Actor Julian Ortega, star of the hit Netflix show “Elite,” has dropped dead while relaxing at the beach, according to reports.
Initial reports indicated the 41-year-old actor drowned.
However, authorities confirmed to TMZ that Ortega suffered a sudden and fatal cardiac arrest on the shore.
The Spanish star went into cardiac arrest on Zahora Beach in Barbate, Spain, on Sunday, according to the Sun.
He was reportedly pronounced dead at the scene after paramedics tried reviving him for 30 minutes.
Spain’s Directorate-General of the Civil Guard told TMZ he died on the beach in Barbate, a town on the Atlantic Coast.
There were no signs of violence, authorities said.
Ortega’s Instagram comments have been flooded with emotional messages from fans and fellow actors reacting to his death.
His final post was shared on March 19.
It featured a tribute to a show that Ortega worked on.
In Spanish, he said the other people that he worked with “made me learn, enjoy and freak out so much in colors.”
Ortega was best known for his role on “Elite,” a Spanish teen drama series that ran on Netflix for eight seasons from 2018 to 2024.
The show followed an elite high school home to wealthy and privileged teenagers.
Ortega appeared in six episodes of the series as the manager of the restaurant La Cabaña, according to his IMDb.
The first season of “Elite” was streamed by over 20 million accounts within its first month of release, Netflix announced in 2019.
The show was translated into multiple languages, including English, making it a global hit.
Ortega’s other notable acting credits include the Spanish TV shows “4 Estrellas,” “The Countryside,” “Caronte,” “Untameable” and “La Sue se Avecina.”
According to his IMDb page, Ortega completed work on the upcoming film “Trompeta” before his death.
Ortega’s mother, Gloria Munoz, is also an actor.
According to her IMDb, Munoz, 76, is known for the films “Pellet,” “Hopelessly Devout,” and “The Flower of My Secret.”
She also appeared in the TV shows “A Different View” and “Dangerous Moms.”
Most recently, she starred in the Eva Longoria Apple TV+ series “Land of Women.”
