Soledad Miranda

She starred in several films directed by cult filmmaker Jess Franco, such as Count Dracula (1970), Vampyros Lesbos (1970), and She Killed in Ecstasy (1971).

Soledad (whose name translates as solitude or loneliness) was the niece of the famous Spanish singer-actress-flamenco dancer, Paquita Rico.

At age 8, Miranda made her professional debut when she was hired as a flamenco dancer and singer- first in the "Youth Galas" at the Seville Fair and San Fernando theatre, and then on a tour throughout southern Spain.

There were epic adventures (Ursus, Cervantes); horror films (Sound of Horror, Pyro); dramas (Canción de cuna, Currito de la Cruz); comedies (Eva 63, La familia y uno más); and even a Spaghetti Western (Sugar Colt).

Director Jess Franco, for whom Miranda had done a small role in his musical Queen of the Tabarin Club, made Miranda his frequent star in films including Count Dracula, Eugenie de Sade, Vampyros Lesbos, She Killed in Ecstasy, Nightmares Come at Night, and The Devil Came from Akasava.

On the morning of 18 August 1970, after completing the filming of The Devil Came from Akasava, Miranda and her husband were involved in a collision with a small truck near Lisbon.