Lina Romay

Romay was born in Barcelona in 1954 Following graduation from high school she studied the arts married actorphotographer Ramon Ardid Raymond Hardy they later divorced in 1978 and began acting in stage productions She began appearing in Jesús Francos films from the time that they met in 1972 She appeared in more than a hundred feature films most of them directed by Franco The majority of their films together were in the erotic film genre but she was also featured in many horror comedy and actionadventure films as well Among the better known of her horror films are The Bare Breasted Countess aka Female Vampire 1973 Barbed Wire Dolls 1975 and Jack the Ripper 1976 She took the name Lina Romay from the actress and jazz artist from the 1940s Although Romay was listed in the credits of several of Francos films as a codirector actor Antonio Mayans stated in a recent interview that Franco used to credit her in that manner for business reasons although she never actually codirected any of their films together She did however contribute occasional story ideas and assist in the editing of some films and trailers Lina Romay and Jesús Franco lived as a couple for close to four decades but only officially married on April 25 2008 She died from cancer at the age of 57 on 15 February 2012 in Málaga Spain Franco died soon after in 2013