Sad news this week of the passing of Welsh/Australian actor Andy Whitfield, 39, from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Whitfield played the title role in the superb Starz miniseries Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and as a result was on the verge of major stardom. His illness caused the second season to go on hold during which an equally superb prequel (without the Spartacus character) Spartacus: Gods of the Arena was filmed. Pre-production of season two started when Whitfield was pronounced cancer free, but sadly his cancer returned. Both series (warning: adult content) are available on Netflix but don't wait because Netflix and Starz recently broke off contract negotiations on a new content agreement. Starz ultimately replaced Whitfield with Australian actor Liam McIntyre for the new season.
[photo credit: Gage Skidmore]
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