Remembering Dutch Actress Sylvia Kristel, Star of ‘Emmanuelle’

We are pausing to remember Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel who died of cancer in Amsterdam this week.

She was just 60.

You may not know her name, but Kristel shot to fame with the 1974 erotic French film “Emmanuelle.”

It’s the story of the wife of a French diplomat in Bangkok, who begins a sexual journey, with the encouragement of her husband Jean.

Emmanuelle was one of the first erotic movies to be shown in mainstream cinemas. It played in a theater on the Champs Elysees for more than a decade.

After “Emmanuelle,” Kristel went on to make films with some of the most prominent French directors of the time, such as Claude Chabrol and Roger Vadim. And she worked in Hollywood too.

But “Emmanuelle” would remain her most famous role.

Just Jaeckin directed “Emmanuelle” and other films with Sylvia Kristel.

He now owns an art gallery in Paris.

He says Kristel was a beautiful and smart young woman who was “like a sister” to him.