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It bears repeating that, in the olden days, back when televisions where 4x3 boxes beaming mostly black-and-white images into the living rooms of Americans, landing a regular role on a sitcom or hour-long drama wasn't considered a career coup in Hollywood. Making it in movies was still just about every working actor's goal, while television was a step down -- lucrative, steady, but hardly prestigious.

And worst of all, if you hung around one series for too long, you ran the risk of getting typecast.

This was very much on Pernell Roberts' mind when the Shakespearian trained actor was cast as Adam Cartwright, the oldest son of wealthy rancher Ben Cartwright (future Commander Adama and Alpo pitchman Lorne Greene), on "Bonanza." Handsome, eloquent and quite at home in front of a camera, Roberts had earned rave reviews as a stage performer (he won a Drama Desk Award in 1955 for his...

“The Cannon Film Guide is a treasure trove of info for Golan/Globus fans. Even diehard Cannon scholars will learn from this tome.” – Paul Talbot, author of the Bronson’s Loose! books

The unbelievable story of the legendary 1980s B-movie studio continues in The Cannon Film Guide Volume II, which covers the company’s output from 1985 to 1987, their peak production years under maverick moguls Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. This highly-anticipated sequel to the original Cannon compendium takes an up-close look at sixty Cannon movies, from deep cuts to cult classics, including American Ninja, The Delta Force, Over the Top, Invasion USA, Masters of the Universe, Runaway Train, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, King Solomon’s Mines, Lifeforce, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, and many more. Order the book Here

With hundreds of photos and more than forty interviews with Cannon directors, writers, and stars, this is an indispensable reference book for...

Holland Film Meeting is the industry strand of the Netherlands Film Festival.

Paula van der Oest’s €9m English-language drama Mata Hari is among the films being presented during the Holland Film Meeting’s projects programme, the industry side of this year’s Netherlands Film Festival, which begins today (September 24) in Utrecht. It will run until October 2.

Van der Oest, promised a ”feminist approach” to the subject matter. “Most of the existing Mata Hari films are told from a male perspec­tive,” she told Screen. “They focus on Mata Hari being a glam­orous and exotic spy. A dangerous temptress,...

Star of 1974 film about bored housewife who embarks on voyage of sexual discovery dies after cancer battle and stroke

Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch-born actor who brought sex to the multiplex, has died at the age of 60. She had been battling cancer and suffered a debilitating stroke in June of this year. "She died during the night during her sleep," her agent, Marieke Verharen, told the Afp news agency.

Having initially worked as a model, Kristel rose to stardom in Emmanuelle, the 1974 tale of a bored, beautiful housewife who embarks on a journey of sexual discovery. Directed by Just Jaeckin, the softcore drama sent Kristel's character through an endless whirl of skinny dipping, masturbation and the leg-over antics of the Mile High Club. But Emmanuelle's hedonistic worldview struck a chord with mainstream 70s audiences. It went on to become one of the most successful French productions ever, earning upwards of...

She was the face (and body) that launched a thousand teenage erotic dreams. Sylvia Kristel, who got her big break in 1974’s lusty classic Emmanuelle, has died at the age of 60.Despite a career stretching across more than 50 films, she’ll forever be known as the soft-core star of a series of movies chronicling the sexual adventures of a bored housewife.The original Emmanuelle became something of a controversial X-rated sensation and ran in one Parisian cinema for 11 years.Kristel was born in 1952 in the Netherlands and was raised by strict parents. After a convent school education, she became a teenage model and scored bit-parts in small films. But winning a Miss TV Europe competition in 1973 put her on the road to cult stardom when it helped her land the role of Emmanuelle at the age of 22.Kristel parlayed the success of that film into an acting career, appearing in...

Actress Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch star of the hit 1970s erotic movie Emmanuelle, has died of cancer at age 60.

Her agent, Features Creative Management, said in a statement Thursday that Kristel died in her sleep Wednesday night. Kristel, a model who turned to acting in the 1970s, had been fighting cancer for several years.

Her breakthrough came in Emmanuelle, a 1974 erotic tale directed by Frenchman Just Jaeckin, about the sexual adventures of a man and his beautiful young wife, played by Kristel, in Thailand.

She went on to star in several sequels to Emmanuelle, as well as in Hollywood movies...

Sylvia Kristel will always be associated with her starring role in the 1974 softcore classic Emmanuelle. The Dutch model-turned-actress would never repeat the success and went on to play parts capitalising on the role, most notably in a 1981 adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover and the nudity-filled biopic of the World War I spy Mata Hari. She was born the daughter of innkeepers in Utrecht (she claimed she was sexually abused by a guest) and worked as a barmaid and petrol station attendant before modelling when she was 17, winning the Miss TV Europe contest in 1973.

Released in 1974, the soft-core French film Emmanuelle was one of the first erotic movies to be shown in mainstream U.S. cinemas. The story of a sexually promiscuous housewife was an worldwide smash, making a star of 22-year old Dutch beauty Sylvia Kristel and spawning dozens of sequels and knock-offs (Kristel also starred in the first sequel Emmanuelle Joys Of A Woman). She had a natural, uninhibited presence and would act in several erotic period pieces in Europe such as Lady Chatterly’S Lover and Mata Hari. Her Emmanuelle image followed her to the United States where she starred as a maid who seduces a teenage boy in the controversial 1981 sex comedy Private Lessons, another hit. Kristel lived mostly in Belgium the last couple of decades and penned her autobiography Undressing Emmanuelle. In May 2006, Kristel received an award at the Tribeca Film Festival for directing the animated short film “Topor...

The Hague, Netherlands -- Actress Sylvia Kristel, the Dutch star of the hit 1970s erotic movie "Emmanuelle," has died of cancer at age 60.

Her agent, Features Creative Management, said in a statement Thursday that Kristel died in her sleep Wednesday night. Kristel, a model who turned to acting in the 1970s, had been fighting cancer for several years.

Her breakthrough came in "Emmanuelle," a 1974 erotic tale directed by Frenchman Just Jaeckin, about the sexual adventures of a man and his beautiful young wife, played by Kristel, in Thailand.

She went on to star in several sequels to "Emmanuelle," as well as in Hollywood movies including "Private Lessons" in 1981.

In Hollywood, she sank into a world of drink and drugs. "I wish I could have skipped that part of my life, she said in a 2005 interview with Dutch newspaper De Volkkrant.

Her agent described her as one of the Netherlands' biggest movie stars,...

It's the end of an erotic era, with the death of 'Emmanuelle' star Sylvia Kristel, aged 60.

The Dutch actress, who became famous after starring in the 1974 film as a sexually promiscuous housewife, had cancer and was admitted to hospital in July after suffering a stroke.

Her agent Marieke Verharen told the Afp news agency: "She died during the night during her sleep."

'Emmanuelle', which was given a restricted X-rating in the UK, told the story of a beautiful young model who lived in Bangkok together with her older husband Jean... both were very tolerant in the matters of extramarital affairs.

Kristel herself began her career as a model before landing the role and she went on to make a string of sequels to 'Emmanuelle' and built on her reputation as a sex icon with similar roles in...