Lina Romay

Lina Romay (born Rosa María Almirall Martínez; 25 June 1954 – 15 February 2012), a.k.a. Candy Coster and Lulu Laverne, was a Spanish actress who often appeared in films directed by her long-time companion (and later husband) Jesús Franco. She appeared in approximately 109 Jesus Franco films made over 30 years.
Biography
Romay was born in Barcelona in 1954. After graduating high school, she studied the arts, married actor/photographer Ramon Ardid (aka Raymond Hardy), and began acting in stage productions. She began appearing in Jesús Franco's films when they met in 1972. Her husband Ramon was working for Franco as a still photographer at the time, and she met Franco through him. She acted in over a hundred feature films, most directed by Franco. The majority of their films together were in the erotic film genre (including many X titles featuring unsimulated sex scenes with Franco and other actors), but she also appeared in many of his horror, comedy, and action/adventure films as well. Among the better known of her horror films are The Bare Breasted Countess (a.k.a. Female Vampire) (1973), Barbed Wire Dolls (1975) and Jack the Ripper (1976). Ramon co-starred with her in several of Franco's films until he realized she was having an affair with Franco in 1975. Lina and Ramon legally divorced in 1978, and Ramon stopped working with Franco after 1980.
She took the name Lina Romay from the actress and jazz artist from the 1940s (who only died in 2010). Although Romay was listed in the credits of several of Franco's films as a co-director, actor Antonio Mayans stated in a recent interview that Franco used to credit her in that manner for business reasons, and that she never actually co-directed any of the films. However, she contributed occasional plot ideas and assisted in editing some of the films' trailers.
Lina Romay and Jesús Franco lived as a couple for almost four decades but only officially married on 25 April 2008. She died from cancer at the age of 57 on 15 February 2012 in Málaga, Spain. Franco died soon after in 2013.
Selected filmography
The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein (1972), a.k.a. The Curse of Frankenstein; Lina's scenes as a gypsy girl only appear in the 1973 re-edited Spanish language version
The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff (1972) brief cameo role as a neighbor
Pleasure for Three (1973) a.k.a. How to Seduce a Virgin
The Perverse Countess (1973)
Maciste vs the Amazon Queen (1973) a.k.a. Lustful Amazons
The Erotic Exploits of Maciste in Atlantis (1973)
Female Vampire (1973) a.k.a. The Bare-Breasted Countess/ Erotikill (released in 1975)
Night of the Killers (1973) a.k.a. Night of the Skull
Linda's Hot Nights (1973) a.k.a. Who Raped Linda?
Tender and Perverse Emanuelle (1973)
Kiss Me Killer (1973) a.k.a. Sexy Blues
Exorcism and Black Masses (1974) a.k.a. Exorcisme
Celestine, Maid at your Service (1974)
Lorna the Exorcist (1974)
Les Chatouilleuses (1974) a.k.a. Nuns in Madness
Roland, the Sexiest Man in the World (1974)
Les Emmerdeuses/ The Troublemakers (1974)
The Obscene Mirror (1975) Lina only appeared in the 1975 re-edited hardcore Italian version of Jess Franco's 1973 film The Other Side of the Mirror
Julietta 69 (1975), a.k.a. Justine; Lina only appeared in the 1975 re-edited hardcore Italian version co-edited by Joe D'Amato
Midnight Party (1975) a.k.a. Lady Porno
Rolls Royce Baby (1975) (not directed by Franco)
Barbed Wire Dolls (1975) a.k.a. Frauengefängnis
Women Behind Bars (1975) a.k.a. Diamants Pour L'Enfer
Downtown: The Naked Dolls of the Underworld (1975)
Die Sklavinnen/ The Slaves (1975)
Doriana Gray (1975) a.k.a. Die Marquise de Sade
Jack the Ripper (1976) a.k.a. Erotico Profondo
Ilsa, the Wicked Warden (1976) a.k.a. Greta, the Mad Butcher/ Ilsa, the Wicked Warden
Wicked Women (1977) a.k.a. Women Without Innocence
Cocktail Special (1978)
Elles Font Tout/ They Do It All (1978)
Two Flowered Spies with Flowered Panties (1978) a.k.a. Opal of Fire: The Sex Merchants
The Girls of Copacabana (1979)
Erotic Symphony (1979)
The Sadist of Notre Dame (1979) a.k.a. Demoniac (censored version)
What a Honeymoon (1979) a.k.a. The Gold Bug
Mondo Cannibale (1980) a.k.a. White Cannibal Queen/ The Cannibals
Sex Is Crazy (1980)
Sexual Aberrations of a Married Woman (1980) a.k.a.Cecilia
Eugenie: The Story of a Perversion (1980)
The Girl in the Transparent Panties (1980) a.k.a. Pick-up Girls
The Night of the Open Sexes (1981)
Macumba Sexual (1981)
Oasis of the Zombies (1981) Lina only appears in the variant Spanish-language version Tomb of the Living Dead
Intimate Confessions of an Exhibitionist (1982)
Black Boots, Leather Whip (1982)
House of the Lost Women (1982)
The Hotel of Love Affairs (1982)
Mansion of the Living Dead (1982)
The Shadow of Judoka vs. Dr. Wong (1982)
Gemidos de Placer/ Moans of Pleasure (1982)
The Blues of Pop Street (1983)
Fury in the Tropics (1983)
Revenge in the House of Usher (1983)
The Treasure of the White Goddess (1983) a.k.a. Diamonds of Kilamandjaro
Lillian the Perverted Virgin (1983)
The Night Has a Thousand Sexes (1983)
The Sexual Story of O (1983)
Scarlet (1983)
Camino Solitario/ Lonely Road (1983)
Alone Against Terror (1983) a.k.a. The Monsters of Fiske Manor
Blood on my Shoes (1983)
How Much Does a Spy Cost? (1983)
Una Rajita Para Dos (1983) x-rated
Bahia Blanca/ White Bay (1984)
Last of the Filipinas (1985)
Bangkok, Appointment with Death (1985)
Travel to Bangkok, Coffin Included (1985)
White Slave (1985) unreleased
Lulu's Buttonhole (1985) x-rated
Lulu's Pacifier (1985) x-rated
Un Pito Para Tres (1985) x-rated
Entre Pitos Anda el Juego (1985) x-rated
The Watcher and the Exhibitionist (1986) x-rated
Las Chuponas (1986) x-rated
Para Las Nenas Leche Calentita (1986) x-rated
Slaves of Crime (1986)
Teleporno (1986) unfinished x-rated project
Bragueta Story/ Zipper Story (1986) unreleased
Phollastia (1987) x-rated
Falo Crest (1987) x-rated
Faceless (1988) a.k.a. Predators of the Night
Emerald Bay/ Esmeralda Bay (1987)
Downtown Heat (1990)
Killer Barbys (1996)
Tender Flesh (1997)
Lust for Frankenstein (1998)
Mari-Cookie and the Killer Tarantula (1998)
Dr. Wong's Virtual Hell (1999)
Broken Dolls (1999)
Red Silk (1999)
Blind Target (2000)
Helter Skelter (2001)
Vampire Blues (2001)
Vampire Junction (2001)
Incubus (2002)
Antenna Criminal (2002) documentary about the making of Franco's Blind Target
Killer Barbys vs. Dracula (2002)
Rossa Venezia/ Red Venice (2003) German production shot in Italy, not directed by Franco
Kárate a muerte en Torremolinos (2003) not directed by Franco
Flowers of Passion (2003)
Flowers of Perversion (2003)
See you later Cowabunga: La maldición del cenachero diabólico! (2004) not directed by Franco
Snakewoman (2005)
Paula-Paula (2010)
References
External links
Mexican horror film index
1954 births
2012 deaths
Spanish film actresses
Actresses from Barcelona
Film actresses from Catalonia
Deaths from cancer in Spain
Spanish pornographic film actresses