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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Peter Rankin

Letter: Jane Birkin obituary

Jane Birkin in 2021.
Jane Birkin in 2021. Photograph: Valéry Hache/AFP/Getty Images

My father, Dugald Rankin, a producer of commercials, once persuaded Peter Brook to direct a series of advertisements for eggs. As this went well, my father asked Peter to direct another, this one for Bar Six, Cadbury’s answer to the KitKat bar.

The set-up was a Chelsea girl charming a meter man out of giving her a parking ticket by sharing her chocolate bar. The meter man was John Junkin. The girl was Jane Birkin – good casting. However, halfway through the morning, Peter said: “I can’t do this” and left my father to finish it.

Still, you might say that Peter Brook is another name that could be added to Birkin’s long list of eminent directors.

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