The Many Faces of Emmanuelle: A NSFW Photographic Journey

I love erotic fiction. One of my all time favourite novels is Emmanuelle (or Emmanuelle: the Joys of a Woman). Most believe that it was written by Emmanuelle Arsan (real name: Marayat Rollet-Andriane) but there are plenty of rumours of it being written by her husband (Jacques Rollet-Andriane).

The reader is experiencing the story through the point of view of the title’s character, which has sex with a variety of people. It was originally published in its country of origin in 1967 and in English a few years later (it was first published anonymously in 1959, but it didn’t became the phenomenon that it meant to be in the ‘60s and ‘70s.), just when the first wave of commercial adult films was thriving and that shouldn’t be too surprising as the novel’s structure works like one.

The book was adapted by director Just Jaeckin into a film, Emmanuelle (1974), with Sylvia Kristel in the starring role, and was met with enormous success both in its production country (France) and internationally. It led the way for numerous erotic films to flood the market [Jaeckin also made Histoire D'o (1975) which was also based upon a provocative novel], and it was only a matter of time before various sequels materialized (official and unofficial). And then there was the Black Emanuelle (note the difference in the spelling). And so the legendary character was played by many attractive young actresses. This article is about them, the performers that brought Emmanuelle to the big screen.

Sylvia Kristel

She was born on the 28^th of 1952 in Utrecht, Netherlands and began modelling before she was 18 (she won the Miss TV Europe award). Emmanuelle (1974) may not be her first part, but it was the one that sky-rocketed her career in film. The next year she reprised her role in Emmanuelle II (1975). Then she collaborated with legendary Avant-Garde director Walerian Borowczyk in The Margin (1976) and Art-House auteur Claude Chabrol in Alice or the Last Escapade (1977). Her natural features were once again explored in Goodbye Emmanuelle (1978). In the late ‘70s he worked with famous actors such as Alain Delon [in The Concorde Airport ’79 (1979)] and Ursula Andress [in The Fifth Musketeer (1979)].

Just Jaeckin directed her again in another erotic novel adaptation, Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1981). Emmanuelle IV (1984), Red Heat (1985) with Linda Blair, and Bert Gordon’s The Big Bet (1985) kept her busy in the mid-‘80s. In the late ‘80s she was the female lead in Christopher Coppola’s Dracula’s Widow (1988).

In 1993 she appeared in a series of TV movies playing “Old Emmanuelle”, recollecting sexual stories and bringing her career in full circle. In her autobiography she wrote about how she got molested as a kid, but for her the saddest part of her youth was the separation of her parents. She died on 18^th of October 2012. She had remained active in film and television until the very end (she even briefly tried her hand in directing), and she is definitely the most elegant woman to have played this iconic part.

Erika Blanc

Enrica Bianchi Colombatto was born on the 23^rd of July 1942, in Gargnano, Lombardy, Italy. She was only 20 years old when she got married to film director Bruno Gaburro; they divorced in 1977. A year later she started dating actor Alberto Lionello. She did her screen debut under the direction of Tinto Brass, in The Flying Saucer (1964), but horror film fans mostly remember her from Mario Bava’s Kill Baby, Kill (1966). The same year she also had parts in Alberto De Martino’s He Who Shoots First (1966) and Mario Caiano’s Spies Kill Silently (1966), Giuseppe Vari’s De Guello (1966), and Umberto Lenzi’s Last Man to Kill (1966). Two years later she was directed by Alfonso Brescia in Hell in Normandy (1968) and by Bruno Corbucci in The Longest Hunt (1968). She was the first actress to play Emmanuelle, in the book’s first screen adaptation, A Man for Emmanuelle (1969), although horror movie fans mostly remember Umberto Lenzi’s So Sweet... So Perverse (1969) from the same year.

During the 1970s she worked with practically every genre film director in Italy. In 1970 she was directed by Giuliano Carnimeo in I Am Sartana, Trade Your Guns for a Coffin (1970). In 1971 she had roles in various horror films such as Emilio Miraglia’s The Night Evelyn Came out of the Grave (1971). Roberto Bianchi Montero directed her in Sentence of God (1972). Duccio Tessari directed her in No Way Out (1973). Antonio Margheriti directed her in The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974). Luigi Cozzi directed her in La Portiera Nuda (1976).

She was directed again by Alfonso Brescia in Carcerato (1981). Antonio Bido directed her in Mak Pigreco (1987). Andrea Bianchi directed her in Incontri in Case Private (1988). Lamberto Bava directed her in Body Puzzle (1992). Michele Soavi directed her in Francesco (2002). She recently appeared in several art-house films, such as Pupi Avati’s A Second Childhood (2010) and The Big Heart of Girls (2011).

Jenny

Some actress named Jenny appeared in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (1977) in which she played an Emmanuelle as a villain that would fight against a Bruce Lee copycat, but I have not managed to track down any information about her, or watch the film.

Olinka Hardiman

She was born on the 16^th of January 1960, in France. Her features were very similar to those of Marilyn Monroe, so it wasn’t difficult for her to pursue a successful career as a model and adult film actress (including a brief collaboration with Erwin C. Dietrich). Her film debut was quite mainstream as she was directed by Terence Young in Bloodline (1979), but readers of this article will be more interested in Emmanuelle Goes to Cannes (1980) in which she held the leading part. She was also directed by Michele Massimo Tarantini [in Giovani, belle... probabilmente ricche (1982)].

Muriel Montossé

She was born on the 27^th of June 1955, in France. She was a regular in a string of Jess Franco pictures [Voodoo Passion (1977), Devil Hunter (1980), Two Female Spies with Flowered Panties (1980), Cecilia (1981), Cecilia (1983), Dirty Game in Casablanca (1985), Las chicas del tanga (1987), À la poursuite de Barbara (1991), El abuelo, la condesa y Escarlata la traviesa (1992), and most interestingly for readers of this article in The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle (1983) in which she played the leading part]. She was also directed by Jean Rollin, in Fascination (1979).

Mia Nygren

She was born in 1960 in Sweden, and her film debut was Emmanuelle IV (1984), in which she grabbed the role that made Sylvia Kristel famous. The only thing I know about her is that she was also in a film called Plaza Real (1988).

Monique Gabrielle

She was born (as Katherine Gonzalez) on the 30^th of July 1963 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA (but grew up in Denver, Colorado). She started modelling at a very young age and in 1980 she became Miss American Legion. In December 1982 she became Penthouse Pet of the Month; that same year she begun working in film as an actress, in mainstream fare such as Ron Howard’s Night Shift (1982) and Ken Finkleman’s Airplane II: the Sequel (1982).

Throughout the remainder of the ‘80s she worked with various genre film people: Bert I. Gordon directed her in let’s Do It! (1982) & The Big Bet (1985) and Cirio H. Santiago directed her in Silk 2 (1989); she co-starred with Linda Blair in Chained Heat (1983) & with Marilyn Chambers in Up ‘n’ Coming (1983); and she had a part in Harry Alan Towers’s Black Venus (1983). Readers of this article will be interested in knowing that she also had the leading part in Walerian Borowczyk’s Emmanuelle 5 (1987).

She was dating film director Jim Wynorski, and appeared in a string of his films [Deathstalker II (1987), Not of This Earth (1988), The Return of Swamp Thing (1989), Transylvania Twist (1989), Scream Queen Hot Tub Party (1991), 976-Evil II (1991), Munchie (1992)]. Fred Olen Ray directed her in Evil Toons (1992).

She always had one foot in the adult film industry (as she occasionally appeared in such films) and in 2003 she got married to adult film director Tony Angove, and she formed the production company, Monique's Purrfect Productions.

Marcela Walerstein

She was born in 1971 in Ampure, Venezuela and appeared in some unimportant films in 1991 and 1992. In 1993 she played Emmanuelle in a string of TV movies: Éternelle Emmanuelle (1993), La revanche d'Emmanuelle (1993), Emmanuelle à Venise (1993), L'amour d'Emmanuelle (1993), Magique Emmanuelle (1993), Le parfum d'Emmanuelle (1993), Le secret d'Emmanuelle (1993); what all these had in common was Sylvia Kristel playing an older Emmanuelle; I reviewed all of these films previously for Cinema Head Cheese. Marcela Walerstein worked in film until 2005.

Annie Bellac

As Sylvia Kristel did, she played an Emmanuelle in Emmanuelle 7 (1993), and I could not find any more information about her.

Jennifer Burton

She was a television actress and a model (she was on the cover of the July 1990 issue of Playboy magazine’s Greek edition). She played Emmanuelle in Emmanuelle: First Contact (1994), Emmanuelle 4: Concealed Fantasy (1994), and Emmanuelle 6: One Final Fling (1994).

Deena Casiano

She played Emmanuelle in Emmanuelle: First Contact (1994) and Emmanuelle 4: Concealed Fantasy (1994). Genre movie fans should be interested in knowing that she also had a part in the TV remake of A Bucket of Blood (1995).

Krista Allen

She was born on the 5^th of April 1971, in Ventura, California, USA, and started modelling when she was still a teenager. She left her hometown to pursue a college degree in Austin, Texas. She then returned to her hometown and enjoys a career in television and film. She got married twice and divorced as many times, and she was even dating George Clooney for a while.

She played Emmanuelle in Emmanuelle: First Contact (1994), Emmanuelle 3: a Lesson in Love (1994), Emmanuelle 4: Concealed Fantasy (1994), Emmanuelle 5: a Time to Dream (1994), and Emmanuelle 6: One Final Fling (1994), Emmanuelle: a World of Desire (1994), Emmanuelle 7: the Meaning of Love (1994), Emmanuelle, Queen of the Galaxy (1994).

Throughout her career she always had roles in mainstream television, but starting in the late ‘90s she also had parts in major motion pictures such as Liar Liar (1997) with Jim Carrey, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) with Julia Roberts, and Anger Managment (2003) with Jack Nicholson.

Horror movie fans should note that she was also in Feast (2005), The Final Destination (2009), and Silent Venom (2009).

Holly Sampson

Holly Joy Sampson was born on the 4^th of September 1973, in Prescott, Arizona, USA and by the late ‘80s she was a regular in several TV series. Soon she pursued a career in the adult film industry, performing in several such videos.

She played Emmanuelle in the Emmanuelle 2000 string of straight-to-video flicks: Emmanuelle 2000: Emmanuelle's Intimate Encounters (2000), Emmanuelle 2000: Being Emmanuelle (2000), Emmanuelle 2000: Emmanuelle in Paradise (2000), Emmanuelle 2000: Emmanuelle and the Art of Love (2000), Emmanuelle 2000: Jewel of Emmanuelle (2000), and Emmanuelle 2000: Emmanuelle Pie (2003).

Notably, she was directed by David DeCoteau in The Brotherhood 2: Young Warlocks (2001), and Fred Olen Ray in Emmanuelle 2001: Emmanuelle's Sensual Pleasures (2001), Emmanuelle 2000 (2001), Little Witches (2011), and Lady Chatterley’s Ghost (2011).

Ludmilla Ferraz

She played Emmanuelle in the TV movie Emmanuelle in Rio (2003), and I could not find any further information about her.

Crystal Sun

She died on the 6^th of February 2009, in Hong Kong. She had been in very few films, most notably Emmanuelle in Hong Kong (2003) in which she played the title role.

Agathe de La Boulaye

She was born in Paris, France, and she is one of the most mainstream actresses in this article. She was directed by James Ivory in Jefferson in Paris (1995), Sande Zeig in The Girl (2000), and Paul W.S. Anderson in AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004). She regularly appears in a variety of French TV series, and she played Emmanuelle in the TV movie La vie érotique de la grenouille (2003).

Natasja Vermeer

She is a Dutch model and an activist with work for PETA Europe. She played Emmanuelle in several instalments of the television Emmanuelle the Private Collection series of features.

Vanina Verdun Penia

Speaking of Emmanuelle the Private Collection, Penia also played Emmanuelle in the Emmanuelle Tango (2006) instalment. Her film career was brief.

Allie Haze

Brittany Sturtevant (that’s her real name) was born on the 10^th of May, 1987 in Montan, USA, and started modelling at a very young age. In 2005 she got married, but divorced in 2007. She is now one of the most successful adult film actresses, having signed a contract in May 2011 with Vivid Entertainment and becoming a January 2014 Penthouse Pet of the Month.

At the 2011 Cannes International Film Festival it was announced that she would be the new Emmanuelle, performing the iconic role in Emmanuelle Through Time: Emmanuelle's Sexy Bite (2011), Emmanuelle Through Time: Emmanuelle's Supernatural Sexual Activity (2011), Emmanuelle Through Time: Rod Steele 0014 & Naked Agent 0069 (2012), Emmanuelle Through Time: Sex, Chocolate & Emmanuelle (2012); one more sequel is scheduled next year, entitled Today is Yesterday Tomorrow (2015).

Laura Gemser

Laurette Marcia Gemser was born on the 5^th of October 1950, in Java, Indonesia, but she moved to the Netherlands when she was only a kid. She received a degree in fashion design from Artibus Art School in Utrecht, but started working as a model instead.

She then moved in Italy to pursue a career in acting, and her debut was in Amore libero - Free Love (1974); however, she became famous a year later when she had a noted role in Emmanuelle: the Joys of a Woman (1975).

A few months later director Bitto Albertini gave her the leading part in Black Emanuelle (1975) and made her a household name. She starred in numerous films playing Black Emanuelle [such as Sister Emanuelle (1977)], and some films that had nothing to do with the popular character [such as Taboo Island (1976)], but they were re-titled in order to grab hungry audiences.

Most notably she had starring parts in a string of Joe D’Amato flicks: Emanuelle in Bangkok (1976), Black Cobra (1976), Vow of Chastity (1976), Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977), Emanuelle in America (1977), Emanuelle Versus Violence to Women (1977), Sexy Night Report (1977), Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade (1978), Emanuelle and the Erotic Nights (1978), Porno Exotic Love (1980), Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (1980), Ator, the Fighting Eagle (1982), Caligula: The Untold Story (1982), Endgame (1983), The Pleasure (1985), The Alcove (1985), Voglia di guardare (1986), Eleven Days, Eleven Nights (1987), and Delizia (1987).

She was also directed by José Ramón Larraz in ...And Give Us Our Daily Sex (1979), by Riccardo Freda in Murder Obsession (1981), and by Bruno Mattei in Caged Women (1982) & Women's Prison Massacre (1983).

She did some mainstream work too; she had parts in Voyage of the Damned (1976) with Faye Dunaway and Horror Safari (1982) with Stuart Whitman.

She got to practice her college degree in a string of films too. She was the costume designer in Joe D’Amato’s Top Model (1988), Dirty Love (1988), Quest for the Mighty Sword (1990), Web of Desire (1990), Passion's Flower (1991), Frankenstein 2000 (1991), Love Project (1992), Woman's Secret (1992), and Troll III: Contamination Point 7 (1993); Claudio Fragasso’s Troll 2 (1990) & La casa 5 (1990); George Eastman’s Metamorphosis (1990); and Lucio Fulci’s Door to Silence (1991).

She was married to actor Gabriele Tinti (since 1976) and when he died in 1991 she left the business altogether and is keeping a lower profile ever since.

Shulamith Lasri

As far as I know Lasri appeared in only one film, Emanuelle nera n° 2 (1976), playing the leading part. I could not find any more information about her.