Skip to content
Answering Your Questions About Reactor: Right here.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter. Everything in one handy email.
When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

Tragic news from Australia, as Starz has released a statement confirming the death of Spartacus: Blood and Sand star Andy Whitfield from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Whitfield, a relative unknown when he was cast as Spartacus, impressed fans and critics alike with his intense, emotionally wrenching portrayal of a man tormented by his past and destined to lead a bloody uprising against the tyranny of all-powerful Rome.

In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, his co-star Lucy Lawless remembered Whitfield as “a gentle man who never said a bad word about anyone, a gifted photographer, engineer (no really!) and a brilliant actor. Andy’s incandescent film presence made men want to be him and women want to marry him.” Initially diagnosed with cancer while preparing for the second season of Spartacus, Whitfield battled back (appearing at San Diego Comic Con in 2010, where he was greeted by thunderous applause) only to relapse a few short months later; he was only 39, and leaves behind a wife and two children.

Whitfield will continue to be celebrated by fans for both his brooding, electric performances as well as our occasional glimpses of the man behind the scenes, in lighter moments. While his time in the spotlight was brief, Andy Whitfield will certainly be remembered as a great talent gone far, far too soon.

About the Author

About Author Mobile

Bridget McGovern

Author

Bridget McGovern is the Managing Editor of Reactor. She wasn’t really all that screwed up by Watership Down, if you don’t count the fact that she just stays up nights writing frantically about bunnies (and will always maintain a vague but potent distrust of Art Garfunkle).
Learn More About Bridget
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
7 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments