Quick Facts
Biography
Lina Romay (born Rosa María Almirall Martínez; 25 June 1954 – 15 February 2012) was a Spanish actress (born in Barcelona) who often appeared in films directed by her long-time companion (and later husband) Jesús Franco.
Movie career
Romay was born in Barcelona in 1954. Following graduation from high school, she studied the arts, married actor/photographer Ramon Ardid (they later divorced), and began acting in stage productions. She began appearing in Jesús Franco's films from the time that they met in 1971. She appeared in more than a hundred feature films, most of them directed by Franco. The majority of their films together were in the adult film genre, but she also featured in many 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), Jack the Ripper, Exorcisme, and Barbed Wire Dolls. She took the name Lina Romay from the actress and jazz artist from the 1940s.
Lina Romay and Jesús Franco were a couple for 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. Her husband died in 2013.
Selected filmography
- Three Naked Women on Robinson Island (1972)
- The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein (1973) Lina's scenes are only in the 1973 Spanish cut
- Night of the Skull (a.k.a. Night of the Killers; 1973)
- The Bare Breasted Countess (a.k.a. Female Vampire) (1974)
- Exorcism and Black Masses (1974)
- Countess Perverse (1974) (uncredited)
- Rolls Royce Baby (1975) (not directed by Franco)
- Women Behind Bars (1975)
- Barbed Wire Dolls (1975)
- Doriana Grey (1975)
- Jack the Ripper (1976)
- Ilsa, the Wicked Warden (a.k.a. Greta the Mad Butcher, 1976)
- Mondo Cannibale (1980) a.k.a. White Cannibal Queen
- Devil Hunter (1980) a.k.a. Mandingo Manhunter
- Macumba Sexual (1981)
- Revenge in the House of Usher (1982)
- Mansion of the Living Dead (1982)
- The Treasure of the White Goddess (1983)
- Faceless (1988)
- Tender Flesh (1997)
- Eight Legs To Love You (1998)
- Lust for Frankenstein (1998)
- Mari-Cookie and the Killer Tarantula (1998)
- Dr. Wong's Virtual Hell (1999)
- Broken Dolls (1999)
- Blind Target (2000)
- Helter Skelter (2001)
- Vampire Blues (2001)
- Vampire Junction (2001)
- Incubus (2002)
- Snakewoman (2005)
- Angel of Death 2 (2007)
- Paula-Paula (2010)