2023-07-16 17:17:18
The French-British actress and singer Jane Birkinwho in the late 1960s popularized the international musical hit ‘Je t’aime…moi non plus’ with Serge Gainsbourg, died at the age of 76 in Paris, where she had lived since 1960.
Jane Birkin, who had recently canceled several concerts due to her state of health, was found dead this Sunday at her home in País, the French newspaper published exclusively The Parisian.
Although the cause of her death is still unknown, Birkin herself had said that her health had deteriorated following a stroke at the end of 2021, forcing her to cancel the concerts she had already scheduled at that time. After that episode a broken shoulder blade in an accident had complicated his overall picture.
“I have always been very optimistic and I realize that I still need a little time to be able to perform on stage once more and with you.“The artist wrote to her fans at that time, who were looking forward to seeing her once more.
Birkin was born on December 14, 1946 in London and with only She had already debuted as an actress at the age of 17 in the movies Le Knakck (1965) by Richard Lester y Blow-UP (1967) by Michelangelo Antonioni, two films that were awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. She also acted in The poolwith Romy Schneider and Alain Delon in 1969.
Birkin rose to fame thanks to her turbulent relationship with legendary musician, composer, performer, and poet Serge Gainsbourg. In 1969 Jane Birkin gave voice to “Je t’aime, moi non plus”, a worldwide hit peppered with scandal due to moans of love, which was first written by Serge Gainsbourg for Brigitte Bardot, with whom he had an affair. The public adored her for her sensitivity and her peculiar British accent, which she always retained.
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birkin, next to Serge Gainsbourg, your partner for many years.
On the big screen, Jane Birkin starred in “Blow up”, the Antonioni film crowned with the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967, and in “The Pool”, with Romy Schneider and Alain Delon in 1969. She also worked with directors like Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Doillon and Agnès Varda.
The relationship with Gainsbourg, whom he met on a set in 1968, gave his career a new orientation. And with him formed a mythical duo in the Paris of the 1970s, wrapped in passion, glamor and scandals.
Together they starred in scandals in tumultuous years, in line with the success of I love…me neitherA song of explicit sexual content which was banned in many countries and gave him worldwide fame.
The piece generated great controversy in those years, since it spoke openly regarding sexual relations and included Birkin faking an orgasm. It included phrases like “You are the wave, I am the naked island. You come and go. Between my loins. You come and go. Between my entrails. And I join you.”
Overwhelmed by the relationship with a sometimes excessive and violent Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin left the family apartment in Paris in 1981, with her daughters Kate (born from her union with the British composer John Barry) and Charlotte, and rebuilt her life with the filmmaker Jacques Doillon.
Long following the death of Serge Gainsbourg in 1991, and despite very hard moments such as the death of his daughter Kate Barry, in 2013, and a difficult-to-cure leukemiaBirkin continued to sing songs by the French musician, with whom he formed a legendary couple.
Jane Birkin was an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and in France a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters. She, however, rejected the Legion of Honor in 1989, considering that “only heroes” are worthy of such recognition.
A way to honor the memory of his father David, a British Navy officer who transported resistance fighters from the United Kingdom to France during World War II. He died in 1991, the day of Serge Gainsbourg’s funeral..
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