Jane Birkin: Artist and style icon's life in pictures

The singer and actress Jane Birkin has died at the age of 76.

The English-French star was born in London in 1946 and later relocated to France, where she met singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and embarked on a tumultuous professional and personal relationship.

She continued her singing career in the 1990s and beyond, regularly performing at French music festivals. Birkin was also a lifelong pro-democracy and animal rights activist.

French President Emmanuel Macron described her as a "French icon" who "embodied freedom" and "sang the most beautiful words of our language".

News imageGetty Images Jane Birkin as a young actress in London, September 1964Getty Images
Jane Birkin as a young actress in London, September 1964
News imageGetty Images With Serge Gainsbourg in London in 1977Getty Images
Birkin and Gainsbourg, shown here in London in 1977, had a tumultuous relationship that reportedly included violence, but she frequently defended him
News imageGetty Images Jane Birkin on holiday in Saint-Tropez with her daughter Kate Barry, Sergei Gainsbourg and their baby daughter Charlotte in the 1970sGetty Images
Birkin and Gainsbourg had a daughter together, Charlotte (left), and the singer had another daughter, Kate (centre), with British composer John Barry. She had a third child, Lou, (not pictured) with French film director Jacques Doillon
News imageGetty Images Jane Birkin in 1985Getty Images
Pictured here in 1985, Birkin was seen as a leading style icon
News imageGetty Images Jane Birkin during a visit to a refugee camp in Myanmar in 2010. She was a longtime pro-democracy activistGetty Images
Birkin, a lifelong pro-democracy activist, visited a refugee camp in Myanmar in 2010
News imageEPA British actress and singer Jane Birkin performs on stage at the Festival Antigel in Geneva, Switzerland, 09 February 2018EPA
Birkin was treated for leukaemia in the late 1990s, but continued to perform - here she is on stage at Geneva's Festival Antigel in 2018. But she was forced to cancel her appearance at the American Film Festival in France after a reported stroke in 2021
News imageEPA Birkin and her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg at the Cesar Film Awards in Paris in February 2023EPA
Birkin and her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg at the Cesar Film Awards in Paris in February 2023

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