Sylvia Kristel, who many would refer to as the first soft core adult film star, died at the age of 60 after suffering a long battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with throat and lung cancer ten years ago, but died peacefully in her sleep October 17th.
The Dutch actress made her fame in the world as the star of 1974 erotic French film “Emmanuelle.” In the erotic film, she played a young model named Emmanuelle who was married to a much older man. The story follows the couple as they move to Bangkok. Kristel’s character, Emmanuelle, then engages in a number of extramarital affairs.
Kristel said at first she was nervous to star in the film but then convinced herself that no one would ever see it. She was wrong. After all was said and done, 350 million people have seen Emmanuelle worldwide. Kristel then went on to star in several subsequent films in the same series.
She was considered one of the largest movie stars to come out of the Netherlands with over 50 international films to her credit. Unfortunately, she was always marked by Emmanuelle and was almost always typecast in erotically tinted films. I guess that is a small price to pay for being the star of one the most controversial erotic films of the 70′s. Sylvia Kristel will live on forever in her cult classic Emmanuelle.
Have you seen Emmanuelle?
