Gemma Cuervo

Gemma Cuervo de Igartua (22 July 1934 – 14 March 2026) was a Spanish television, film and theatre actress. Her role in the sitcom Aquí no hay quien viva made her one of the most popular and beloved actresses among the public in Spain.

Early life Cuervo was born in Barcelona, Spain, on 22 July 1934. Her father was a military officer who died at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936 in Reus when she was 2 years old.

She interrupted her studies on business administration at the School of Commerce while also being a member of the University Spanish Theater.

Her first television appearance was in 1963, when she appeared in a live production of Alexandre Dumas's play Don Juan de Maraña, and from then on she was part of the program Estudio 1.

She appeared in films such as La vida es maravillosa (1956), Life Goes On (1965), (1967), Vente a Alemania, Pepe (1971), Señora doctor (1974), Best Seller (El Premio) (1996), The Queen of Spain (2016) and (2024), and in TV series such as Historias para no dormir, Cuéntame cómo pasó and Médico de familia. In the 1970s and 1980s, Cuervo toured in Venezuela and Mexico.

Her last theater role was in a production of La Celestina in 2011. One of her last public appearances was in La 1 talk show La revuelta on 19 November 2025.

Personal life and death Cuervo was married to the actor Fernando Guillén on 18 July 1960 and they had three children: Fernando, Cayetana and Natalia. She was hospitalized, where she received palliative care following a flare-up of the COPD she had been suffering from. Numerous figures from the worlds of entertainment, such as Antonio Banderas, Malena Alterio, Maribel Verdú, Paz Vega and Luis Merlo, and politics expressed their condolences, including the prime minister Pedro Sánchez, the president of the Congress of Deputies Francina Armengol, the mayor of Madrid José Luis Martínez-Almeida and president of the Community of Madrid Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The funeral service was set up the following day at the Tanatorio de la Paz in Tres Cantos.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role

Honors and awards Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (2024) Lifetime Achievement Award at the Actors and Actresses Union Awards (2023) Silver Medal of the Community of Madrid (2018) Premios Ondas (1971–1972) National Theater Prize (1965)