In Memorium: Patrick Swayze

Patrick Wayne Swayze was born in Houston, Texas on August 18, 1952. After his regular studies and rigorous athletic pursuits, Patrick could be found at his mothers dance studio learning his moves that would someday make him a household name. In 1972 he moved to New York to complete his formal dance training at Harkness and Joffrey ballet schools.

In 1975, Patrick married Lisa Niemi, a fellow student at his mother's studio. After a stint playing Prince Charming at the Disney park, Patrick's acting debut came in 1979 in "Skatetown U.S.A." a testament to the roller disco scene. Television appearances would be the mainstay for Swayze for the next few years with a gig on the hit series 'M*A*S*H' and a regular on the short lived series 'Renegades'. Swayze would gain recognition with younger audiences with his next two projects, the teen angst film "The Outsiders" and the survivalist drama "Red Dawn". Although Patrick was much older than the rest of the 'brat pack' he was still considered a member. The breakthrough role that catapulted Swayze was as dance instructor Johnny Castle in the surprise hit, "Dirty Dancing". 1990 would find Swayze starring in his most successful film of all time, "Ghost", opposite Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. The following year Patrick would receive a Golden Globe nomination for 'Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical'. In an interview Patrick revealed that he started drinking heavily after his fathers death in 1982 and sought help for his alcoholism. He took a break from his career for rehabilitation at his ranches in California and New Mexico to raise Arabian horses. Patrick had lukewarm status in his film career, never reaching the box office success of "Dirty Dancing", "Ghost", or the action hit "Point Break".

In January 2008 Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had responded well to treatments received in March and by mid year could be seen out about enjoying basketball games and starting production on a new television series. However, in 2009 Swayze's health started to decline and admitted to Barbara Walters that the cancer had spread to his liver. During the interview hishe revealed his years of drinking and chain smoking and how it could have lead to the development of his illness. Patrick Swayze passed away on September 14, 2009 at the age of 57.

Having enjoyed Mr. Swayze's films since I was a teenager, he was a part of my life like so many others that watched him on the silver screen. However talented, in the past year I came to admire his strength and determination. Having gone through a health scare myself it gave me comfort to know that whatever the outcome, I wouldn't be alone in my fight and that that's what I had to do was "fight". Fortunate for me, my diagnosis wasn't life threatening but I have to credit Mr. Swayze's for part of my strength, he'll never know how he helped me and I'll always be appreciative for his willingness to be brave and upfront about his experience. He will be missed.

Selected filmography:

Skatetown U.S.A. 1979
The Outsiders 1983
Uncommon Valor 1983
Red Dawn 1984
Youngblood 1985
Dirty Dancing 1987
Tiger Warsaw 1988
Road House 1989
Next of Kin 1989
Ghost 1990
Point Break 1991
Father Hood 1993
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar 1995
Black Dog 1998
Forever Lulu 2000
Donnie Darko 2001
Waking Up In Reno 2002
One Last Dance 2003
11:14 2003
Dirty Dancing, Havana Nights 2004
Keeping Mum 2005
The Fox and the Hound 2 2006
Powder Blue 2009
'The Beast' (2009, TV series)