Lina Romay
Rosa María Almirall Martínez, known by the stage name Lina Romay, was a Spanish actress and filmmaker. She often appeared in films directed by her long-time companion, and later husband, Jesús Franco. She appeared in approximately 109 Franco films made over a 30-year period, from 1973 to 2010. She sometimes used the pseudonyms Candy Coster and Lulu Laverne.
Early life
Romay was born Rosa María Almirall Martínez in Barcelona on June 25, 1954. She attended high school at Lope de Vega between 1964 to 1970. After graduating high school, she enrolled in the Massana Art School, where she met and married actor/photographer Ramon Ardid. She began acting in amateur stage productions.Romay first met Franco when he and a friend came to see her troupe's performance of Terra Baixa. After the play ended, Franco offered her a role in one of his films. Her husband at the time, Ramon Ardid, was working for Franco as a still photographer. Her first film with Franco was Relax Baby, but the movie was never released.
Career
She began appearing in Jesús Franco's films when they met in 1972, adopting the stage name Lina Romay after an actress and jazz artist from the 1940s. She also used the stage names, Candy Coster and Lulu Laverne, stating, I'm Lina Romay when I have brown hair, Candy Coster when I have blonde hair, and Lulu Laveme when I have red hair." Franco cast her in her first lead role in his 1973 film The Female Vampire.She acted in over a hundred feature films, most directed by Franco. A self-confessed exhibitionist, the majority of their films together were in the erotic film genre, 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, Barbed Wire Dolls and Jack the Ripper. Ardid co-starred with her in several of Franco's films until he realized she was having an affair with Franco in 1975. Romay and Ardid finalized their divorce in 1978, and Ardid stopped working with Franco after 1980.
Although Romay was listed in the credits of several of Franco's films as a co-director, actor Antonio Mayans stated in a 2019 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 the editing room.
Personal life and death
Romay was a polyglot, speaking Spanish, Catalan, French, Portuguese, Italian, and English.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
Feature films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1973 | Esmeralda, the gypsy | ||
| 1974 | How to Seduce a Virgin | Davey's girlfriend | |
| 1974 | Yuka, the priestess | ||
| 1974 | Exorcism | Anna | |
| 1974 | Lorna the Exorcist | Linda Barielle | |
| 1974 | Countess Perverse | Sylvia Aguado | |
| 1974 | Night of the Skull | Rita Derian, Lord Marian's daughter | |
| 1974 | Célestine, An All Round Maid | Célestine | |
| 1974 | Loulou | ||
| 1975 | Female Vampire | Irina, Countess of Karlstein | |
| 1975 | Bianca | ||
| 1975 | Les Chatouilleuses | Loulou | |
| 1975 | Pina | ||
| 1975 | Olivia Radeck | Called Olivia Steiner in the French prints | |
| 1975 | Barbed Wire Dolls | Maria da Guerra, prisoner | |
| 1975 | Marie | ||
| 1976 | Julietta 69 | Justine | |
| 1976 | Midnight Party | Sylvia Sanders, a stripper | Character named Laura in the Spanish version |
| 1976 | Downtown | Cynthia Ramos' aka "Annette"; stage name ‘Cynthia La Belle” | |
| 1976 | Jack the Ripper | Marika Hoffman | |
| 1976 | Lady Doriana Gray and her twin sister | ||
| 1977 | Ilsa [the Wicked Warden] | Juana Marez, prisoner no. 10 | |
| 1977 | Women Behind Bars | Shirley Fields, Perry Mendoza’s love | |
| 1977 | Madame, Princess Arminda | ||
| 1977 | Kiss Me Killer | Moira Ray, a stripper | |
| 1978 | Wicked Woman | Margerita Martin | |
| 1978 | Tender and Perverse Emanuelle | Greta Douglas, Gordon's sister | |
| 1978 | Adéle | ||
| 1979 | Elles font tout | Nini la fesse, a porno star | |
| 1980 | Sinfonia Erótica | Martine De Bressac | Credited as Candice Coster |
| 1980 | Opalo de fuego | Cécile Le Pen | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1981 | Eugénie Historia de una perversion | Sultana aka Princess Irina Von Karlstein | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1981 | Aberraciones sexuales de una mujer casada | George's Mother | |
| 1981 | Lia, Hans's seductress | ||
| 1981 | Anne | ||
| 1981 | Pick-up Girls | Bijou | Characters name is "Pussy" in UK prints. |
| 1981 | Anna/Diana, Jeremy’s nurse | Credited as Candy Coster | |
| 1981 | Marcia/Ms. Fonseca/ Cookie | Credited as Candy Coster | |
| 1982 | Moira | ||
| 1982 | Moira | ||
| 1982 | Botas negras, látigo de cuero | Lina Daniel | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1982 | Macumba Sexual | Alice Brooks | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1983 | Eva Bombón | Credited as Candy Coster | |
| 1983 | La casa de las mujeres perdidas | Desdemona Pontecorvo | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1983 | Maria, Usher's housekeeper and mistress | ||
| 1983 | Confesiones íntimas de una exhibicionista | Candy aka 'Velvet Tongue' | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1983 | Gemidos de placer | Julia | |
| 1983 | Night Has a Thousand Desires | Irina | |
| 1983 | Mansion of the Living Dead | Candy | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1983 | Diamonds of Kilamandjaro | Hermione De Winter, Diana's mother | |
| 1983 | Kurt's wife | ||
| 1983 | Camino solitario | Eva Raden/Adriana Esteba | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1984 | Ana | ||
| 1984 | Lilian | Irina, nightclub owner | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1984 | Agent 69/89? | Credited as Lulu La Verne | |
| 1985 | Lulu, a porn star | Credited as Lulu Laverne | |
| 1985 | Lulú | Credited as Lulú Laverne | |
| 1985 | Entre pitos anda el juego | Candy | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1985 | Lulú | Credited as Lulú Laverne | |
| 1986 | The exhibitionist | Credited as Lulu Laverne | |
| 1986 | Para las nenas... leche calentita | Chelo Cucufate | Credited as Lulu Laverne |
| 1986 | Furia en el trópico | Marga Lopez | |
| 1986 | Lulu | Credited as Lulu Laverne | |
| 1986 | Sangre en mis zapatos | Paquita la Fina | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1986 | Sola ante el terror | Melissa Calvo | Credited as Candy Coster |
| 1987 | Phollastia | Barbara Carrington | |
| 1988 | Faceless | Mme. Orloff | |
| 1988 | Phalo crest | Maggie Channing | Credited as Brenda Haven |
| 1995 | Downtown Heat | Melissa | |
| 1996 | Mari | ||
| 1998 | Tender Flesh | Gorgona Radek | |
| 2001 | Lust for Frankenstein | Moira Frankenstein | |
| 2001 | Mari-Cookie and the Killer Tarantula in 8 Legs to Love You | Mari-Cookie/Tarantula | |
| 2002 | Dr. Wong's Virtual Hell | Nelly Smith & Tsai Ming | Credited as Candice Coster |
| 2002 | Vampire Blues | Marga, a Gypsy Fortune-teller | |
| 2002 | Red Silk | Tina | Credited as Lulu Laverne |
| 2002 | Blind Target | Tora | |
| 2002 | Vampire Junction | Alice Brown | |
| 2002 | Incubus | Rosa Harker | |
| 2002 | Killer Barbys vs. Dracula | Comrade Irina von Karstein | |
| 2002 | Kárate a muerte en Torremolinos | Unknown acting role | |
| 2004 | Broken Dolls | Tona Martin | |
| 2004 | Helter Skelter | Madame Champville | |
| 2005 | The voyeur's ex girlfriend | ||
| 2005 | Flores de perversión | Madame Augustina Villeblanche | |
| 2005 | Snakewoman | Dr. Van Helsing | |
| 2008 | Voice-over | ||
| 2011 | Paula-paula | Alma | |
| Rolls Royce Baby | |||
| Love Letters of a Nun | |||
| Genara Winston, aka Butterfly | |||
| Bahia blanca | Maria | ||
| Cecilia Muro | Also an assistant director as R.M. Almirall | ||
| Esclavas del crimen | Tsai Chin, Fu Manchu's daughter | ||
| Esmeralda Bay | Loletta, brothel madam | Also the film editor, credited as Rosy Almirall | |
| Rossa venezia |