Jane Birkin

Landed several lightweight movie roles in the 1960s, when her looks seemed to symbolize the swinging spirit of the times (she played one of the nude models in Antonioni's 1966 "Blow-Up") and subsequently resurfaced as a respected talent in France. Birkin was the subject of a documentary by Agnes Varda, "Jane B. par Agnes V." (1988) and gave an affecting performance opposite Dirk Bogarde in Bertrand Tavernier's "Daddy Nostalgia" (1990). Her younger daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg, by composer-director Serge Gainsbourg, is also an actress and her brother is writer-director Andrew Birkin ("Burning Secret" 1988).

The ultra-expensive luxury item the Birkin bag was created by Hermès head Jean-Louis Dumas in 1984, inspired by a meeting with the actress and singer in which she complained about never finding a leather purse she really liked. Birkin's daughter with British film composer John Barry, fashion photographer Kate Barry, died on December 11, 2013. Jane Birkin died of unknown causes on July 16, 2023, at the age of 76.