Julián Ortega, a Spanish actor who starred in the first season of the hit Netflix series Elite, has died. He was 42.
The actor collapsed and went into cardiac arrest at around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday while on the shore of Playa de Zahora beach in Cádiz, Spain, the Spain outlet The Olive Press reports. Emergency services attempted to resuscitate Ortega for 30 minutes before pronouncing him dead at the scene.
Representatives for Ortega and Netflix did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly’s request for comment.
The 42-year-old was a graduate of Madrid’s Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático, according to an obituary published by The Spanish Union of Actors and Actresses on Monday. His film and television credits include his six-episode stint on Elite, as well as spotlight appearances on the shows like Caronte, Velvet, and Netflix’s Cable Girls.
From 2021 until 2023, Ortega portrayed Pirulín Lafuente on the comedy series The Countryside. He also had a seven-episode turn as Ángel on the Spanish soap opera 4 Estrellas in 2023.
In addition to his television career, the union’s obituary noted that Ortega was also a prolific theater actor who starred in multiple stage productions, including Bicycles Are for the Summer and M. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran.
“Our deepest condolences to his family and friends from the Union of Actors and Actresses,” the obituary concluded. “Rest in peace.”
