Singer and actress Jane Birkin dead at 76

The English-French star was known for her personal and artistic relationship with songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, and was considered a style icon in the late 1960s and 1970s.

She was born in London but found fame singing in French, relocating there in the 1970s.

French media reported that she was found dead at her home in Paris.

Her personal and artistic relationship with Gainsbourg made her famous around the world following their international hit "Je t'aime... moi non plus".

The duet was recorded in 1968, months after they met on the set of the film Slogan.

It was banned on radio in several countries and condemned by the Vatican because of its overtly sexual lyrics but introduced the pair to a new international audience.

Birkin and Gainsbourg were together for 12 years but remained friends after their split, with Gainsbourg - who was 18 years older than Birkin - still writing songs for her years later.

The couple had a daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg, who is an award-winning actress and singer.

Their relationship has been frequently described as "tumultuous", and Birkin wrote about violence between the two in her 2020 diaries, as well as the challenges of Gainsbourg's alcoholism.

But she frequently defended the man she became so closely associated with - including against charges by one singer that he was a "harasser" in an interview in the Times in 2020 - and continued to promote his work long after his death in 1991.

Asked by the same newspaper about their lifestyle last year, she said: "I don't know how easy it was for the children to have a mother who was naked in magazines and a father burning 500 franc notes. I hope one did some things right."

The pair split in 1981 and Birkin continued her acting and singing career, releasing albums including Baby Alone in Babylone in 1983 and Amour des Feintes in 1990.

Prior to moving to France and meeting Gainsbourg, she was married to the British composer John Barry until the late 1960s.

Their daughter, Kate Barry, was a fashion photographer who worked for Vogue and died in 2013 at the age of 46.

Birkin has a third daughter - the musician, model and actress Lou Doillon - from her 1980s relationship with French film director Jacques Doillon.

Birkin's acting credits included films such as the 1966 classic Blow Up, Death on the Nile (1978) and Evil Under the Sun (1982).

She released a self-penned album in 2002 called Arabesque and a collection of live recordings in 2009 under the title Jane at the Palace.

She was also a model and came to be widely seen as a fashion trendsetter, inspiring the Birkin handbag, a style put into production by Hermes in 1984.

The large leather tote bag became popular around the world and has spawned several imitations - but in 2006, Birkin told the Guardian: "I love it, but I lug so much stuff around in it that I believe it is part of the reason I have tendonitis."

Birkin campaigned for numerous causes throughout her life - including asking Hermes to drop her name from its product in 2015 over animal welfare concerns.

Menna Rawlings, the British ambassador to France, paid tribute to her on Twitter, describing her as "the most French of British artists".

French culture minister Roselyne Bachelot told the French TV station BFM: "This departure is so sad. She was a beautiful person."

She was treated for leukaemia in the late 1990s and it was reported in September 2021 that she had suffered a stroke, forcing her to cancel a planned appearance at an American film festival.

-bbc