Eusebio Poncela

Eusebio Poncela Aprea (15 September 1945 – 27 August 2025) was a Spanish screen and stage actor. He developed his career in both his native country and Argentina, In his childhood, he was kicked out from eight schools. He trained at the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático.

Career Poncela made his theatre debut in a play of Mariana Pineda in 1967. He earned clout on the Spanish stage scene, with ensuing roles in plays of Marat/Sade, Romeo and Juliet, and A Taste of Honey, after which he developed a screen career in film and television. The latter play premiered in March 1971 at the Teatro Infanta Beatriz, and, starring Poncela as a young gay man alongside Ana Belén and Laly Soldevila, obtained great success.

His film career took off in the 1970s. In the anthology horror film Pastel de sangre (1971), he played a part as the Monster in the segment directed by Jaime Chávarri dedicated to Victor Frankenstein. He also featured in Eloy de la Iglesia's The Cannibal Man (1972), portraying a homosexual character. The Spanish film cut was nonetheless mutilated by the Francoist censorship. He also appeared in Pedro Olea's A House Without Boundaries (1972), in Larga noche de julio (1974), in La muerte del escorpión (1976), and in In memoriam (1977), starring alongside Geraldine Chaplin and José Luis Gómez. In 1978, he appeared in the television series Curro Jiménez. In Guillo Pontecorvo's Ogro, he portrayed one of the ETA members who carried out the magnicide of Carrero Blanco. He attained mainstream recognition in 1982 with his work in the Televisión Española series Los gozos y las sombras. He starred as the lead, a police inspector, in the crime film (1983), in what Diego Galán described as an "honest, effective" performance despite the character's lack of nuance. He played a police inspector again in Pedro Almodóvar's Matador (1986). Also in 1986, he starred in Pilar Miró's Werther, a film adaptation of Goethe's novel selected for the 43rd Venice International Film Festival, and starred as detective Pepe Carvalho in the crime television series Las aventuras de Pepe Carvalho. His character in the film has been read as placed within the framework of an intertextual relation with prior roles played by Poncela in La muerte del escorpión and Rapture.

In the 1990s, he lived in Argentina, featuring in films such as A Shadow You Soon Will Be (1994), Martín (Hache) (1997),

In the 2000s, Poncela returned to Spain. His performance in the film earned him his only Goya Award nomination. He played the cardinal Casimiro Morcillo, president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, in the TVE miniseries Tarancón, el quinto mandamiento about the life of Cardinal Tarancón. He portrayed another cleric, Cardinal Cisneros, in the third season of the historical series Isabel, reprising the role in the sequel series Carlos, Rey Emperador, in a crossover episode of El ministerio del tiempo, and in the feature film The Broken Crown. His television work also included villain roles in Red Eagle and El accidente.

In 2022, Poncela starred in a play of Manuel Puig's Kiss of the Spider Woman directed by Carlota Ferrer. He also received the LesGaiCineMad festival's honorary award at Cine Doré.

The Last Rapture, a documentary film about Rapture featuring Poncela, was presented in September 2025 at the 73rd San Sebastián International Film Festival.

His work as a family patriarch in the thriller series The Tribute (which he finished shooting shortly before his death) was post-humously released on SkyShowtime in April 2026.

Personal life and death Poncela was a recovering heroin addict. In a 2022 interview to Vanity Fair, he described himself as "quite solitary and misanthropic".

Poncela died at his residence in El Escorial, on 27 August 2025, at the age of 79. The cause of his death was cancer, which he had been suffering from for over a year.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes El monstruo 1979 Arrebato (Rapture) José Sirgado 1979 Operación Ogro (Ogro) Txabi Crisanto Perales 1986 Matador Comisario 1987 La ley del deseo (Law of Desire) Pablo Quintero El Dorado Fernando de Guzmán Diario de invierno (Winter Diary) León Otálora Floro Bloom El rey pasmado (The Dumbfounded King) Conde de la Peña Andrada El juego de los mensajes invisibles Jaime Fernando Delgado El laberinto griego (The Greek Labyrinth) Jacques Lebrun Una sombra ya pronto serás (A Shadow You Soon Will Be) Lem Martín (Hache) Dante Ariel Kluge La sombra de Caín Esteban (Lost Horizon) Tulan Sagitario Jaime Tuno negro (Black Serenade) Don Justo Intacto (Intact) Federico 800 balas (800 Bullets) Scott Occhi di cristallo (Eyes of Crystal) Professor Civita Hermanas (Sisters) Luis Morini Los Borgia (The Borgia) Cardenal Giuliano della Rovere Remake Álex Teresa, el cuerpo de Cristo (Theresa: The Body of Christ) Gaspar Daza I Come with the Rain Vargas La herencia Valdemar (The Valdemar Legacy) Maximilian (The Valdemar Legacy II: The Forbidden Shadow) Maximilian Colvin Inmortal La corona partida (The Broken Crown) Cardenal Cisneros

Television Year Title Role Notes Los gozos y las sombras Carlos Deza Carlos, rey emperador Cardenal Cisneros Águila Roja (Red Eagle) Malasangre 16th Goya Awards Best Actor Intact 24th Actors and Actresses Union Awards Best Television Actor in a Secondary Role Isabel 18th Iris Awards Best Actor Carlos, rey emperador