Actor Patrick Swayze Dies at 57

"Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost" Star Succumbed to Pancreatic Cancer following Two-Year Battle

(CBS/AP)  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 on the cable television station 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."

Swayze fought the disease publicly. Last year he appeared in a Stand Up to Cancer telethon, reports CBS Radio's Steve Futterman. In the last few months he condition began to worsen and it was clear the end was near. Swayze smoked cigarettes much of his life and said he felt smoking probably had something to do with his illness, Futterman reports.

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 the summer 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.

Swayze performed and co-wrote a song on the soundtrack, the ballad "She's Like the Wind," inspired by his wife, Lisa Niemi. The film also gave him the chance to utter the now-classic line, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

And it allowed him to poke fun at himself on a "Saturday Night Live" episode, in which he played a would-be Chippendales exotic dancer alongside the corpulent - and frighteningly shirtless - Chris Farley.

A major crowdpleaser, "Dirty Dancing" drew only mixed reviews from critics, though Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times, "Given the limitations of his role, that of a poor but handsome sex-object abused by the rich women at Kellerman's Mountain House, Mr. Swayze is also good. ... He's at his best - as is the movie - when he's dancing."

Swayze followed that up with the 1989 action film "Road House," in which he played a bouncer at a rowdy bar. But it was his performance in 1990's "Ghost" that showed his vulnerable, sensitive side. He starred as a murdered man trying to communicate with his fiancee (Demi Moore) - with great frustration and longing - through a psychic played by Whoopi Goldberg.

Swayze said at the time that he fought for the role of Sam Wheat (director Jerry Zucker wanted Kevin Kline) but once he went in for an audition and read six scenes, he got it.

Why did he want the part so badly? "It made me cry four or five times," he said of Bruce Joel Rubin's Oscar-winning script in an AP interview.

"Ghost" provided yet another indelible musical moment: Swayze and Moore sensually molding pottery together to the strains of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody." It also earned a best-picture nomination and a supporting-actress Oscar for Goldberg, who said she wouldn't have won if it weren't for Swayze.

"When I won my Academy Award, the only person I really thanked was Patrick," Goldberg said in March 2008 on the ABC daytime talk show "The View."

Swayze himself earned three Golden Globe nominations, for "Dirty Dancing," "Ghost" and 1995's "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar," which further allowed him to toy with his masculine image. The role called for him to play a drag queen on a cross-country road trip alongside Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo.

His heartthrob status almost kept him from being considered for the role of Vida Boheme.

"I couldn't get seen on it because everyone viewed me as terminally heterosexually masculine-macho," he told the AP then. But he transformed himself so completely that when his screen test was sent to Steven Spielberg, whose Amblin pictures produced "To Wong Foo," Spielberg didn't recognize him.

Critics said Swayze was erratic in his choice of roles, reports CBS Radio's Karyn Regal. He said true actors needed to take chances.

Swayze also didn't want his head to swell over being declared People Magazine's "sexiest man alive" in 1991 - a title earned after his erotic pottery scene in "Ghost," Regal reports. But for many of his fans, that may be the image that lives on.

Among his earlier films, Swayze was part of the star-studded lineup of up-and-comers in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 adaptation of S.E. Hinton's novel "The Outsiders," alongside Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez and Diane Lane. Swayze played Darrel "Dary" Curtis, the oldest of three wayward brothers - and essentially the father figure - in a poor family in small-town Oklahoma.

Other '80s films included "Red Dawn," "Grandview U.S.A." (for which he also provided choreography) and "Youngblood," once more with Lowe, as Canadian hockey teammates.

In the '90s, he made such eclectic films as "Point Break" (1991), in which he played the leader of a band of bank-robbing surfers, and the family Western "Tall Tale" (1995), in which he starred as Pecos Bill. He appeared on the cover of People magazine as its "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1991, but his career tapered off toward the end of the 1990s, when he also had stay in rehab for alcohol abuse. In 2001, he appeared in the cult favorite "Donnie Darko," and in 2003 he returned to the New York stage with "Chicago"; 2006 found him in the musical "Guys and Dolls" in London.

Swayze was born in 1952 in Houston, the son of Jesse Swayze and choreographer Patsy Swayze, whose films include "Urban Cowboy."

He played football but also was drawn to dance and theater, performing with the Feld, Joffrey and Harkness Ballets and appearing on Broadway as Danny Zuko in "Grease." But he turned to acting in 1978 after a series of injuries.

Within a couple years of moving to Los Angeles, he made his debut in the roller-disco movie "Skatetown, U.S.A." The eclectic cast included Scott Baio, Flip Wilson, Maureen McCormack and Billy Barty.

Swayze had a couple of movies in the works when his diagnosis was announced, including the drama "Powder Blue," starring Jessica Biel, Forest Whitaker and his younger brother, Don, which was scheduled for release this year.

Off-screen, he was an avid conservationist who was moved by his time in Africa to shine a light on "man's greed and absolute unwillingness to operate according to Mother Nature's laws," he told the AP in 2004.

Swayze was married since 1975 to Niemi, a fellow dancer who took lessons with his mother; they met when he was 19 and she was 15. A licensed pilot, Niemi would fly her husband from Los Angeles to Northern California for treatment at Stanford University Medical Center, People magazine reported in a cover story.

[rakeady]

I am so Sorry to hear of your loss. It brought back many happy memories growing up in Oak Forest. Not alone did I go to middle & high school with Patrick ,I used to ride my horse over to the studio & watch his Mom give dance lessons! I will personally miss his passion for life, his drive to succeed, his love for you, & wanting to make a difference towards man kind.

Many Blessings to you & your family.
Happy Trails---RA Keady

[ajc1952]

What a great loss. Even though I didn't know Patrick personally, I also feel a sadness and loss for his passing. He was a good man through and through. The world will miss you Patrick. My condolences to his family and friends!

[acrylon]

I have always love any movie that Patrick had made. We have lost a great dancer,actor.Patrick will be missed dearly.
R I P

[legacyabq]

I really thought he was awesome in Point Break, as well as his other more-acclaimed roles.

Patrick was a good man who tried to use his celebrity status to bring attention to issues.

Damn, 57 is too young. Rest in Peace Patrick Swayze.

[wossene-2009]

I was hoping he would recover . My condolence to his family and friends. Patrick was a dynamic entertainer. sad to see him go .Please go to www.lifessecochance.org in his memory help us build cancer hospital in Ethiopia

[fabrat1]

My sister loves Dirty Dancing so much she has a special edition of the DVD that she has never opened. She has an old copy she watches from time to time but she has vowed to never open the special edition one. He was amazing and the world has lost a wonderful man. God bless his family and friends.

[curiously1]

Unbelievable. The "kid Actor" has died ! My god, are we all getting old or what !

[AttentionDeficit]

Now he is free of the suffering. RIP, Mr. Swayze

[poochie44]

RIP Mr. Swayzee. You brought class and talent to the big screen. You will be missed

[ejcspau]

Ghost is the movie my husband and I watch when we want a quiet night at home. It is so moving and Mr Swayze was fantastic. Rest in Eternal Peace.

[docpeter1953]

Not a big fan of Patrick's movies, did enjoy "Ghosts" however.

But still RIP Patrick.

[bubbadubba]

In my opinion Roadhouse was his best movie.
I am sorry for his family.
No single life is any more important than any other life to the universe. Fame is a man made illusion and like all illusions fame eventually fades away.

[tugar04]

SO VERY SORRY TO HEAR THIS...... But to keep suffering through this debilitating illness as he had been doing for the past two years, had to be torture for both Patrick and his family. When things like this happen to good people, those that love them are left with the same question. WHY, WHY GOD DID THIS HAPPEN TO HIM, HE WAS A GOOD PERSON, WHY....

Only God knows his reasons, and we must accept them and go on with life. But in the end, we all pray for a medical cure to this horrible desease known as cancer, that has taken so many.

My sincere condolences to the Swayze family.

[daisyjingles]

We will miss you Patrick.

[Ace22257]

We've lost too many of our good entertainers this year. I'm saddened to be hear reading about Patrick Swayze passing. He defied the odds and lived with this dreaded disease for almost 2 years. I was really hoping Patrick might survive this dreaded disease. Not only was Patrick a great dancer & entertainer he was a good hearted man. His fans will surely miss him. My condolences to his friends and family. Rest in peace now Patrick...your fans will miss you......

[mrjoshcan]

You and I reconciled in factional dissension, though definitely conflicting once again, abating therefore Worlds next uneven bloody battle.

[sam-kiley]

bonjour
terrible nouvelle, journalistes et acteurs de grand talent s'clipsent un par un c'est ainsi..
que dire de patrick swayze, il aura méné avec beaucoup de courage.. une bataille contre cette terrible maladie qu'est le cancer (maladie qui semblent defier
hommes de sciences et chercheurs) malheureusement, manque de fonds ou manque de volonté.
mourir a 57 ans parceque le cancer l'a voulu, les fans se souviendront
toujours du bel homme de l'acteur de talent et du danceur qui nous a
fait réver..désolée..qu'il repose en paix patrick swayze..condoléances a sa famille..sincérement..au revoir

[pensacola8-2009]

Pat was a cool and funny guy! He gave life to every event he attended. He was also generous and encouraging. He wasn't typical Hollywood trash.

'See you on the other side, buddy

[Larry Fafarman]

To me, he will always be Gen. Orry Main, CSA (from TV series, "North and South").

I am not much of a movie-goer -- I saw him in only one movie, "Next of Kin." I would like to see "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost."

[Deedsy51]

Fly with the angels my friend, Fly high and soar, you are now free!
We will never forget you.