Serge Gainsbourg: What became of his children Natacha and Paul?
Serge Gainsbourg is at the heart of a documentary retracing his life and work, to be broadcast on France 3 on March 31, 2022. Natacha and Paul, Gainsbourg’s two eldest children, will no doubt be reminded of their youth by these archive images…
In the Gainsbourg family, we know the parents, the children, the step-children… every branch of the family tree. France has sung and vibrated to the rhythm of the careers of all the members of this extraordinary clan, part of our French heritage. Yet there are two very discreet members of the tribe, far removed from film sets and recording studios: they are Charlotte and Lucien “Lulu” Gainsbourg’s brother and sister, Natacha and Paul.
Serge Gainsbourg’s two eldest children were born in 1964 and 1967. At the time, the interpreter of La Javanaise was counting his chickens with Françoise-Antoinette Pancrazzi, known as Béatrice, his second wife. The couple married in 1964 in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, but their relationship changed after the ceremony, not least because of a certain excessive jealousy. Before the wedding, we’d lived together like glue and everything was fine,” explains the singer. Afterwards, things started to turn sour: she wouldn’t accept this dating business, even innocent kids like France Gall. On my way back from the town hall, I got a phone call from a little fanatic. I hadn’t done anything wrong! She went into a rage and I felt as if I were handcuffed…”
Béatrice had notably flown out to slap Dalida in 1963, when the latter was filming L’homme de Hong Kong with Serge Gainsbourg. However, after the birth of his first two children, the singer ended up distancing himself from them, even if it meant not really raising them. With Jane Birkin, he had Charlotte in 1971 and, with Bambou, Lucien in 1986. But he was uncomfortable with the idea of “mixing his different families”. “He used to say: ‘They’ll come later’. I tried to get them to come, but it didn’t go well,” Jane recalled to Paris Match. Their mother demanded that Serge pay them a fortune to see them. The divorce imposed his presence. It seemed like such a strange situation.
Today, Natacha and Paul Gainsbourg remain perfectly anonymous. Absent from social networks, they seem to have no connection with the other members of the family. All we know is that the youngest, 54, is a big fan of vintage cars, and owns one that his father left him…