Paris, July 16 (EFE).- British-born singer-actress and fashion icon Jane Birkin has passed away at the age of 76 in Paris after spending much of her artistic years in France.
The BFMTV channel, citing sources close to the Birkin, reported on Sunday that she was found dead at her Paris home.
The actor had been away from the limelight due to health issues despite briefly returning to work after suffering a stroke in 2021.
In March, her entourage announced the cancellation of her concerts for two months. But by the end of May, more cancellations followed.
Born on Dec.14, 1946, in London, Birkin was the daughter of a military man and famous English actress Judy Campbell.
She first appeared in two award-winning films at the Cannes Film Festival – “The Knack” by Richard Lester in 1965 and “Blow-Up” by Michelangelo Antonioni in 1967.
In 1968, she settled in France, where she met the singer Serge Gainsbourg with whom she had a romantic and musical relationship.
The duo created some famous songs that caused some sensation as well some scandal, particularly their sensuous “Je t’aime moi non plus” (“I Love You, Me Neither”) number in 1969.
She continued her acting career, initially with comic roles in French films like “La moutarde me monte au nez” and “La course à l’échalote.”
Although the Birkin-Gainsbourg couple broke up in 1980, the composer-singer wrote one of his most prestigious albums for her three years later, “Baby Alone in Babylone” and “Amour des Feintes” in 1990.
Her health problems forced her to put her career on hold in 2012.
In 2017, she revealed that she had been undergoing treatment for leukemia.
French President Emmanuel Macron mourned the death of the “complete artist” on Twitter.
“Jane Birkin was a French icon because she was the incarnation of freedom, (and) sang the most beautiful words of our language,” he tweeted. “She leaves behind sounds and images that will never leave us.” EFE
ac-ssk
