Jane Birkin, OBE (born Jane Mallory Birkin in London on 14 December 1946; d… Read Full Bio ↴Jane Birkin, OBE (born Jane Mallory Birkin in London on 14 December 1946; died 16 July 2023) was an Anglo-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical (and romantic) partnership with singer Serge Gainsbourg, beginning with the duet Je t'aime... moi non plus released in 1969. Later she made musical collaborations and duets with many artists, including Feist, Bryan Ferry, Franz Ferdinand, The Magic Numbers, Beck, Rufus Wainwright, and many others.

Birkin was born to David Birkin and Judy Campbell, an actress in Noel Coward musicals. Her great aunt was Freda Dudley Ward, a mistress of Edward VIII while he was Prince of Wales.

Birkin emerged in the swinging '60s in London, starring as one of the models in the controversial film Blowup in 1966.

In 1968, Birkin went to France to audition for the lead female role in Slogan. Though she did not speak French, she got the role.

In 1969, she and Serge Gainsbourg released the song "Je t'aime... moi non plus" ("I love you... me neither"), written by Gainsbourg and featuring both of them singing, which caused a scandal for its sexual explicitness. Arguably due in part to the publicity it got from being banned by radio stations in Italy, Sweden, Spain, and the UK, it was a commercial success all over Europe. The song's fame is a result of its salacious lyrics (sung in French) against a background of female moaning and groaning, culminating in an orgasm at the song's conclusion (which some claim to be the result of Jane and Serge actually engaging in sex during the recording of the song).

Birkin took a short break from her acting career in 1971-72, but returned as Brigitte Bardot's lover in Don Juan (or if Don Juan were a woman) in 1973.

In 1975, she appeared in Gainsbourg's first film, also titled Je t'aime... moi non plus, which created quite a stir for its frank examination of sexual ambiguity. For this performance she was nominated for a Best Actress César Award.

Birkin has starred in the Agatha Christie films Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun, and recorded several albums, including Baby Alone in Babylone, Amours des Feintes, Lolita Go Home and Rendez-vous. She has obtained in the category Female Artist of the year in France the Victoires de la Musique award in 1992 .

She starred in two films 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 US).

Jacques Rivette collaborated with her for 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 Serge Gainsbourg.

In 2006, she played Elektra, directed by Philippe Calvario in France.

Jane Birkin's humanitarian interests led her to work with Amnesty International, on immigrant welfare and AIDS issues. Birkin has also visited Bosnia, Rwanda. and Palestinian Territories, often working with children. She has been awarded an OBE for her services to acting, as well as the Ordre National du Mérite in France.

She made musical collaborations and duets 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, Yann Tiersen, Alain Souchon, Les Negresses Vertes, Johnny Marr from The Smiths, Zazie, MC Solaar, Yosui Inoue, Étienne Daho, Alain Chamfort, Jimmy Rowles, Goran Bregović, Sonny Landreth, The Soundtrack of Our Lives and many others.

Birkin recorded the song "Beauty" on French producer Hector Zazou's 2003 album Strong Currents.
She is noted as being the inspiration for fashion house Hermès' popular Birkin Bag after the actress was seen struggling with several bags while boarding an aeroplane.
Her image features on the cover art of Have You Fed the Fish? by singer-songwriter Badly Drawn Boy (which features her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg on backing vocals).
Despite decades of residence in France and the ability to speak French fluently, Birkin still retains a strong English accent and makes grammatical mistakes when speaking French.

Personal Life :
She was married from 1965 until 1968 to John Barry, an English composer who wrote the musical score to the James Bond movies. Their daughter, the photographer Kate Barry, was born in 1968.

Muse of Gainsbourg :
She had a very passionate and creative relationship with her mentor Serge Gainsbourg — they met on the set of Slogan and married in 1968. They separated in 1980. Their daughter is actress Charlotte Gainsbourg.

In 1982 she gave birth to her third daughter, Lou Doillon, from her relationship with the director Jacques Doillon.

Maison Étoilée
Jane Birkin Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

La maison étoilée
Grotesquement belle
Naïf dessin d’enfant
Se découpe dans un ciel
Lune en papier d’argent
Tintement des mâts
Comme si les marins
Trinquaient de leurs gobelets d’étain

Coup de vent et l’Aber
Se retourne vers la mer
Rideau de pluie
La maison d’enfants
En manteau de brume
On entend la sirène hurlante
Cheminée qui fume
Les sorciers sont sortis
Vers l’Aber Vrac’h
Les souvenirs pêle-mêle
Les portes qui claquent
Le Golf Stream nous évite
Avec allégresse
Les gens se suicident
C’est à cause du stress
L’humidité traverse les os de ma mère
C’est pourtant le mois d’août
Ça demeure un mystère
Puis la lumière change comme une humeur d’enfant
On enlève les pulls, sort les paravents
Parasols, pique-nique, cerfs-

Volants sur les dunes
Maison étoilée au clair de lune

Overall Meaning

The song "Maison Étoilée" by Jane Birkin is a nostalgic reflection on life in Brittany, France. The lyrics describe a beautifully grotesque childlike drawing of a starry house that stands out against the silver paper moon in the sky. The sound of the ships' masts tinkling as if the sailors were toasting each other with tin cups adds a touch of whimsy to the scene. Suddenly, a gust of wind turns the Aber, a nearby inlet, back towards the sea and a curtain of rain begins to fall. The mist-covered children's house can be heard as the whistling of a siren, and a smoking chimney rises from it as if the witches have come out into the Aber Vrac'h. Memories tumble together, doors slam shut, and the Golf Stream does its part in keeping the people happy by avoiding the area, but still, stress leads some to the ultimate act of desperation. Despite it being August, the humidity seems to seep into the bones of the mother, and no one can explain it. Then the mood of the moment shifts suddenly like a child's emotions, the pulls come off as the sun comes out, and all the accoutrements of a day on the beach are retrieved from storage. The starry house appears once again in the moonlight, accompanied by the joyous sounds of picnics, parasols, kites, and sand dunes.

Line by Line Meaning

La maison étoilée
The starry house

Grotesquement belle
Grotesquely beautiful

Naïf dessin d’enfant
Naive child's drawing

Se découpe dans un ciel
Cut out in the sky

Lune en papier d’argent
Silver paper moon

Tintement des mâts
Clanging of masts

Comme si les marins
As if the sailors

Trinquaient de leurs gobelets d’étain
Cheers to their tin cups

Coup de vent et l’Aber
Gust of wind and the Aber

Se retourne vers la mer
Turns towards the sea

Rideau de pluie
Curtain of rain