Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel has died after a battle with cancer at the age of 60.
The actress rose to fame in the 1970s after her iconic role in french erotic movie Emmanuelle which symbolised the sexual revolution of the 70's. The film was seen by 350 million people and became a world wide success, it was shown in one cinema in Paris for 13 years.
Kristel went onto to star in a series of sequels Emmanuelle 2 in 1975, Goodbye Emmanuelle in 1977 and Emmanuelle 4 in 1984, which led to her being typecast in erotic roles which she admitted to just taking to fund her drug habit. Sylvia had battled with drug and alcohol addictions for several years and l later wrote in her autobiography 'I was a silent actress, a body. I belonged to dreams, to those that can be broken'. She eventually turned her back on erotic movies when her son from her marriage with Belgian author Hugo Claus began to get teased at school.
She later returned to the Emmanuelle series in 1994 where she remained fully clothed reminiscing about the exploits of her younger alter ego.
Kristel was admitted into hospital in July after she suffered a stroke following treatment for throat cancer. She had also been battling with liver cancer but sadly died last night. Her agent Marieke Verharen of Features Creative Management confirmed 'She died during the night during her sleep.'
