could make more violent and erotic films free of the strict censorship in Spain at the time, and it was at this point that his career began to go downhill commercially as he turned to low-budget filmmaking with an accent on adult material. Miranda starred in a series of six erotic thrillers for Franco, all made within a one-year period (one of which Sex Charade was never released), after which she was killed in a tragic automobile accident in Portugal in 1970 just as her career was taking off. She and Franco had started filming her next project (Justine) which he abandoned entirely after her death. (Only about 40 minutes of the movie was shot at the time of her death). He had also planned to feature her in his next film, X312: Flight to Hell, which he made with another actress. The Lina Romay years A year or two after Miranda died, a grieving Franco discovered a new leading lady in actress Lina Romay. At the time, the teenage Romay was married to a young actor/photographer named Ramon Ardid (aka "Raymond Hardy"), who co-starred with Lina in 19 Franco films in the 1970s. But as Romay and Franco became more involved in their film projects together over the years, her marriage to Ardid broke up in 1975 and ended in divorce in 1978 (although Ardid continued working with Franco until 1980). Franco was married at the time to Nicole Guettard (their marriage running approximately from 1962 to 1980), Ms. Guettard being gradually replaced in Franco's life by Romay. Guettard worked as a script consultant on some of Franco's films while they were married (sometimes credited as Nicole Franco), and even acted in a few of them. Her daughter from an earlier marriage, Caroline Riviere, also acted in a few Franco films in the early 1970s (including the risqué Exorcisme and The Perverse Countess)). Guettard died in 1996. Franco and Romay worked together for 40 years, and lived together from 1980 onward, although they were only officially married on 25 April 2008. Until her death in 2012 (from cancer at age 57), Romay was his most regular actress, as well as his life companion and muse. Romay starred in approximately 109 Jesus Franco films, more than any other actor or actress. Although Romay was listed in the credits of several films as a co-director, actor Antonio Mayans stated in a