Actress, singer and style icon Jane Birkin dies in Paris at age 76
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Actor and singer Jane Birkin, who charmed France with her English grace, natural style and accented French and made the country her home, has died at age 76.
Actor and singer Jane Birkin, who charmed France with her English grace, natural style and accented French and made the country her home, has died at age 76.
The London-born star and fashion icon was known for her musical and romantic relationship with French singer Serge Gainsbourg. Their songs notably included the steamy "Je t'aime moi non plus" ("I Love You, Me Neither"), with Birkin's ethereal, British-accented singing voice interlacing with his gruff baritone.
The style Birkin displayed in the 1960s and early 1970s -- long hair with bangs, jeans paired with white tops, knit mini dresses and basket bags -- still epitomizes the height of French chic for many women around the world.
Birkin also was celebrated in France for her political activism. In 2022, she joined other screen and music stars in France in chopping off locks of their hair in support of protesters in Iran. Charlotte Gainsbourg, Birkin's daughter with Gainsbourg and also an actor in her own right, cut off a lock of her mother's hair for the "HairForFreedom" campaign as Iran was engulfed by anti-government protests.
French President Emmanuel Macron hailed Birkin as a "complete artist."
"Jane Birkin was a French icon because she was the incarnation of freedom, sang the most beautiful words of our language," he tweeted.
French media reported that Birkin was found dead at her Paris home. The French Culture Ministry tweeted that Birkin died Sunday. It hailed her as a "timeless Francophone icon."
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