Andrew Whitfield (17 October 1971 – 11 September 2011) was a Welsh actor. He was best known for his leading role in the Starz television series '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand''.

Early life and career

Whitfield and his family came to live in Bull Bay,

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in 1976. He attended Ysgol Gynradd Amlwch and then

Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones is a mixed bilingual community school for pupils between 11 and 18 years of age in the Pentrefelin area of Amlwch, Anglesey. The school serves the town and the rural catchment area. History Originally designed by N. Squir ...

until the age of 18. He studied civil engineering at Sheffield Hallam University in England. He moved to Australia in 1999 to work as an engineer in

Lidcombe Lidcombe is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lidcombe is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Cumberland Council, with a small industrial part in the north ...

, before later settling in Sydney. He appeared in several Australian television series, such as ''Opening Up'', '' All Saints'', '' The Strip'', ''

Packed to the Rafters ''Packed to the Rafters'' was an Australian family-oriented comedy drama television program which premiered on the Seven Network on Tuesday 26 August 2008 at 8:30 pm. The show continued on Tuesdays in this timeslot for its entire run. The d ...

'', and ''

McLeod's Daughters ''McLeod's Daughters'' is an Australian drama television series created by Posie Graeme-Evans and Caroline Stanton for the Nine Network, which aired from 8 August 2001, to 31 January 2009, lasting eight seasons. It stars Lisa Chappell and Bri ...

''. Whitfield gained his first prominent role in the Australian supernatural film ''

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions ( Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...

''. He also starred in the 2010 television series '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'', which was filmed in New Zealand. Whitfield also appeared in the Australian thriller ''The Clinic'' starring opposite Tabrett Bethell (of ''

Legend of the Seeker ''Legend of the Seeker'' is an American television series created by Sam Raimi, based on the fantasy novel series ''The Sword of Truth'' by Terry Goodkind. Distributed in U.S. by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, ABC Studios produced the series f ...

'' fame) which was shot in

Deniliquin Deniliquin () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, close to the border with Victoria. It is the largest town in the Edward River Council local government area. Deniliquin is located at the intersection of the Riverina ...

. In August 2010, Whitfield teamed up with

Freddie Wong Freddie Wong (born September 13, 1985) is an American Internet celebrity, filmmaker, VFX artist, podcaster, and competitive gamer. Wong has participated in at least three YouTube channels; with ''RocketJump'', his production company's main chan ...

and created a 2-minute

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

video named "Time Crisis", based on the video game series of the same name. Whitfield made a brief, uncredited voice-only appearance in the prequel mini-series '' Spartacus: Gods of the Arena'', which premiered on 21 January 2011. A documentary titled ''Be Here Now'' premiered at the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival. It follows the journey and struggle of Whitfield and his family as he undergoes

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

treatment for

non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tirednes ...

. It was later released on Netflix as ''Be Here Now: The Andy Whitfield Story.''

Illness and death

In March 2010, Whitfield was diagnosed with stage IV

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tirednes ...

and began undergoing treatment immediately in New Zealand. This delayed production of season two of ''Spartacus: Vengeance''. While waiting for Whitfield's treatment and expected recovery, Starz produced a six-part prequel, ''Spartacus: Gods of the Arena'', with only a brief uncredited voiceover from the actor. Although declared cancer-free in June 2010, a routine medical check in September 2010 revealed a relapse and Whitfield was compelled to abandon the role. Starz recast Australian actor

Liam McIntyre Liam James McIntyre (born 8 February 1982) is an Australian actor, best known for playing the lead role on the Starz television series '' Spartacus: Vengeance'' and '' War of the Damned'' and as Mark Mardon / Weather Wizard on ''The Flash''. He ...

as Whitfield's successor. Whitfield died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on 11 September 2011, 18 months after his initial cancer diagnosis.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitfield, Andy 1971 births 2011 deaths Welsh male film actors Welsh male television actors 21st-century Welsh male actors Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University Deaths from cancer in New South Wales Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma People from Amlwch Welsh expatriates in Australia Actors from Anglesey