BlueForever
Active member
ANDY Whitfield, the 39-year-old star of the US cable series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, has lost his battle with cancer.
The actor, who shot to fame after scoring the title role in US TV drama Spartacus: Blood and Sand, died Sunday in Sydney after battling a recurrence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Whitfield's wife Vashti issued a statement, saying her husband died on a "sunny Sydney morning" in the "arms of his loving wife," according to TMZ. He was 39.
Whitfield, who was born in Wales but was a resident of Australia, was enjoying the greatest success of his career in March last year when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma while shooting the second season of the Starz historical drama in New Zealand.
On doctors' orders, he withdrew immediately from the program to start cancer treatment. In June, after being given a clean bill of health, Whitfield planned his return to work. Then in September he received news that the cancer had returned.
His co-star Lucy Lawless said that he had left an “indelible mark” on the Spartacus cast and crew.
“He was a gentle man who never said a bad word about anyone, a gifted photographer, engineer (no really!) and a brilliant actor,” she said in a statement.
“Andy’s incandescent film presence made men want to be him and women want to marry him. Andy’s two babies will always know that their daddy cherished them and their mother Vashti above all things.
“How lucky we were to have him grace all our lives. Godspeed, Andy!”
Spartacus director Steve DeKnight wrote on Twitter: “’No words to express the depth of such a loss. You will be deeply missed, my brother.”
DeKnight had said in January that the actor was attacking the illness like a “true champion” and he had the “utmost faith” that he would pull through.
Whitfield left Anglesey to study at Sheffield University before moving to Australia to study drama in Sydney and work as a diagnostic engineer.
He told American television: “I grew up on an island off the north coast of Wales and I gravitated towards Australia because I met a girl and I like sunshine, of which there is none in Wales. That’s how I ended up Down Under!”
He worked as a model before becoming a regular on Australian TV, but only came to worldwide attention in 2010 at the age of 38, appearing in the first season of Spartacus, which caused a storm Stateside with its graphic depictions of sexuality and violence.
After landing his big break, he said: “This is my dream role – the fighting, the sandals, the blood, the legend. And it’s the greatest script I’ve ever read.”
WE WILL MISS YOU ANDY!!!! R.I.P.~~
I'm Gonna Go Hide in my Bedroom and Cry now!!!!
The actor, who shot to fame after scoring the title role in US TV drama Spartacus: Blood and Sand, died Sunday in Sydney after battling a recurrence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Whitfield's wife Vashti issued a statement, saying her husband died on a "sunny Sydney morning" in the "arms of his loving wife," according to TMZ. He was 39.
Whitfield, who was born in Wales but was a resident of Australia, was enjoying the greatest success of his career in March last year when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma while shooting the second season of the Starz historical drama in New Zealand.
On doctors' orders, he withdrew immediately from the program to start cancer treatment. In June, after being given a clean bill of health, Whitfield planned his return to work. Then in September he received news that the cancer had returned.
His co-star Lucy Lawless said that he had left an “indelible mark” on the Spartacus cast and crew.
“He was a gentle man who never said a bad word about anyone, a gifted photographer, engineer (no really!) and a brilliant actor,” she said in a statement.
“Andy’s incandescent film presence made men want to be him and women want to marry him. Andy’s two babies will always know that their daddy cherished them and their mother Vashti above all things.
“How lucky we were to have him grace all our lives. Godspeed, Andy!”
Spartacus director Steve DeKnight wrote on Twitter: “’No words to express the depth of such a loss. You will be deeply missed, my brother.”
DeKnight had said in January that the actor was attacking the illness like a “true champion” and he had the “utmost faith” that he would pull through.
Whitfield left Anglesey to study at Sheffield University before moving to Australia to study drama in Sydney and work as a diagnostic engineer.
He told American television: “I grew up on an island off the north coast of Wales and I gravitated towards Australia because I met a girl and I like sunshine, of which there is none in Wales. That’s how I ended up Down Under!”
He worked as a model before becoming a regular on Australian TV, but only came to worldwide attention in 2010 at the age of 38, appearing in the first season of Spartacus, which caused a storm Stateside with its graphic depictions of sexuality and violence.
After landing his big break, he said: “This is my dream role – the fighting, the sandals, the blood, the legend. And it’s the greatest script I’ve ever read.”
WE WILL MISS YOU ANDY!!!! R.I.P.~~
I'm Gonna Go Hide in my Bedroom and Cry now!!!!
