1. Sylvia Maria Kristel was a Dutch actress and model who appeared in over 50 films.
20 Facts About Sylvia Kristel
1. 2.
Sylvia Kristel was the eponymous character in five of the seven Emmanuelle films, including originating the role with Emmanuelle.
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Sylvia Kristel's parents divorced when she was 14 years old, after her father abandoned the family for another woman.
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Sylvia Kristel spoke Dutch, English, German, and Italian fluently, and several other languages to a lesser extent.
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Sylvia Kristel gained international attention in 1974 for playing the title character in the softcore film Emmanuelle, which remains one of the most successful French films ever produced.
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Sylvia Kristel appeared in lesser-known art house films by prominent French directors Claude Chabrol and Roger Vadim during the 1970s; and starred in La Marge, a French box office success co-starring Joe Dallesandro and directed by Walerian Borowczyk.
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Sylvia Kristel has appeared in films and last played Emmanuelle in the early 1990s.
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Sylvia Kristel was cast as Stella in Roman Polanski's The Tenant but was replaced by Isabelle Adjani after one day of shooting.
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Sylvia Kristel was friends with Sergio Leone, who wanted her for the role of Carol while casting Once Upon a Time in America ; the producers did not agree and the part went to Tuesday Weld.
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Sylvia Kristel was considered for the role of Lois Lane in Superman, which went to Margot Kidder; and she unsuccessfully tried to win a role as a Bond Girl in four James Bond movies: The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy.
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In May 2006, Sylvia Kristel received an award at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, for directing the animated short film Topor and Me, written by Ruud Den Dryver.
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Sylvia Kristel had her first major relationship with Belgian author Hugo Claus, who was more than two decades her senior.
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Sylvia Kristel left her husband for British actor Ian McShane, whom she had met in 1976 on the set of the film The Fifth Musketeer.
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Sylvia Kristel was interviewed in 2006 for the documentary Hunting Emmanuelle.
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Sylvia Kristel described how she made a number of poor decisions due to an expensive cocaine addiction.
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Sylvia Kristel then spent a decade with Belgian radio producer Fred De Vree, until his death in 2004.
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Sylvia Kristel's authorized biography was written by Dutch journalist Suzanne Rethans and was published in September 2019.
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Sylvia Kristel was a heavy cigarette smoker from the age of 11.
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Sylvia Kristel was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2001, and underwent three courses of chemotherapy and surgery after the disease spread to her lungs.
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Sylvia Kristel is buried at her place of birth in Utrecht, the Netherlands.