	L'ex-femme de ma vie	Aurélie	Television film
1991	Red Fox	Violet Harrison	Miniseries<ref name="auto"/>
2000	Cinderella	Mab	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2006	Les aventuriers des mers du Sud	Fanny Stevenson	Television film
2011–13	Les saisons meurtrières	Lili Rousseau	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• Birkin bag
• Serge Gainsbourg discography

External links

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• CNN interview with Jane Birkin
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