Editing Jane Birkin (section)

== Career ==
=== Early acting credits ===
Birkin emerged in the [[Swinging Sixties|Swinging London]] scene of the 1960s, appearing in an uncredited part in ''[[The Knack ...and How to Get It]]'' (1965).<ref>{{cite book|title=The British Invasion|page=155|author=Miles, Barry|year=2009|publisher=Sterling|isbn=978-1-4027-6976-4}}</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>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/07/16/jane-birkin-serge-gainsbourg-hermes-actress-singer/ |title=Obituary Jane Birkin |website=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=17 July 2023|access-date=17 February 2025 }}</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>{{Cite web |title=Freedom, revolt and pubic hair: why Antonioni's Blow-Up thrills 50 years on |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/mar/10/antonioni-blow-up-50-years-movie-photographer-murder |access-date=20 June 2023 |website=[[The Guardian]]|date=10 March 2017 }}</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 of the 1960s|counterculture era]] film ''[[Kaleidoscope (1966 film)|Kaleidoscope]]'' (1966) and a starring role as a fantasy-like model in Joe Massot's cult [[psychedelic art|psychedelic]] [[swinging London]] film ''[[Wonderwall (film)|Wonderwall]]'' (1968).

Birkin met [[Serge Gainsbourg]] when she auditioned for the lead female role in the French film ''[[Slogan (film)|Slogan]]'' in which he was starring (1969).<ref name="Obituary Jane Birkin"/><ref>{{cite news |date=1969 |title=''Slogan'' (AKA ''L'amour et l'amour'') |work=FilmAffinity |url=http://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film251478.html}}</ref> Although she did not speak French<ref>{{cite book |last1=Simmons |first1=Sylvie |url=https://archive.org/details/sergegainsbourgf00simm/page/52 |title=Serge Gainsbourg : a fistful of gitanes : requiem for a twister |date=2002 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81183-8 |edition=1st |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=[https://archive.org/details/sergegainsbourgf00simm/page/52 52] |url-access=registration}}</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">{{cite web |date=3 October 2006 |title=Q & A: Jane Birkin |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/03/16/paris.qa/ |access-date=22 September 2017 |publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref> She had a role in the French thriller ''[[La Piscine (film)|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 French accent did prevent her from getting some roles, it turned out to be an asset in her career, as French audiences found it charming. 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&nbsp;... 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>{{cite book|last1=Cheles|first1=Luciano|last2=Sponza|first2=Lucio|title=The art of persuasion: political communication in Italy from 1945 to the 1990s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vy1NMicVUEEC&pg=PA331|year=2001|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=0-7190-4170-8|page=331}}</ref> Spain and the United Kingdom.<ref name=omm>{{cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/the10/story/0,,1487369,00.html|title=The 10 most x-rated records|last=Spencer|first=Neil|date=22 May 2005|work=Observer Music Monthly|publisher=Guardian Newspapers|access-date=3 August 2010|location=London}}</ref> In Italy, the head of their record label was jailed for offending public morality.<ref name="thetimes.com"/>

{{quote box|width=22%|align=left|bgcolor=cornsilk|style=font-size:100%|quote=[It is] very flattering to have the most beautiful songs, probably, in the French language written for [you]. [But] how much talent did I really have? Perhaps not that much.|source=—&nbsp;Birkin reflecting on her working relationship with Gainsbourg, 2013<ref name=owen />}}

"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 Records|Fontana]] label, but because of the controversy, Fontana withdrew the record, which was then released on the [[Major Minor Records|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>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/serge-gainsbourg-histoire-de-melody-nelson.htm |title=Serge Gainsbourg&nbsp;— Histoire De Melody Nelson&nbsp;— On Second Thought |magazine=Stylus Magazine |access-date=2 August 2012 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303194100/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/serge-gainsbourg-histoire-de-melody-nelson.htm |url-status=dead}}</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>{{cite web |last=Owen |first=Jonathan |title=Jane Birkin: 'I was no Lolita,' says Britain's Bardot |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jane-birkin-i-was-no-lolita-says-britains-bardot-8468346.html |work=The Independent |date=27 January 2013 |access-date=23 September 2017}}</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">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jane-birkin-mn0000216846/biography|work=AllMusic|author=Bush, John|title=Jane Birkin Biography & History|access-date=29 August 2017}}</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 (1973 film)|Dark Places]]'' with [[Christopher Lee]] and [[Joan Collins]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fenton |first1=Harvey |last2=Flint |first2=David |title=Ten Years of Terror: British Horror Films of the 1970s |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BglGZUvGQmQC |publisher=FAB Press |year=2001 |page=180 |isbn=978-1-903254-08-0}}</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 (film)|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|thumb|upright=0.8|Birkin in 1985]]
[[File:Jane Birkin Cannes 2001.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|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: "[[Michel Piccoli|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 (theatre)|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 film)|Death on the Nile]]'' (1978) and ''[[Evil Under the Sun (1982 film)|Evil Under the Sun]]'' (1982). [[Jacques Rivette]] collaborated with her in ''Love on the Ground'' (1983) and ''[[La Belle Noiseuse]]'' (1991, nominated [[César Awards|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 Productions|Merchant Ivory]]'s ''[[A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (film)|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>{{cite web|work=AllMusic|title=Le Divorce [Original Score]|access-date=23 September 2017|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/le-divorce-mw0000041422|author=Phares, Heather}}</ref> In 2006, she played [[Electra|the title role]] in ''[[Elektra (opera)|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|thumb|left|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>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15049-we-are-the-lilies/|work=Pitchfork|title=We are the Lilies|access-date=23 September 2017|author=Kelly, Zach|date=2 February 2011}}</ref>

In 2016 Birkin appeared in an advertising campaign for [[Yves Saint Laurent (brand)|Yves Saint Laurent]] shot by [[Hedi Slimane]] which featured various female musicians, including [[Marianne Faithfull]], [[Courtney Love]], and [[Joni Mitchell]].<ref name=vogue>{{cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/jane-birkin-saint-laurent-campaign|work=Vogue|title=Jane Birkin Returns to Fashion With Saint Laurent|author=Yotka, Steff|date=29 March 2016|access-date=24 September 2017}}</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>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiewire.com/2017/02/jane-birkin-oscar-nominated-short-la-femme-et-le-tgv-1201784037/|work=Indiewire|title=Jane Birkin's Comeback: Why She Chose Oscar-Nominated Short 'La Femme et le TGV' As Her Final Film|author=Dry, Jude|date=2 February 2017|access-date=23 September 2017}}</ref> The film was nominated for an [[Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film|Best Live Action Short Film]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Merry|first1=Stephanie|title=Oscar nominations 2017: Complete list of nominees; 'La La Land's' 14 ties record|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/01/24/oscar-nominations-2017-complete-coverage/|access-date=25 January 2017|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=24 January 2017}}</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 />