Emmanuelle's Sylvia Kristel dies, aged 60

Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel has died, aged 60.

Kristel, who was suffering from cancer, died “during the night during her sleep” according to her agent Marieke Verharen of Features Creative Management.

Born in 1952 in Utrecht, Netherlands, Kristel gained international recognition for her role as the title character in Just Jaeckin’s Emmanuelle and went on to reprise her role in several sequels including François Leterrier’s Goodbye, Emmanuelle (1977). Kristel also starred in the likes of Jaeckin’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1981) and Alan Myerson’s Private Lessons (1981).

Kristel’s most recent roles were in 2010 following an eight-year break from acting as she starred in Ognjen Svilicic’s Two Sunny Days and Maurizio Zaccaro’s The Swing Girls.

She is survived by her son, Arthur.