Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Jess Franco

Director

Born - 12 May 1930, Madrid, Spain
Died - 2 April 2013

Scholarly-looking, bearded, moustachioed and bespectacled, Franco (born Jesus Franco Manera) was a phenomenally prolific Spanish director of outlandish horror films that specialised in nudity, violence and torture. He was also an occasional actor in these, many of which starred the voluptuous Spanish actress Lina Romay (born 1954), whom he later married. She died from cancer in 2012. We can only list a few of the English titles of his 200-film CV - four for each year of his working life: Red Lips (1960), Vampiresas 1930 (1960, a revamp of Singin' in the Rain!), The Horrible Dr Orlof (1961), Zorro the Avenger (1962), Dr Jekyll's Mistresses (1964), The Diabolical Dr Z (1966), The Blood of Fu Manchu (1967), Justine and Juliet (1968), The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969), Count Dracula (1969), Vampyros Lesbos (1970), Dracula Vs Frankenstein (1971), The Demons (1972), Exorcism (1974), Jack the Ripper (1976), Bloody Moon (1980), The Sinister Dr Orloff (1982), Crimes of the House of Usher (1983), Faceless (1987), Downtown Heat (1990), Vampire Killer Barbies (1995), Vampire Junction (2001), Snakewoman (2005), A Bad Day at the Cemetery (2008) and Al Pereira vs the Alligator Ladies (2012), his last. Franco, who also photographed many of his own films, died following a stroke.