Andy Whitfield, who played the title role in the hit cable series “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” has died at age 39, according to representatives and family.

Whitfield died on Sunday in Sydney Australia, just 18 shorts months after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to his manager.

“On a beautiful sunny Sydney spring morning, surrounded by his family, in the arms of his loving wife, our beautiful young warrior Andy Whitfield lost his 18 month battle with lymphoma cancer,” Whitfield’s wife Vashti said in a statement. “He passed peacefully surrounded by love. Thank you to all his fans whose love and support have help carry him to this point. He will be remembered as the inspiring, courageous and gentle man, father and husband he was.”

Andy Whitfield – who was born in Wales and moved to Australia in 1999 – was a virtual unknown when he was cast as the legendary Thracian slave in “Spartacus,” a role made famous by Kirk Douglas in the 1960 Stanley Kubrick film.

The series proved a breakout hit for the Starz network and made waves with its graphic violence and sexuality.

Whitfield appeared in all 13 episodes of the first season that aired in 2010, and was preparing to shoot the second when he was diagnosed with cancer.

While waiting for Whitfield’s treatment and expected recovery, the network produced a six-part prequel, “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena,” that aired earlier this year with only a brief voiceover from the actor.

But in January after Whitfield’s condition grew worse, the network announced that another Australian actor, Liam McIntyre, would take over the role.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our dear friend and colleague, Andy Whitfield,” Starz President and CEO Chris Albrecht said in a statement Sunday night. “We were fortunate to have worked with Andy in `Spartacus’ and came to know that the man who played a champion on-screen was also a champion in his own life.”

Whitfield’s previous credits included appearances on the Australian TV shows “Packed to the Rafters” and “McLeod’s Daughters.”

Incredibly sad!

Photos: Fame

Jennifer Lopez is moving on from her marriage to Marc Anthony by stepping out with a MUCH HOTTER Bradley Cooper.

According to sources, the two were spotted last night on a dinner date at Per Se, a restaurant at Columbus Circle in New York City. TMZ reports witnesses claim the date was “romantic” and was just the two of them.

Lopez and Anthony announced their plans to divorce on July15. Cooper and longtime girlfriend Renee Zellweger split back in March.

According to sources, Lindsay Lohan has been attending Fashion Shows in NYC, and the actress is causing quite a stir. I wonder if Lindsay is just crashing the fashion shows – or if she’s actually invited. I find it hard to believe she’d get front row seats, but I suppose she does bring publicity with her wherever she goes. (Kinda like that random music video she was in for the band no one had heard of before hiring Lindsay to star in their video.)  Here’s a hilarious article I read this morning from The Fug Girls:

We were still toasting in the glow of Nigel Barker’s hotness when, right before the lights went down, a platinum-and-orange waif in tiny trousers, massive shades, and hypnotically puffy lips burst forth from backstage, hustling to a front-row seat with ruthless efficiency (and several security guards). For one glorious, confusing moment, we — and, we later learned, everyone in the rows around us — thought this walking creamsicle had to be Donatella Versace. Then, the entire room full of journalists sat ramrod straight and let out excited, disbelieving, four-letter expletives as we all realized this was actually Lindsay Freaking Lohan.

We then simultaneously commenced trying to figure out if she was wearing pants. (They were shorts. Small ones. Very, very small ones.) The take-home here for Lindsay should be that we all initially mistook her for somebody much crispier who is thirty years her senior, but we suspect instead she will mentally gloss over that part and focus only on how fast the crowd of blasé, already-burned-out fashionistas whipped out their smartphones and overloaded AT&T service. One photographer even went so far as to walk down onto the runway — which we’d been expressly forbidden to do, given that it was mirrored — and get in her face to take a photo, prompting event organizers to confiscate both his camera (which looked more expensive than her extensions) and his credentials, which they ripped from his neck with soap-operatic verve.

The room applauded, led by Lindsay herself, as she settled into her seat between a shell-shocked-seeming Leigh Lezark — we feel you, Leigh — and Lindsay’s companion, who is either a Johnny Depp superfan or an actual pirate. Seriously, he had the long hair and the scruff and the vest flapping over a mostly-open shirt… all he was missing was a parrot and an eye-patch, although we’d bet Lindsay has a couple of those floating around her hotel room somewhere.

Oh Linds.

Photos: Fame

Demi Moore’s not like your average 48-year-old! The actress (who is no stranger to tweeting provocative pictures) just tweeted this picture, with the caption “remember…..you’ve got your own back.”

Thanks for reminding me Demi!

Here are a couple more of her more provocative pics.

Photos: Fame

Looking good!

Photos: Fame

A scruffy Ben Affleck gets to work this morning on the set of his latest film Argo, a star-studded drama about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.

Affleck, who demonstrated his directing chops in the critically acclaimed 2010 drama “The Town” and 2007′s “Gone Baby Gone,” both directs and stars the movie. He recruited a who’s who of gravitas-projecting, respected actors including Bryan Cranston, John Goodman and Alan Arkin, pictured walking next to Affleck in the photo to the right. George Clooney is taking a behind-the-scenes role as producer.

The movie, slated for release in 2012, is based on the true story of a CIA “exfiltration” specialist (Affleck) who cooks up a crazy scheme to free six American hostages stranded in the home of the Canadian ambassador to Iran. (Yahoo News)

Photos: Fame