Jane Birkin, the British-French actress, singer, and style icon who inspired the eponymous Hermès Birkin handbag, has died at the age of 76.
According to Le Parisien, the iconic singer-actress was found dead at her home in Paris on Sunday. No further details have been shared at this time. Birkin had canceled a series of performances in Paris scheduled earlier this year for health reasons. She was previously diagnosed with leukemia in 2002 and suffered from a minor stroke in 2021.
Jane Mallory Birkin was born in Marylebone, London on December 14th, 1946. Raised in Chelsea with her brother, screenwriter and director Andrew Birkin, she audition for small acting parts before marrying composer John Barry in 1965 and giving birth to her first child, the late photographer Kate Barry, in 1967. In the meantime, she landed breakthrough roles in 1966’s Blow-Up and Kaleidoscope as well as 1968’s Wonderwall.
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Birkin and Barry divorced in 1968, and the actress moved to Paris, where she was immediately embraced by the French public and would remain for the rest of her life. In 1969, she starred alongside Serge Gainsbourg in the French film Slogan, featuring the duo’s first musical collaboration, “La Chanson de Slogan.” Later that year, the pair released a full LP, Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg, led by their definitive duet “Je t’aime… moi non plus.”
Birkin and Gainsbourg engaged in a decade-long creative and romantic partnership, with the actress appearing on Gainsbourg’s 1971 album Histoire de Melody Nelson and starring in his 1976 directorial debut, Je t’aime moi non plus. In 1971, they welcomed their only child together, actress-singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, but never married and separated in 1980. She began a 13-year relationship with director Jacques Doillon and gave birth to her third daughter, Lou Doillon, in 1982.
As a solo artist, Birkin unveiled her debut album Di doo dah in 1973 and continued to actively release new music through 2020’s Oh! Pardon tu dormais… She also maintained a prolific acting career, established with notable turns in 1973’s Dark Places and 1978’s Death on the Nile. She announced in 2016 that the Oscar-nominated short film La Femme et le TGV would serve as her final role, but was later the subject of her daughter Charlotte’s 2021 documentary Jane by Charlotte.
As one of the most recognizable figures to emerge from the ’60s European countercultural movement, Birkin was a constant fixture in the fashion world. Her tendency to carry a straw basket in lieu of a traditional bag eventually led to the creation of the Hermès Birkin bag, one of the most distinguishing high-end accessories in modern fashion. In 2015, she pressured the brand to endorse more humane practices in the creation of its handbag.
On Twitter, collaborator and Portishead vocalist Beth Gibbons shared, “She was such a beautiful, generous and kind soul. She was one of the nicest people I’ve worked with and always made me feel so at ease.”
I’m so sad to hear that Jane Birkin has gone. She was such a beautiful, generous and kind soul.
She was one of the nicest people I’ve worked with and always made me feel so at ease.
This is us rehearsing for a performance together in France ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Ep0VFhELjk— Beth Gibbons (@realbethgibbons) July 16, 2023
