Born into a wealthy, aristocratic family in Barcelona, Félix de Pomés was a true Renaissance man whose talents were already nationally known in Spain when he made appearances as a fencer for the country at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics. At the former tournament he competed in the individual and team foil and épée events, but only made it out of the first round in the team épée, where then Spanish squad survived to the semi-finals. He fared the same when he competed in only the team events in 1928, failing again to escape the first round in foil and finishing joint-fifth in épée. Prior to taking up fencing he had been athletically active as a football goalkeeper at the university level and with RCD Espanyol in Barcelona. In the year of his final Olympic appearance he decided to embark on an acting career and appeared in 73 films prior to his death, making him a popular figure in Spanish cinema above and beyond his athletic fame. In addition to all this he was an artist, screenwriter, film director, and lawyer, and had also studied medicine and pharmacy at his parents’ request. Clever and charming, he was a much loved personality in his country at the time of his death at the age of 80 in 1969.
Spain