Spartacus actor Andy Whitfield passed away today due to cancer. Great actor, great series, rest in peace
LOS ANGELES — Andy Whitfield, the 39-year-old star of the cable series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," has died.
Manager Sam Maydew says Whitfield died Sunday of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Sydney, Australia.
Whitfield's wife Vashti in a statement called her husband a "beautiful young warrior" who died on a "sunny Sydney morning" in the "arms of his loving wife."
Whitfield – who was born in Wales and lived in Australia – was a virtual unknown when he was cast as the title hero in "Spartacus," a hit original series for the Starz network that made waves with its graphic violence and sexuality.
Whitfield was preparing for the second season when he was diagnosed 18 months ago.
In January the network announced that another Australian actor, Liam McIntyre, would take over the role.
LOS ANGELES — Andy Whitfield, the 39-year-old star of the cable series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," has died.
Manager Sam Maydew says Whitfield died Sunday of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Sydney, Australia.
Whitfield's wife Vashti in a statement called her husband a "beautiful young warrior" who died on a "sunny Sydney morning" in the "arms of his loving wife."
Whitfield – who was born in Wales and lived in Australia – was a virtual unknown when he was cast as the title hero in "Spartacus," a hit original series for the Starz network that made waves with its graphic violence and sexuality.
Whitfield was preparing for the second season when he was diagnosed 18 months ago.
In January the network announced that another Australian actor, Liam McIntyre, would take over the role.
Wow it feels so sudden... Wasn't I watching this guy own up some gladiators not a while back? I really liked him in the role and think he did a great job. RIP, this is really quite sad.
On September 12 2011 11:02 sh4w wrote: Wow so bad. I thought he was getting better. I don't think the show will be the same without him. So sad
he was getting better for a while.....he was even planning on returning for another season....then it came back out of nowhere :/ and you know how that goes....sometimes it comes back even worse...
damn x ( Great actor maybe but not a great series rofl." fuck, fight, rinse lather repeat welcome to ancient history motherfucker!!!" is all i could really grasp from watching the show. THAT and i saw a dude get pissed on. like.... all over his face.
NOoooooo I loved him on the show spartacus and he was such a great actor. He finished the second season while battling cancer. I thought he was getting better since he left the show too . best wishes to his family
This guy was the real deal. I hope the next Spartacus can be half as entertaining. I really doubt it but anyhow my heart goes out to his wife. So young to die...
Not a big fan of the new actor and since Starz is pulling Spartacus out from Netflix I doubt I'll bother with the new season. Also annoyed that they already removed Season 1 from Netflix before their contract ended.
Noo I thoroughly enjoyed his work in Spartacus and saw a promising for him. RIP Andy so sad to see a young talented actor fall to something like cancer.
oh my god this is horrible. This is especially cruel because he was very close to recovery at one point, only to have it stripped away again. Great actor, horrible way for him to go. RIP
GOD DAMN IT. I really, really, really, really wanted him to make it back onto the show. He was such an awesome actor on Spartacus and an awesome guy in generally, I remember seeing some video on YouTube that Andy was on, I don't remember exactly what it was but I do remember that he contacted the guy on YouTube asking to be in the video because he liked the channel.
I think this is the first time that any actor dying has actually saddened me.
On September 12 2011 13:25 SpinmovE wrote: GOD DAMN IT. I really, really, really, really wanted him to make it back onto the show. He was such an awesome actor on Spartacus and an awesome guy in generally, I remember seeing some video on YouTube that Andy was on, I don't remember exactly what it was but I do remember that he contacted the guy on YouTube asking to be in the video because he liked the channel.
I think this is the first time that any actor dying has actually saddened me.
He has a legacy at least. I still can't believe it.... I thought he would at least live and function cognitively even though he wouldn't be able to film because of the cancer. I can't believe he's gone. Normally I don't care about actors and celebrities but he was just such a down to earth and likable guy.
Such sad news. Last I had heard he was getting better, so I was hoping for him to return back to Spartacus for another season. Both he and the show had such potential to head somewhere great. Tragic loss
Damn.. what a shock to wake up too.. I thought since there were no recent news it was going good. Usually no news = not getting worse and then I read this out of the blue.. So sad RIP.
He dit do well in this show. I was so sad when they announced him replaced by someone because of his condition, but I seriously hoped he would make it RIP sir
nooooooo I was really hoping he would recover and get back on the series when I first heard of his condition. So sad to hear it went the opposite way. RIP
While I don't normally react strongly to celebs dying, this is pretty much on par with Michael Jackson for me. It really really sucks that people so young (he was just 39) and in otherwise great health can be taken away from us so quickly.
On September 12 2011 17:56 ThugTerran wrote: sad btw what kind of cancer was it? he died so fast 18 months after the diagnostic...
AFAIK, lymphoma's (aka "blood cancer") in general carry a pretty grim prognosis when it comes to treatment/recurrence: you can in theory live an almost-normal lifespan with treatment, but it's basically uncurable. But non-hodgkin lymphona even more so since it pretty much doesn't respond to chemotherapy.
Here I was hoping he'd be able to make it through that battle somehow, it never occured to me that such a powerful man on screen would succumb to cancer's terrible grasp.
I'll miss you andy. Thanks for the hard work you were able to give while you were healthy, You may have started out as an unknown but you became a legend. RIP.
Man, Spartacus was really one of the only shows that made me still watch the TV along with Game of Thrones and Camelot. Sucks that 2 of the shows will probably not run for a Second Season. Sigh, RIP Andy Whitfield.
I can't believe he's passed. As far as I'm concerned, he was Spartacus. Well, I actually like a lot of the cast but Andy Whitfield is definitely my preferred Spartacus.
Wow, that totally sucks. There were some newsreports a while back that it was receding. I figured he was going to be OK. I thought they only got another actor because it would take to long for him to totally get back to healt + back in shape. Really did not expect this news! Did I already mention that this totally sucks? Because it does. Best wishes to the family.
On September 13 2011 03:00 absalom86 wrote: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.... I knew he was sick but figured he would get better soon... RIP.
They made it seem as though he was making a miraculous recovery, and that he just wanted to make sure he was completely healthy before returning... So sad -_______-
Shame. I quite liked the show and him in the role as well.
Such a fucking disease. Everyone, and I mean everyone, probably knows someone that has had, has died from, or will have cancer. I hate to think of it like this, but it really is the great equalizer between lowliest person to mightiest king, politician, or star. Scares the shit out of me to be honest.
EPT
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