b. 21 July 1971, London, England. Gainsbourg is the daughter of the famous French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and English actress/singer Jane Birkin. Her father, always one to court controversy, cast his 13-year old daughter as a lascivious nymphet on the 1984 single "Lemon Incest" (the video raised further eyebrows by featuring a half-naked Serge and Charlotte cavorting in bed). Released two years later, Charlotte For Ever featured a whole album's worth of Charlotte's breathy interpretations of her father's songs. The album courted further controversy but was equally hamstrung by its dated synth arrangements.
Charlotte subsequently concentrated on her acting career, which had started in 1984 with an appearance in the Catherine Deneuve-starring Paroles Et Musique. She established herself as a talented actor with acclaimed roles in The Cement Garden (1993), Jane Eyre (1996) and 21 Grams (2003). Her rare outings on record during this period included a contribution to the soundtrack of 1996's Love, Etc., and appearances on albums by Badly Drawn Boy (2002's Have You Fed The Fish?) and Étienne Daho (2004's Réévolution). A sample of her dialogue from The Cement Garden also provided the spoken introduction to Madonna's 2001 hit, "What It Feels Like For A Girl". In 2006, Gainsbourg recorded her second album with producer Nigel Godrich and guest contributions from Jarvis Cocker, the Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon and French electronica duo Air. Mining a rich seam of stylish nostalgia, 5:55 played out like a star-studded tribute to the late Serge Gainsbourg.
