Actress, singer and style icon Jane Birkin dead at 76

British actress and singer Jane Birkin, a 1960s and 70s style icon who rose to fame singing in French and was later associated with an eponymous high-end handbag, was found dead at her home in Paris on Sunday at the age of 76.

In sharing the news of her death, the French Culture Ministry said the country had lost a “timeless Francophone icon.”

The singer was known for her musical and romantic relationship with French singer Serge Gainsbourg, with whom she sang the sexually explicit “Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus” (“I Love You… Me Neither”).

French media reported that Birkin was found dead at her home in Paris. French newspaper Le Figaro reported that she had suffered from health issues in recent years that kept her from making many public appearances and from performing.

The “most Parisian of the English has left us,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. “We will never forget her songs, her laughs and her incomparable accent which always accompanied us.”

Birkin lived in France since the late 1960s and was also beloved for her warm nature and advocacy for women’s and LBGT rights.

Born Jane Mallory Birkin in London in December 1946, she was the daughter of British actress Judy Campbell and Royal Navy commander David Birkin.

She began performing on stage at age 17, but only truly rose to stardom upon her move across the channel and after beginning a relationship with Gainsbourg.

Following their split in 1981, she continued as an actress and singer, releasing albums such as “Baby Alone in Babylone” in 1983, and “Amour des Feintes” in 1990, both featuring words and music by her ex.

Their explicit “Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus,” was banned by the BBC and condemned by the Vatican.

She wrote her own album “Arabesque” in 2002, and in 2009 released a collection of live recordings, “Jane at the Palace”.

“It’s unimaginable to live in a world without you,” said French singer Etienne Daho, who produced and composed Birkin’s last album in 2020.

Birkin also served as the inspiration behind the famous Birkin bag by the French luxury house Hermes.

She is survived by two of her daughters, the singer and actress Charlotte and Lou Doillon, also an actress. She also had a daughter, Kate, who died in 2013.

With Post wires.