Jane Birkin: Difference between revisions
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* [http://thepeerage.com/p4675.htm#i46748 Jane Birkin, thepeerage.com] |
* [http://thepeerage.com/p4675.htm#i46748 Jane Birkin, thepeerage.com] |
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* [http://empdex.com/2008/02/27/fashion-flashback-jane-birkin/ Fashion Photo Gallery] |
* [http://empdex.com/2008/02/27/fashion-flashback-jane-birkin/ Fashion Photo Gallery] |
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* {{cite web |publisher= [[Jasper Conran]] |
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|url= http://www.jasperconran.com/journal/musings-on-muses,118,BLO.html |
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Revision as of 10:30, 21 October 2011
Jane Birkin | |
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Born | Jane Mallory Birkin 14 December 1946 Marylebone, London, England |
Occupation(s) | Singer, actress, director, songwriter, activist |
Years active | 1966–present |
Spouse(s) |
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Website | janebirkin.net |
Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE (born 14 December 1946)[1] is an English-born actress and singer who lives in France. She is best known as the muse of Serge Gainsbourg, who wrote several of her albums, and for her work on screen collaborating with such directors as Jacques Rivette, Agnès Varda and Jacques Doillon. In recent years she has written her own album, directed a film and become an outspoken proponent of democracy in Burma.
Early life
Jane Birkin was born on 14 December 1946, in Marylebone, London. Her mother, Judy Campbell, was an English actress, best known for her work on stage. Her father, David Birkin, was a Royal Navy lieutenant-commander and World War II espionage operative. Her brother is the screenwriter and director Andrew Birkin. She was educated at Upper Chine School, Isle of Wight.
Career
Birkin emerged in the Swinging London scene of the 1960s, appearing briefly in the 1966 film Blowup, and as the fantasy-like model in the psychedelic Wonderwall from 1968. That same year, she auditioned in France for the lead female role in Slogan. Though she did not speak French, she won the role. She co-starred with Serge Gainsbourg, and performed with him on the film's theme song, "La chanson de slogan" — the first of many collaborations between the two.
In 1969, she and Gainsbourg released the duet "Je t'aime... moi non plus" ("I love you... me neither"). Gainsbourg originally wrote the song for Brigitte Bardot. The song caused a scandal for its sexual explicitness, and was banned by radio stations in Italy, Spain, and the UK. The song's fame is partly a result of its salacious lyrics, sung in French by both Gainsbourg and Birkin to a background of increasing sexual moans and groans from Birkin and culminating in her simulated orgasm at the song's conclusion.
This UK ban had TV show Top Of The Pops producers in a quandary, as they always played the number one single. Controversially, they played the instrumental version which had been recorded by studio musicians Sounds Nice. This version was also a UK number 18 hit under the title of "Love At First Sight".
Je t'aime made UK chart history in that on 4 October 1969 and the following week on the 11th. Je t'aime was at two different chart positions even though it is the same song, the same artists, and the same recorded version. The only difference was that they were on different record labels. It was originally released on the Fontana label, but due to its controversy, Fontana withdrew the record which was then released on the Major Minor label. Because there were Fontana singles still in the shops along with the Major Minor release, on 4 October 1969 the Major Minor release was at number 3 and the Fontana single at number 16. Also at that time it was the biggest ever selling single for a completely foreign language record.
Birkin also appeared on Gainsbourg's 1971 album Histoire de Melody Nelson, portraying the Lolita-like protagonist in song and on the cover.[2]
Birkin took a break from acting in 1971–72, but returned as Brigitte Bardot's lover in Don Juan (Or If Don Juan Were a Woman) in 1973.[1] In 1975, she appeared in Gainsbourg's first film, Je t'aime... moi non plus, which created a stir for frank examination of sexual ambiguity. For this performance she was nominated for a Best Actress César Award.[1]
Birkin starred in the Agatha Christie films Death on the Nile (1978) and Evil Under the Sun (1982), and recorded several albums, including Baby Alone in Babylone, Amours des Feintes, Lolita Go Home and Rendez-vous. She won Female Artist of the Year in the 1992 Victoires de la Musique.[1]
She starred in two films directed by Jacques Doillon – as Anne in La fille prodigue (1981) and as Alma in La pirate (1984, nominated for a César Award). This work led to an invitation from Patrice Chéreau to star on stage in La Fausse suivante by Marivaux at Nanterre. After this, she also began to appear frequently on stage in plays and concerts (in France, Japan, the UK and then the U.S).
In 1980 she worked with director Herbert Vesely on Egon Schiele Exzess und Bestrafung, appearing as the mistress of Austrian artist Egon Schiele, played by Mathieu Carrière.
Jacques Rivette collaborated with her in Love on the Ground (1983) and La Belle Noiseuse (1991, Nominated Césars best supporting actress). Additionally, she appeared in Merchant Ivory's A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998, also used her song "Di Doo Dah") and Merci Docteur Rey (2002), while Le Divorce's end title song featured her singing "L'Anamour", composed by Gainsbourg.[1]
In 2006, she played the title role in Elektra, directed by Philippe Calvario in France.[1]
Birkin's humanitarian interests led her to work with Amnesty International on immigrant welfare and AIDS issues. Birkin has also visited Bosnia, Rwanda and Palestine, often working with children. In 2001, she was awarded the OBE. She has also been awarded the French Ordre National du Mérite.
She has collaborated with artists such as Feist, Beth Gibbons from Portishead, Bryan Ferry, Brian Molko from Placebo, Franz Ferdinand, Manu Chao, Brett Anderson from Suede, Mickey 3D, Françoise Hardy, Cali, The Divine Comedy, The Magic Numbers, Paolo Conte, Beck, Rufus Wainwright, Benjamin Biolay, Keren Ann, Yann Tiersen, Alain Souchon, Les Negresses Vertes, Johnny Marr from The Smiths, Zazie, MC Solaar, Miossec, Yōsui Inoue, Étienne Daho, Alain Chamfort, Jimmy Rowles, Goran Bregović, Sonny Landreth, The Soundtrack of Our Lives and many others.[1]
Birkin recorded the song "Beauty" on French producer Hector Zazou's 2003 album Strong Currents.[1]
The cover art of Have You Fed the Fish? by singer-songwriter Badly Drawn Boy features her image. The album features her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg on backing vocals.
Birkin bag
In 1981, Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was seated next to Birkin on a flight from Paris to London. She had just placed her straw bag in the overhead compartment of her seat, but the contents fell to the ground, leaving her to scramble to replace the contents. Birkin explained to Dumas that it had been difficult to find a leather weekend bag she liked. In 1984, he created a black supple leather bag for her: the Birkin bag,[3][4] based on an 1892 design. She used the bag for herself then later changed her mind. Nevertheless, the bag has since become an icon.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Charlotte_Gainsbourg_and_Jane_Birkin_2010_b.jpg/275px-Charlotte_Gainsbourg_and_Jane_Birkin_2010_b.jpg)
Personal life
Birkin was first married from 1965 until 1968 to John Barry, the English composer who wrote the musical score to the James Bond movies. Their daughter, the photographer Kate Barry, was born on 8 April 1967.[5] Barry left her in 1968.[6]
She had a passionate and creative relationship with her mentor Serge Gainsbourg, whom she met on the set of Slogan in 1968, a relationship that lasted 13 years.[7] They never married, despite rumours and misreporting to the contrary.[8][9][10] In 1971 they had a daughter, the actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg. Birkin left Gainsbourg in 1980.[11]
On 4 September 1982 she gave birth to her third daughter, Lou Doillon, from her relationship with the director Jacques Doillon[12] They separated around 1992–3; 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 they separated.[13]
Discography
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Filmography
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Source[14]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h allmusic Biography
- ^ Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire De Melody Nelson - On Second Thought - Stylus Magazine
- ^ "Bag lady: Victoria Beckham's 100-Strong Birkin Bag Collection That's Worth £1.5m". The Daily Mail. UK. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ "In the Bag". Time magazine. 17 April 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ "Jane Birkin". RFI Music. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ Brophy, Gwenda (15 February 2009). "Time and place: Jane Birkin". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ Auld, Tim (13 February 2009). "Jane Birkin: marching to her own tune". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ Robinson, Lisa (November 2007). "The Secret World of Serge Gainsbourg". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
Contrary to rumors, Jane and Serge never did marry. "He said in France I'd need to be fingerprinted and have a blood sample," Jane says, "and I was slightly offended and said, 'What on earth for?' I also had a secret fear that marriage changed things, and so, in fact, we weren't."
- ^ McKie, Andrew (25 February 2011). "Death Is Not the End". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
Serge Gainsbourg and actress Jane Birkin often referred to each other as husband and wife, but in fact they were never married, according to Ms. Birkin's agent. An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Ms. Birkin twice as the late Mr. Gainsbourg's third wife
- ^ Adams, William Lee (26 January 2010). "French Chanteuse Charlotte Gainsbourg". Time. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
My parents weren't married so I don't have an ideal image of marriage that I'm hoping for.
- ^ Barlow, Helen (9 June 2007). "A bit twisted". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ "Lou Doillon". Elle.fr (in French). Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ Adams, Tim (28 October 2007). "A charmed life". The Observer. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ "Filmography." Jane Birkin. Retrieved on 5 July 2010.
External links
![]() | This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. (August 2011) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Jane Birkin's Official site www.janebirkin.net
- Jane Birkin's Film "BOXES" www.boxes-lefilm.fr
- Yahoo Movies Bio
- Jane Birkin at IMDb
- Jane Birkin at Allmusic
- Jane Birkin at AllMovie
- A Tribute to Gainsbourg, zoom sur Jane Birkin
- Jane Birkin interview in madison Magazine
- Jane Birkin biography
- CNN interview with Jane Birkin
- Jane Birkin speaks with Flyglobalmusic.com and introduces songs from Enfants d'Hiver
- "Sweet Sixties" – "Slogan"-Review
- Jane Birkin, thepeerage.com
- Fashion Photo Gallery
- "Musing on Muses". Jasper Conran.
- Use dmy dates from January 2011
- Wikipedia external links cleanup from August 2011
- British expatriates in France
- English film actors
- People from Marylebone
- Actors from London
- English-language singers
- English television actors
- English female singers
- English pop singers
- French-language singers
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- 1946 births
- Living people