#68 Double Feature: Lina Romay

It’s not what I’d call a common name, like a Betty Smith or a Sue Johnson. In fact, it’s a bit odd. How much stranger that two B movie actresses would share it …

The first Lina Romay was primarily a singer from the ‘40s. She did, though, appear in a couple  of B’s, as well as much classier fare. In fact, she may not really have enough credits to be in this blog, except for  …

… the second Lina Romay. This one was schlockmeister Jess Franco’s favorite actress (and also his wife). That means lots and lots of views of Lina dripping blood, Lina stark naked, and Lina stark naked dripping blood. Probably the most well-known flick of hers is Female Vampire, where she is pretty much completely nude for the whole film.

This second Lina was also known as Betty Carter, Jean Collins, Candice Coster, Candy Coster, Lennie Hayden, Lulu Laverne, and Jane Morgan. And, yes, she did take the name she normally went by from the first Lina Romay.

	Lina I	Lina II
Real Name	Maria Elena Romay	Rosa María Almirall Martínez
Embarrassing Movies	Love Laughs at Andy Hardy Two Girls and a Sailor The Lady Takes a Sailor Joe Palooka at The Big Fight Senor Droopy	The Perverse Countess Oasis of the Zombies * Lust for Frankenstein The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein The Erotic Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Hellhole Women Wanda the Wicked Warden Killer Barbies Vs. Dracula * - author has seen
Embarrassing Taglines	FORTY-EIGHT EXPLOSIVE HOURS! Lilting Rhythms...Lovely Mermaids...Wacky Comedy! Turn on the Fun! A Heat Wave of Beautiful GIRLS! GAGS! RHYTHM! and ROMANCE!	Prisoners in a barbaric camp of sadistic perversions ... Kidnapped by cannibals! Raised to eat human flesh! Girls ... CHAINED ... CONDEMNED to a Life of TORMENT at the Hands of Their Beautiful, BRUTAL Captor!
Embarrassing Characters	Chona Degnon Raquel Riviera	Moira Frankenstein Yuka, the Jealous Amazon Mari Cookie / Tarantula
Number of Marriages	3	2
Shortest Marriage	2 years
Unlikeley Spouses & Boyfriends	Peter Lawford Artie Shaw (musician) Jay Gould III Jack Dempsey	Jess Franco
Whiffs of Scandal		More than her fair share of porn flicks
Interesting Tidbits	Was born in NYC, where her father worked for the Mexican consulate Norwegian and Irish on her mother’s side Was lead singer for Xavier Cugat’s band	Offstage, she was the opposite of her onstage persona – shy, retiring, and typically dressed in frumpy clothes
Screen Credits	24	123
Where can I learn more?	Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen IMDb Wikipedia Fan site	Tribute IMDb Wikipedia

Can you guess who's who? 

<#69          #67>

#69 Corinne Calvet

Zut alors! Corrine Calvet really was French, having come to the US in her early twenties. Not too surprisingly, she was typically pegged as a sexy, sultry Yvonne, Colette, Danielle, Yvonne, or Yvonne. She was particularly known for her husky, sexy voice and her resemblance to Rita Hayworth. Her stormy personal life provided plenty of grist for the tabloid mills.

As for her oeuvre ... Somehow or other, she got stuck with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin more than once. And her later years included such TV fare as Batman, Starsky and Hutch, and General Hospital. 

Embarrassing Real Name:  Corinne Dibos

Embarrassing Movies

• Too Hot to Handle
• She's Dressed to Kill
• The Phantom of Hollywood
• My Friend Irma Goes West
• Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype

Embarrassing Taglines

• The man with the do-it-yourself murder kit!
• He wanted one of four women... and he wanted her dead!
• Filmed in Quebec, where it actually happened!

Embarrassing Characters

• Yvonne Rousseau
• Yvonne Le Tete
• Yvonne Yvonne
• Pizelle Puree
• Madame Ruanda

Shortest Marriage:  1 week

Unlikely Spouses & Boyfriends

• Orson Welles
• Darryl F. Zanuck

Whiffs of Scandal

• Sued Zsa Zsa Gabor for slander
• Multiple acrimonious divorces
• Suicide attempt

Interesting Tidbits

• Her father invented Pyrex, the glass you can stick in the oven
• Studied criminal law at the Sorbonne
• Became a hypnotherapist after retiring from acting
• Inherited one and half million when her father died

Where can I learn more?

• Has Corinne Been a Good Girl? (tell-all memoir)
• Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen
• IMDb
• Obit
• Brian's Drive-in Theater
• Wikipedia

 

A votre sante!

<#70          >#68

#70 Wanda Ventham

Known today primarily for being Benedict Cumberbatch’s mum, Wanda Ventham was quite the hottie in her day. She also has more than 100 screen credits, primarily for the little screen. Most of the latter are British, with such intriguing titles as Armchair Theatre, Mr. Digby Darling, The Sweeney, Only Fools and Horses, and The Rat Catchers. Sorry I couldn’t find more on Wanda. Most everything out there seems to be about her boy.

Embarrassing Movies

• Teenage Bad Girl
• Invasion: UFO
• Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter *
• The Blood Beast Terror *

* - author has seen

Embarrassing Taglines

• The Only Man Alive Feared by the Walking Dead!
• The Blood Lust of a FRENZIED VAMPIRE!
• She's a doll! She's a dish! She's a delinquent!

Embarrassing Characters

• Madge Capstick
• Priscilla Blunstone-Smythe
• Nurse Spray
• Alice Fullcup
• Selina De Sade

Interesting Tidbits

• First husband’s name was Tabernacle.  Her second’s was Cumberbatch.
• Collector of barn owl memorabilia.

Where can I learn more?   

• IMDb
• Wikipedia
• Daily Mail (mostly on being Benedict's mum)

Wanda and friend

<#71          #69>

#71 Catherine Schell

While many American B movie actresses of a certain era were Elvis girls, their European equivalents tended to be Bond girls instead. Elegant beauty Catherine Schell did her stint in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.  She also did a classic turn in Return of the Pink Panther, but was known mostly for British TV, including Dr. Who and Space 1999 (kind of a British Star Trek). Her classic looks actually reflect true nobility – her father was a Hungarian baron.

Embarrassing Real Name:  Katherina Freiin Schell von Bauschlott

Embarrassing Movies

• Madame Sin
• Destination Moonbase Alpha *
• Lana, Queen of the Amazons
• Cosmic Princess *

* - author has seen

Embarrassing Taglines

• Any moment the world might blow up in their double faces!
• Watch us die!
• Ride a rocket Texas-style! Have a shoot-out in Moon City! Find a new frontier and a new kind of pioneer. But watch out for deadly moon maidens. IT'S THE FIRST MOON "WESTERN"!

Embarrassing Characters

• Lunia 
• Uschi
• Sophy Paget-Lombardi
• Virma LaStrange

Interesting Tidbits

• Her father worked as a diplomat for Hungary
• Distantly related to Louis XIV of France
• Ran a hotel in France, the  Chambre d'Hôtes Valentin, in Bonneval, France after semi-retiring
• Never worked in Hollywood

Where can I learn more?

• IMDb
• Wikipedia
• Article

Nice hijab!

<#72          #70>