Calling her "the world's most famous porn star" might be a stretch for a generation bought up on Jenna and Tera, but there was a time when you couldn't swing a Betamax tape without seeing Sylvia Kristel, who created the title role of the French softcore classic "Emmanuelle" in 1974 and starred in several of its sequels throughout the following decade (as well as in mainstream releases like the classic "Airport '79").

In a new interview this weekend to mark the publication of the English edition of her autobiography "Emmanuelle Uncovered", Kristel talks about her post-"Emmanuelle" life and career, which despite several "cocaine-fuelled, drunken years living with (actor) Ian McShane in Hollywood" and losing out on millions of dollars in movie profits turned out to be a relatively normal one after all, even if she seems pretty wistful about the role that made her a star: in another interview published last week in the Telegraph, she says "You're much better off as a love goddess to die around the age of 40 ... You save yourself a lot of trouble."

· "Interview: Sylvia Kristel, the world's most famous porn star" (arts.independent.co.uk; see also "Erotic review" @ telegraph.co.uk)
· Sylvia Kristel (Wikipedia)
· "Emmanuelle" (Opening and Closing Theme) and Sylvia Kristel (in "Emmanuelle 2" (YouTube)
· Order: "Undressing Emmanuelle: A Memoir" (amazon.co.uk)

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