Australian actor Andy Whitfield, who rose to stardom as Spartacus in the Starz Channel's popular TV series of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, has died of lymphoma at age 39.
According to his manager Sam Maydew, Whitfield died Sunday in Sydney, Australia, 18 months after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Whitfield only appeared for one successful season for that particular TV series, but unable to continue for second season due to his untimely sickness. However, Starz is willing to wait for Whitfield to recover while the studio went on to produce a six-part prequel called Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, that aired earlier this year with only a brief voiceover from the actor. Unfortunately, Whitfield's condition declines rapidly and Starz eventually replaced another Australian actor by the name of Liam McIntrye as their new Spartacus for the second season.