Monica Swinn was born Monika Swuine on September 19, 1948 in Charleroi, Belgium. A graduate of both the IAD - Institut des Arts de Diffusion and the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Swinn initially started acting on stage in Brussels. Monica's first few films were experimental shorts. Best known for acting in a handful of racy exploitation movies for legendary Spanish maverick filmmaker Jesús Franco that were made throughout the 1970's, Swinn was especially memorable as the sadistic monocle-wearing lesbian warden in Barbed Wire Dolls (1976). Besides Brussels, Monica has also lived in Turin, Italy and Paris, France. After a regrettably lengthy cinematic hiatus, Swinn made a welcome comeback as disapproving neighbor Lorna in The Duke of Burgundy (2014).