Sylvia Kristel on AllMovie

It was once said of aquatic film personality Esther Williams that "Wet she was a star". Substitute the word "naked" for "wet" and you've summed up the career of Dutch-born actress Sylvia Kristel. Breaking loose from her strict Calvinist upbringing, Kristel headed for the wide-open town of Amsterdam. She became a model, ultimately winning the Miss TV Europe Contest. Kristel entered films in 1972, and within two years settled into the erotic Emmanuelle escapades which earned her worldwide fame. Even Sylvia Kristel's mainstream efforts -- Lady Chatterly's Lover, Mata Hari etc. -- have contrived to keep her in a state of near-permanent undress.