Sad News...
Monday, September 14, 2009
LOS ANGELES – Patrick Swayze, the hunky actor who danced his way into viewers' hearts with "Dirty Dancing" and then broke them with "Ghost," died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.
"Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," said a statement released Monday evening by his publicist, Annett Wolf. No other details were given.
Fans of the actor were saddened to learn in March 2008 that Swayze was suffering from a particularly deadly form of cancer.
He had kept working despite the diagnosis, putting together a memoir with his wife and shooting "The Beast," an A&E drama series for which he had already made the pilot. It drew a respectable 1.3 million viewers when the 13 episodes ran in 2009, but A&E said it had reluctantly decided not to renew it for a second season.
Swayze said he opted not to use painkilling drugs while making "The
Beast" because they would have taken the edge off his performance. He
acknowledged that time might be running out given the grim nature of the
disease.
When he first went public with the illness, some reports gave him only weeks to live, but his doctor said his situation was "considerably more optimistic" than that.
"I'd say five years is pretty wishful thinking," Swayze told ABC's Barbara Walters in early 2009. "Two years seems likely if you're going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure, which means I'd better get a fire under it."
A three-time Golden Globe nominee, Swayze became a star with his performance as the misunderstood bad-boy Johnny Castle in "Dirty Dancing." As the son of a choreographer who began his career in musical theater, he seemed a natural to play the role.
A coming-of-age romance starring Jennifer Grey as an idealistic young woman on
vacation with her family and Swayze as the Catskills resort's sexy (and much
older) dance instructor, the film made great use of both his grace on his feet
and his muscular physique.
It became an international phenomenon in thesummer of 1987, spawning albums, an Oscar-winning hit song in "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," stage productions and a sequel, 2004's "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights," in which he made a cameo.Rest in peace Patrick. You will be missed.
2 comments:
Oh Steph--I'm with you. I've loved Patrick for as long as I can remember. I've seen nearly every movie he's made.
And sometimes the little ones were some of his most powerful.
Like 3 Wishes. *sigh* wonderful, sweet movie about life, love and the best relationship between a boy and a surrogate dad. Truly lovely movie.
And of course--Roadhouse for the visceral edge of hot, action deliciousness at it's best.
Dirty Dancing will never quite be the same to watch, but I know I'll be doing that this weekend with my Mom...just like we did one summer. EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND.
I've loved Patrick too since I remember. I also blogged about it today. Mine has a completely different bend though. http://jbjbounce.blogspot.com/
There have been a lot of great artists that have died of this terrible illness.
RIP Patrick.
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