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Campaign to finish documentary on late "Sparactus' star Whitfield is within reach of goal
Published: 6/26/2012 11:11 AM
Last Modified: 6/26/2012 11:11 AM


Andy Whitfield, who starred in Starz's "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" in 2010, died in September 2011. STARZ ENTERTAINMENT LLC

"Be Here Now," a documentary about late actor Andy Whitfield, has raised more than $179,000 in its campaign to complete the film.

As reported here June 13, the project will only be funded if $200,000 is pledged by 3:04 p.m. July 23.

Whitfield, breakout star of the Starz' gladiator series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma at the end of the first season of the hit series. The married father of three received treatment and was declared in remission but a routine physical before returning to shoot season 2 revealed the aggressive cancer had returned and he was given three to six months to live, reported people.com.

The Welsh-born actor and his wife Vashti decided to document every aspect of his battle with the disease, according to deadline.com.

"Our last experience with it was very difficult and lonely, we felt we had a lot of questions," Whitfield's manager Sam Maydew said the actor and his wife told him. "We want to bring awareness to cancer treatment so others who go through it feel they're not alone."

In addition to traditional treatments, Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Lilibet Foster spent a year following Whitfield and his family while he endured rounds of chemo and traveled to India, New Zealand and Australia for alternative medical treatment.

None were successful and, after an 18-month battle, he died in September 2011 at age 39.

The couple got matching "Be Here Now" tattoos, said Foster, symbolizing that "they would take the healing in their own hands." It's also the title of the documentary.

While his treatment and its aftermath are difficult to watch, it's also a story of love and Whitfield's "inspirational approach to healing cancer" that makes it "very uplifting," said the filmmaker told the website.

The production company filmed until one week before Whitfield's death and have editing and post-production to go before finishing the project. The crew is reaching out to Whitfield's fans for funds to complete it and enter the documentary in film festivals, the website reported.

"The reason is that so many of Andy's followers live on the Internet, and this is a way to give them an opportunity to be part of the making of the film," said Foster said.

For more information, go online to tulsaworld.com/beherenow.




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Rita Sherrow grew up with TV. Yes, it was the ever-present “sister” from another techno mother. At first look, it was instant "Like." From then on, the TV had to be on in every room while she studied, elementary school through college. An Air Force brat, she attended school in three states (Oklahoma, Montana and Georgia) and two foreign countries (Germany and Bermuda) and graduated from Broken Arrow High School and the University of Tulsa with a degree in journalism/advertising. She first interned in the advertising world but, when a J-School professor (who also covered politics for the Tulsa World) offered her an internship at the newspaper, she took him up on it. The rest is history. She has served as bridal editor, senior features writer for the women’s section, food editor and is television editor of the Tulsa World. In addition to writing about TV shows and interviewing the stars for “Scene” stories, she also writes a TV column for Weekend and produces the Sunday TV World listings magazine.

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