Netflix star José de la Torre has died aged 37, months after telling fans he was suffering from a serious illness.
The photogenic actor played Iván in the popular series Toy Boy, a Spanish thriller series about a stripper who ends up in prison for a murder he did not commit.
José, who hails from Montilla in the Spanish province of Córdoba, had also worked as a model for a number of jewelry and fashion brands.
Reports indicate he died on Thursday, December 5, and his funeral took place the following day.
Spanish actress Luisa Martín was among those to pay tribute to José, writing on social media: ‘It breaks my heart to think I will never hear your voice again, but I will continue to talk to you. I love you endlessly, José.”
The actor was diagnosed with an unspecified “serious illness” in June, which kept him out of the spotlight.
De la Torre was best known for playing Iván, one of the main characters in Toy Boy, which was released in 2019 and ran for two seasons.
He also starred in a number of other domestic series, including Amar es para siempre (To Love is Forever), Vis a Vis: El Oasis and Servir y proteger (Serve and Protect).
Netflix star José de la Torre has died aged 37, months after telling fans he was suffering from a serious illness
The actor had also modeled for a number of jewelry and fashion brands before his death
The actor was best known for his performance in the Spanish Netflix drama Toy Boy (pictured), but also starred in several domestic series
José de la Torres in the Netflix series Toy Boy. The show is filmed in Spanish but available in the UK
de la Torré had 459,000 followers on Instagram and posted regularly until June this year
Cristina Castaño, with whom he starred in Toy Boy, said she was “in shock” when she heard the news.
His last post was on June 3 and shows him enjoying a music festival in the Canary Islands.
The caption reads: ‘The joy of arriving in the Canary Islands, seeing your friends, grabbing a mojito and singing your heart out until you lose your voice.’
The post was littered with tributes from fans, who shared emojis of flying pigeons and broken hearts alongside their thoughts.
“That can’t be true, I don’t believe it,” one person wrote.
Another, Marta Martinez-Bordiu, said: “My dear friend, you cannot imagine how sad I am to receive such terrible news.
‘It’s not fair, you deserved more time, no one enjoyed life as much as you, your energy, your light… you are a very special person, always happy and eager to have fun and do things.
‘It can’t be true that I won’t see you again and that we won’t party anymore. I’m going to miss you very much, my friend. I love you very much.’
Among those who also paid tribute to de la Torre was Spanish actress and singer Lolita Flores, who said the actor had left a lasting impression.
She wrote on Instagram: ‘How hard it is for me to accept that you are gone, without even knowing you.
“We shared very few hours, but your 37 years hurt me. Life is so unfair sometimes. You are beautiful on the outside and inside.
“Your departure hurts me… and the pain of those who loved you hurts me. I didn’t have time to love you, but I did have time to get to know you.
‘Heaven awaits you with open arms. How sad. You went too soon.”
The Spanish actor was reportedly diagnosed with an unspecified illness in the summer
The exact nature of his illness was never confirmed. Reports in the Spanish media show that in addition to his television work, he led an intense private life
Spanish actress Lolita Flores paid tribute to him online, writing that he had been “handsome (outside and inside)”
De la Torre (right) in Toy Boy. He appeared in 21 episodes of the two-series saga on Netflix
De la Torre was a graduate of the Málaga Higher School of Performing Arts in Spain and recently made Málaga his home.
His first leading role was more than ten years ago in a video clip for a song by Nena Daconte.
He once told local media about his decision to become an actor: ‘From a very young age I found solace in the cinema – although not so much in acting, at least not at first.
‘I was a kid who couldn’t stop watching movies just for fun.
“But that fascinated me and planted the seed that would later grow into my desire to make a career out of it.”
The nature of his diagnosis has not been reported. According to Spanish media reports, the actor had led an intense private life outside of his work in television.