Laurette Marcia "Laura" Gemser (born October 5, 1950, Surabaya, Indonesia) is a Dutch actress of Indo descent, now Italian citizen. She is known for her work with director Joe D'Amato and Bruno Mattei, in particular, for doing a set of exploitation-style and Black Emanuelle films.Gemser has also been credited as Moira Chen, most notably in Love Is Forever (1983).
[on her Emanuelle series] It seemed like [...] one long, long movie that didn't end. You know, it was always... the same story, the same things happen, and... I just think it's one [...] big movie.
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I saw [Emanuelle nera (1975)] because I was curious. But then... but then, I felt bad, because [...] I refused a lot of scenes. They put a stand-in [into those scenes], and I didn't know. So when I saw the movie, [...] I rather felt bad.
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It's hard to make love with a [woman]. I mean, it's... it's really hard. But, you know, you get paid for it, so you do it. You just... do it!
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When [Emanuelle nera (1975)] came out, there was a big poster with me on it, and I was naked [...]. And there was one day out, and they censored it. [...] They took it off, and so... people are curious to see now. [...] And it's only twenty years ago, or maybe. So nowadays, you see, everywhere, you see, I mean, even in TV, you see everything. [...] In those days, it was rather [scandalous].
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Fact
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During filming for Emanuelle nera (1975), she fell in love with her co-star Gabriele Tinti, despite him being nearly two decades her senior. Their relationship was her primary reason for becoming an Italian citizen, and they were married in New York City a year later. His death in 1991 prompted Gemser to leave the film business soon afterwards.
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Spoke English onscreen in all of her films (although her voice was usually dubbed over by someone else).
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Owns several pet parrots.
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Lives in retirement in Italy. [1998]
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After more than a decade a sex symbol, Gemser turned to costume design for mainstream film. Ms. Gemser provided costume design and coordination for the 1990 film Troll 2.
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One popular misconception about Laura Gemser often reported in articles about the actress is that she was born Dutch, which is not true. This came from writers' confusion between Laura Gemser (star of the "Emanuelle nera" films) and Dutch-born actress Sylvia Kristel (star of the film Emmanuelle (1974)) Laura Gemser was born in Java, Indonesia.