Andy Whitfield of "Spartacus" fame has died

September 11, 2011 Actor Andy Whitfield, who starred in Spartacus: Blood and Sand before leaving the cable series to battle lymphoma, has died at age 39, reports Associated Press.  I know this is a little late but I still wanted to adress this here

Whitfield played the title character in the first season of the popular Starz series, a favorite with LGBT viewers for its homoeroticism, gay characters, and well-executed action scenes.

Whitfield's manager Sam Maydew says the actor died Sunday of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Sydney, Australia. Whitfield's wife Vashti called her husband a "beautiful young warrior" in a statement released to the press.

Whitfield was diagnosed 18 months ago as he was preparing for the second season. The network eventually replaced him with actor Liam McIntyre.