Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel, whose iconic Emmanuelle role symbolised the sexual revolution of the 1970s and who spent years fighting drug addiction, has died aged 60 after a battle with cancer.
"She died during the night in her sleep," agent Marieke Verharen of Features Creative Management said of the actress, who had been admitted to an Amsterdam hospital in July following a stroke.
Kristel was catapulted to fame in 1974 by Emmanuelle, her first movie, which described the erotic adventures of a young woman in Asia. A worldwide success, it was shown in one cinema, on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, for 13 years.
The first Emmanuelle film was seen by at least 350 million people at cinemas, Dutch media reported, saying she lured moviegoers with her "natural erotic attraction" and made "soft-core pornography acceptable".
A series of sequels followed, also starring Kristel, with Emmanuelle 2 in 1975, Goodbye Emmanuelle in 1977 and Emmanuelle 4 in 1984.
The actress went on to play in a string of other risqué films, including a nudity-filled 1985 portrayal of first world war spy Mata Hari.