'She was gone for years': Charlotte Gainsbourg reveals her mother Jane Birkin couldn't speak or get out of bed as she grieved for her daughter Kate who plunged to her death in 2013

  • Charlotte's half-sister Kate Barry fell to her death from her Paris balcony in 2013 
  • The 46-year-old photographer's death was thought to be a suicide 
  • The French-British actress says she sometimes 'wants to believe' her sister's death was an accident

By Natalie Corner For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Charlotte Gainsbourg has revealed that her sister's death was so difficult for her grieving mother - Jane Birkin - that she 'was gone for years'.

Charlotte, 46, who is now the same age as her half-sister Kate Barry when she tragically plunged 80ft from her fourth-floor Paris balcony in 2013, explained to the Sunday Times how she is still in turmoil over her death and 'wants to believe it's an accident'.

The French-British singer and songwriter recalled how her 'family collapsed' following the sudden loss and that it took her mother years to cope with her grief.

'[She] was gone for years. Really gone. She was not there,' Charlotte said of Jane. 'I mean, she wouldn't get up. If you told her to come over, she would, but she didn't talk, not to my children or to anyone.' 

Actress Charlotte Gainsbourg is still in turmoil over her half-sister's sudden death in 2013, as she still isn't 'sure' whether it was an accident

Actress Charlotte Gainsbourg is still in turmoil over her half-sister's sudden death in 2013, as she still isn't 'sure' whether it was an accident

She described the grief her mother, the actress and model Jane Birkin, went through saying it was difficult for her to get out of bed

She described the grief her mother, the actress and model Jane Birkin, went through saying it was difficult for her to get out of bed

Charlotte with her half-sister Kate Barry, who she has written a song about on her new album Rest

Charlotte with her half-sister Kate Barry, who she has written a song about on her new album Rest

Charlotte explained how her own grief was so raw while living in Paris that she chose to uproot and move her own family - her three children Ben, 20, Alice, 15, and Jo, six along with her partner Yvan Attal - to New York and get a fresh perspective.

There she focused on writing her new album Rest, with one of the songs is about her older sibling - a photographer who battled with drugs and alcohol addiction.

Charlotte, who shared a close bond with her sister, says of her tragic passing: 'It's such a violent death that it doesn't make sense. Nobody knows. 

'So, one day I think it's a real [conscious] act, and the next day I'll think it's an accident. I want to believe it's an accident.' 

Jane had Kate with film composer John Barry, before she fell in love with French actor-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg - Charlotte's father. 

Kate, Charlotte and their mother Jane with Serge Gainsbourg at the Cesar Awards in 1986 several years after the couple split

Kate, Charlotte and their mother Jane with Serge Gainsbourg at the Cesar Awards in 1986 several years after the couple split

Actress Jane Birkin at Heathrow with her daughters, five-year-old Kate Barry and one-year-old Charlotte Gainsbourg

Actress Jane Birkin at Heathrow with her daughters, five-year-old Kate Barry and one-year-old Charlotte Gainsbourg

Kate was aged two when her mother became world famous for the song Je t’aime... Moi Non Plus, which she made with Gainsbourg and which, with its heavy breaths and orgasmic gasps, could easily have been mistaken for the soundtrack of a blue movie.

Gainsbourg had written it and originally cut the record with his previous lover, Brigitte Bardot, but the French siren was now married to German Opal car billionaire Gunter Sachs and, to avoid embarrassing him, Gainsbourg remade it with his new lover Jane Birkin.

Banned by the BBC and condemned by the Vatican, it sold round the world in millions and became the signature track by which her mother was always, and is still, known. 

Charlotte's parents split in 1980 but she enjoyed a close relationship with both, dividing her time equally between her musician father and fashion icon mother.

Critically-acclaimed actress Charlotte winning the Best Actress award at Cannes Film in 2009 for her role in Antichrist

Critically-acclaimed actress Charlotte winning the Best Actress award at Cannes Film in 2009 for her role in Antichrist

The actress - who has released her fourth music album - at this year's Cannes Film Festical celebrating her film Ismael's Ghosts

The actress - who has released her fourth music album - at this year's Cannes Film Festical celebrating her film Ismael's Ghosts

Following in both of their footsteps Charlotte - who confesses she doesn't own a Birkin, the famous bag Hermes named after her mother - has released four albums as well as starred in more than 50 films.

The award-winning actress alludes to her unusual bohemian upbringing which involved being looked after by nannies, while her parents partied until the early hours of the morning.

Charlotte went on to star in her first film aged 13 and says she learned to put up a shield growing up in the industry, keeping friends at a distance while trying to live a 'normal life' going to school in between. 

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