The death of Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel, who shot to international fame as the title character in softcore classic Emmanuelle, was announced today; a heavy smoker, she had been suffering from cancer. She had attracted the attention of Just Jaeckin when he was casting for the role having modelled nude before, and once the film was released it was a sensation around the world with countless imitators and a run of sequels and a TV series which Kristel appeared in. This led to a number of other often undressed roles for her, which she became typecast in, but continued her fame: camp favourite The Concorde: Airport '79, belated Get Smart movie The Nude Bomb, the title role in Lady Chatterley's Lover, huge independent success Private Lessons, Private School, the title role in Mata Hari, The Big Bet and Linda Blair WIP flick Red Heat, about which time her profile began to drop and she took to painting as a second career. She said she never regretted taking the Emmanuelle part, and fans of saucy screen romps will salute her for her groundbreaking work.
