ACTRESS TRAGEDY
Jane Birkin dead – Actress and fashion icon who had no1 hit with singer Serge Gainsbourg dies aged 76
BRITISH-French star Jane Birkin has died aged 76.
The actress and fashion icon was found at her home in Paris by her caregiver.
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She had a long career as an actress in British and French cinema.
Jane gained worldwide notability through her professional and romantic relationship with famous French singer Serge Gainsbourg, with whom she has a daughter, Charlotte - also a successful actress and singer.
The artist moved to France soon after meeting Gainsbourg, who was 18 years her senior.
The pair recorded a steamy duo "Je t'aime... moi non plus" in 1969 that sparked a scandal.
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Despite its worldwide success, it was banned on the radio in several countries.
It reached number one in the UK despite being sung in a foreign language.
"He and I became the most famous of couples in that strange way because of 'Je t'aime' and because we stuck together for 13 years and he went on being my friend until the day he died. Who could ask for more?" Birkin told CNN in 2006.
"So Paris became my home. I've been adopted here. They like my accent," she said.
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Following the breakup of that relationship in 1981, she continued her career as a singer and actress, appearing on stage and releasing albums such as "Baby Alone in Babylone" in 1983, and "Amour des Feintes" in 1990, both with words and music by Gainsbourg.
The news of her death was reported by French media as the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, tweeted: "Jane Birkin, the most Parisian of the English has left us.
"We will never forget her songs, her laughter or her incomparable accent that have always accompanied us."
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While former Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot told BFM: "This departure is so sad. She was a beautiful person."
Her acting career started in the UK with roles in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup, and Kaleidoscope and she went on to star in the Agatha Christie films Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun.
In her around 70 films she has been directed by such of France's leading directors, including Bertrand Tavernier, Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, James Ivory and Agnes Varda.
Back in 2001 she was awarded an OBE and she was also awarded the French Ordre National du Mérite.
The star lent her name to the iconic Hermès Birkin after she designed what the perfect bag would look like for former Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight to London in 1984.
The duo started talking about the perfect bag after sitting next to each other on the plane.
Birkin was born in London on December 14, 1946 to a naval officer and actress.
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At 17 she married James Bond composer John Barry, with whom she had a daughter, Kate, but the marriage lasted only three years.
Besides Charlotte and Kate she had another daughter, singer Lou Doillon, from her 13-year relationship with French director Jacques Doillon.
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