From the archives: The iconic Jane Birkin

foreign she was one of the most photographed women of the 60s the voice of perhaps that decades most scandalous song but Jane Birkin may be best known for the highly desirable Hermes fashion accessory that bears her name when I went to America I don't know what in what interview they said you mean working like the bag so I said oh what another bag is going to sing [Laughter] on my obituary it will say light the bag or something it is so funny that after all this you might be known for a bag I might well it could be worse Birkin first gained notice you weren't expecting us were you in Michelangelo Antonio's 60s classic blow up when she robbed naked across the screen she was just 18 and already married to John Barry the arranger of the James Bond theme but then he left her it was a disaster and I was left with my daughter Kate and so I thought that I hadn't been capable of holding on to the man I loved yeah and that it's 19 20 years old is terrible I had no confidence in myself she went to Paris to audition for a film called slogan and was paired with Serge Gainesville from what I gather it was not love at first sight no suddenly I come trundling along can't speak French it's because I didn't know any other friendship you call him there to his face yes but she got the part and the man who was building a reputation as the French Bob Dylan he just come out of a very unhappy affair with Bridget Bardot that's got to be slightly intimidating no no I know I thought gosh if he'd been in love with the most beautiful woman in the world which was Badoo at the time yeah and if he could take a look at me to the country gainsborg had written a song for Bardot that he now wanted Birkin to sing [Music] Ming may seem tame today but in 1969 it was incendiary what did you make of the controversy over je'taime oh nothing it was great she recalls the reaction the first time she heard it played in a Paris restaurant we saw all the knives and forks in the air like that and say I said I think we've got a hit record then the pope goes and bans it and the BBC yeah it was in the bag [Laughter] best publicity you could get can't get better for 13 years Birkin and gansbourg were an Inseparable it couple songwriter and Muse until his drinking problem fractured the fairy tale so suddenly a Beautiful Boy comes along and what's more find me interesting whereas it was always for sage Versace was the great man yeah I suppose I wanted to be noticed that boy was French director Jacques Dwayne who asked her to play a depressed wife in his film The Prodigal daughter no one had never asked me to psychologically take over a part like that and to have a shirt buttoned up to hear the rest didn't interest him and then she moved in with dwell and they had a daughter but Serge stayed in the picture still writing songs for her until his death in 1991 when sash died everything else collapsed and nothing was really the same again Birkin and wyong split and she focused on her three daughters Kate her oldest a successful photographer battled depression in 2013 Kate Barry fell from her apartment Window an apparent suicide for nearly three years Jane Birkin could barely leave her Paris home you feel as if someone's pulled the carpet from under your feet yeah you didn't see it coming I saw it coming on many other occasions and I'd been able to be there and to I don't know but this time not so it took my confidence away completely is your confidence coming back no the confidence is one tiny thing which is irreplaceable and uh and the lack of her will be forever you have two other lovely successful daughters so you must be very proud of very yeah Charlotte has a record coming out right now in a film Charlotte gansbourg is a renowned actress and singer and Ludwig on has won the French Grammy at 71 Jane Birkin has begun to find her way again touring the world performing Serge galsberg's songs with an orchestra next month for the first time she'll play Carnegie Hall in New York that's a pretty big name it's a big name but it's just a big hole you just have to fill it it's nice what's it meant for you to sing these songs this way now it's like being on the most wonderful velvet cushion [Music] Ed when I was 20. until his dying day so he's given me a good turn in that he he showed me away away to go on [Applause]

Channel: CBS Sunday Morning

Views: 369,918

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Id: WUlexgB4G84

Length: 6min 31sec (391 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 16 2023