The late Jane Birkin and her ties to Switzerland

Jane Birkin's many musical performances in Switzerland included this one at the Paleo Festival in July 1997. © Keystone / Martial Trezzini

British-French actress and singer Jane Birkin, who has died age 76, made many musical appearances in Switzerland and also starred in a Swiss film that was nominated for an Oscar.

As recently as November 2022 she appeared at Théâtre du Léman in Geneva to perform music from her recently released album “Oh! Pardon, tu dormais…”. The profits went to the Swiss Solidarity charity to help Ukraine.

She played the starring role in a short Swiss film in 2016 by Timo von Gunten. “La femme et le TGV” tells the story of a woman who, for three decades, stands at the window of her house in the Neuchâtel Jura every day at 6.18 and 19.13 on the dot, waving to the engine driver of the passing high-speed train – until one evening she waits in vain. It was nominated for an Oscar in 2017.

The film premiered at Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival in 2016. In the same year, the festival honoured Birkin with a Leopard for her life’s work – and a retrospective.

Birkin was found dead in her home in Paris on Sunday. She had recently made known she was suffering from health problems, which forced her to cancel concerts.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to “a complete artist” who “sang the most beautiful words in our language”, while other politicians and artists also paid tribute on Sunday.

With her androgynous figure and sultry lips, Birkin was the epitome of bohemian chic, and maintained a distinctive English accent. She had a long career as an actress and singer, also inspiring fashion designers.

After beginning her career in cinema in the UK in the 1960s, she moved to France, where she formed a famous romantic and artistic partnership with the late Serge Gainsbourg. The couple had a daughter, Charlotte, who is also an actress and singer.