Spartacus (film) eclipse him. Gracchus, having seen Rome fall into tyranny, commits suicide. Before doing so, he bribes his friend Batiatus to rescue Spartacus's family from Crassus and carry them away to freedom. On the way out of Rome, the group passes under Spartacus's cross. Varinia is able to comfort him in his dying moments by showing him his little son, who will grow up free and knowing who his father was. The development of "Spartacus" was partly instigated by Kirk Douglas's failure to win the title role in William Wyler's "Ben-Hur". Douglas had worked with Wyler before on "Detective Story", and
Edward Righton (actor) he played the comic barber, and in John O'Keeffe's comedy "Wild Oats", he filled the role of an old sea dog. Edward Righton (actor) Thomas Edward Corrie Burns Righton (1838 - January 1899), known as Edward Righton, was an English actor. Righton began his career in Liverpool in 1850. Among many other London roles, Righton played the role of Verges in "Much Ado About Nothing" and Mr. Furnivail in "Two Roses". He created the role of Lutin in "The Happy Land", a musical burlesque written in 1872 by W. S. Gilbert. He also created the role of Boomblehardt in Gilbert's