Aw, hell (taking a moment to remember)

Dutch actress Sylvia Kristel, famous for her starring role in the 1974 erotic French film "Emmanuelle," died Thursday at age 60 after a battle with cancer.

"Emmanuelle," released two years after more hard-core film "Deep Throat," became one of the

biggest French box-office hits ever and was one of the first erotic films to be shown in mainstream theaters — changing the censorship laws of the era.

Kristel went on to star in not quite as successful sequels of the film —

"Emmanuelle 2" in 1975,

"Goodbye Emmanuelle" in 1977 and "Emmanuelle 4" in 1984.

The famous Dutch actress is survived by a son, Arthur, who she had in 1975 with her then-husband, Belgian author Hugo Claus...

A private funeral will be held for Kristel, according to her agent.

As one or two of you will remember, Sylvia Kristel is one of those women who has never completely left my mind.

If memory serves she was the first I ever saw naked onscreen.

 It's why I've featured her on a fairly regular basis on this and my other more "aesthetically oriented" blog.

I hope she's at peace.  Someone who was a rite of passage for so many of us into the worlds of eroticism and sexuality should be.