Francisco San Martin, an actor best known for his roles on daytime soaps including NBC’s Days of Our Lives and CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful, has died. San Martin was found dead in his Los Angeles home on Thursday, Jan. 16, with the Los Angeles County Coroners Office ruling his cause of death suicide by hanging. He was 39.
Born in Mallorca, Spain in 1985 and raised in Montana, according to Forbes, San Martin began his acting career performing in children’s theater in the U.S. He returned to Spain with his family when he was a teenager and worked as a model and started taking acting lessons before going on to appear in Spanish stage, TV, and film productions.
The actor was best known for his roles on daytime soaps. After first appearing on Days of Our Lives in a one-off role in 2010, San Martin was cast as Dario Hernandez on the daytime soap. He appeared in the roll for more than 50 episodes over a six-month period in 2011, per his IMDb profile. The character ultimately returned to the show in 2016, but was portrayed by Guiding Light alum Jordi Vilasuso.
San Martin followed his role in Days with a part in the 2013 TV movie Behind the Candelabra before he returned to daytime television in 2017 for an arc on CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful. The actor starred as Mateo, a handsome groundskeeper at Forrester Manor who became involved in one of Sheila’s schemes. San Martin also had an arc on Jane the Virgin, appearing as Fabian Regalo del Cielo, an actor in a telenovela starring Jane’s father, in Seasons 3 and 4.
The actor’s other credits include the short films A Love Story (2016), Hotter Up Close (2022), and Dot (2022).
Following news of San Martin’s death, the actor’s Days costar Camila Banus, who played his sister, Gabi Hernandez, paid tribute to him on social media, writing, “Pepe, what can I say but I love you and rest in peace, my friend. My only witness that pau sang happy birthday to me in the middle of a concert in Hollywood, you couldn’t believe it. Love you mucho mucho mucho; I wish I had told you more.”
TV journalist Maichael Fairman also paid his respects, writing on X, “Very, very sad. I am a bit in shock, as I saw Francisco at my gym most every day.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The previous Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will always remain available.
