Spartacus star Andy Whitfield dies age 39
By Alexandra Heilbron on September 12, 2011 | 9 Comments
Andy Whitfield, who played the title role in Starz Entertainment’s original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, passed away yesterday in Sydney, Australia at age 39 of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“On a beautiful sunny Sydney spring morning, surrounded by his family, in the arms of his loving wife, our beautiful young warrior Andy Whitfield lost his 18 month battle with lymphoma cancer,” Whitfield’s wife Vashti said in a statement. “He passed peacefully surrounded by love. Thank you to all his fans whose love and support have help carry him to this point. He will be remembered as the inspiring, courageous and gentle man, father and husband he was.”
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our dear friend and colleague, Andy Whitfield,” Starz President Chris Albrecht said in a statement. “We were fortunate to have worked with Andy in ‘Spartacus’ and came to know that the man who played a champion on-screen was also a champion in his own life. Andy was an inspiration to all of us as he faced this very personal battle with courage, strength and grace. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time. He will live on in the hearts of his family, friends and fans.” Whitfield was born in Wales but lived in Australia. He’d made only a few guest appearances on Australian TV when he was cast in the starring role in the Starz series.
He was diagnosed in March 2010, during hiatus between the first and second season of the show. Production on the second season was delayed, and as they waited for Andy to recover, Starz shot a prequel series, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, using other actors. Finally, in January they announced Australian actor Liam McIntyre would take over the role of Spartacus. Whitfield leaves behind a wife, Vashti, and two children.
His name was Robert Paulson.
Rest in Peace Andy, I loved you so much and now you are gone. I was hoping you would get better and you did not. But everyone dies, I just hope before I go that I can make an impact on life as strong as you did. You leave this world with the greatest honor a human could have, you were loved by so many and will be missed by millions. You are the Brother or Father I never had if I have my way we will meet some day. But not yet, not yet.
Ps tribute Andy was 36 when he died.
RIP Andy. So happy you got that finish your last work on Season 1 of Spartacus – Blood and Sand. It will be remembered, watched and re-watched.
Yeah tribute! If your going to tell us something make sure you have the right information! He was a good actor!
thoughts and prayers to the family on this sad news, spartacus was the kind of television that each week promised something exciting and would be a smash hit, and he was perfectly cast as the main guy. he will be missed.
Truelly, his prowess is irreplaceable, particularly his active but challenging role in the Blood and Sand. I miss Andy so much.
My sincere prayer to the family, May God grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.
Tribute, thank you always for giving us up to date and accurate news. I did some research and CBC and a bunch of other highly respected news organizations have him listed as being 39 as well. So there is no mis-information posted here!