Editing Jane Birkin (section)

== Early life ==
Jane Mallory Birkin was born on 14 December 1946,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Vezin, Annette |author2=Vezin, Luc |year=200|title=The 20th Century Muse|publisher=Harry N. Abrams|page=1180|isbn= 978-0-8109-9154-5}}</ref> in [[Marylebone]], London.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PNRNDwAAQBAJ&dq=jane+birkin+born+marylebone&pg=PT117 | title=Deadlier Than the Male: Femme Fatales in 1960s and 1970s Cinema | date=17 January 2016 | publisher=BearManor Media }}</ref> Her father, Lt- Cdr David Leslie Birkin (1914&ndash;1991), grandson of [[Sir Thomas Birkin, 1st Baronet]] and a member of the wealthy [[Birkin baronets|Birkin family]], was a [[Lieutenant commander (Royal Navy)|Royal Navy lieutenant commander]] and World War&nbsp;II [[espionage|spy]] who had worked with the [[French Resistance]].<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/07/16/jane-birkin-serge-gainsbourg-hermes-actress-singer/ |title=Obituary Jane Birkin |website=Telegraph.co.uk |date=17 July 2023|access-date=17 February 2025 }}</ref> His first cousin was [[Freda Dudley Ward]], a mistress of [[Edward VIII]] while he was [[Prince of Wales]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.genealogics.org/pedigree.php?personID=I00453163&tree=LEO | title=Pedigree Chart for Jane Birkin: Genealogics }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.genealogics.org/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=I00024839&savedpersonID=I00037380&secondpersonID=I00453160&maxrels=1&disallowspouses=0&generations=6&tree=LEO&primarypersonID=I00024839 | title=Relationship Calculator: Genealogics }}</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>{{cite web | url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/jane-birkin-interview | title=Jane Birkin on Her Regrets, Romances, and Renewed Sense of Self | date=15 December 2020 }}</ref> Reed told her it all depended on if the camera loved her. Her mother, [[Judy Campbell|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">{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/jane-birkin-actress-and-singer-dies-aged-76-snwhcm3ql | website=The Times | title= The Times Register: obituary Jane Birkin, English-born singer and actress |date=17 July 2023 |access-date= 28 October 2024 }}</ref> Birkin's elder brother is screenwriter and director [[Andrew Birkin]].<ref name="auto5">{{cite web |last=Dallach |first=Christoph |date=30 October 2006 |title=MELODIEN FÜR MILLIONEN |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/kulturspiegel/d-49383495.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101015110307/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/kulturspiegel/d-49383495.html |archive-date=15 October 2010 |website=Spiegel.de}}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{cite web|title=Les Heures Ou Je M'Eclipse|url=http://www.recordoftheday.com/record-of-the-day/2005-06-06/les-heures-ou-je-m-eclipse|website=Recordoftheday.com}}</ref>

Birkin was raised in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]]<ref name="mclean">{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/music/jane-birkin-interview-if-my-songs-seem-painful-it-s-for-my-daughter-kate-a3639371.html|work=[[Evening Standard]]|title=Jane Birkin interview: If my songs seem painful — it's for my daughter Kate|date=20 September 2017|access-date=23 September 2017|author=McLean, Craig}}</ref> and described herself as a "shy English girl".<ref name="mother">{{cite AV media|title=Jane Birkin: Mother of All Babes|year=2003|publisher=[[Sundance TV]]|url=http://www.sundance.tv/films/jane-birkin-mother-of-all-babes|people=Crawford, Gabrielle (director)}}</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">{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Julia Llewellyn |date=19 June 2023 |title=Jane Birkin: Do I have a health routine at 75? No! |newspaper=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/jane-birkin-interview-3kp3h67ml |access-date=20 June 2023 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> She said she wanted to be as pretty as [[Jean Shrimpton]], calling herself a "bad version" of her.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jane Birkin: 'I learned French off a tape recorder. All the French people laughed' {{!}} Jane Birkin {{!}} The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/22/jane-birkin-i-learned-french-off-a-tape-recorder |access-date=2023-07-25 |website=amp.theguardian.com|date=22 April 2017 }}</ref> Her middle name, "Mallory", was invented by her mother; it was partly inspired by the name of Arthurian author Sir [[Thomas Malory]].<ref>{{cite book | title=Munkey Diaries| date=20 August 2020 | isbn=978-1-4746-1772-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hn3TDwAAQBAJ&dq=jane+mallory+birkin+named&pg=PT14 | access-date=17 July 2023 | last1=Birkin | first1=Jane | publisher=Orion }}</ref>

Birkin attended [[Miss Ironside's School]] in Kensington<ref name="Walsh1997">{{cite web |title=The French miss |first=John |last=Walsh |work=The Independent |date=15 February 1997 |access-date=7 October 2022 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-french-miss-1278625.html}}</ref><ref name="Ironside1995">{{cite web |title=A funny little girl in socks and sandals| first = Virginia |last=Ironside |work=The Independent |date=9 January 1995 |access-date=7 October 2022 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/a-funny-little-girl-in-socks-and-sandals-1567231.html}}</ref> and [[Ryde School with Upper Chine|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 (composer)|John Barry]], whom she married in 1965 and with whom she had her first daughter, [[Kate Barry (photographer)|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" />