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With the passing of beloved celebrities, there is always great sadness. Over the past four months, Hollywood and its fans said goodbye to a gut-wrenching number of celebrities. The most recent star death that shocked the community is that of Patrick Swayze.
Throughout his career, Swayze embraced one of the widest arrays of characters ever seen in a male lead. His role as sexually confidant-yet-sweet dance instructor Johnny Castle in 1987’s “Dirty Dancing” earned him prestige in the acting community and a place on the wall of every young girl’s bedroom.
“She’s Like the Wind,” a song written and performed by Swayze for “Dirty Dancing” went on to become a top ten hit and was featured recently in 2009’s “(500) Days of Summer.”
“Dirty Dancing” was followed a few years later by the equally successful romantic flick “Ghost,” alongside Hollywood heavy hitters Whoopi Goldberg and Demi Moore.
The year after “Ghost,” Swayze moved on from his success in this genre of film to star with Keanu Reeves in “Point Break.” As Bodhi, the criminal-surfer brother of Reeve’s FBI agent Johnny Utah, he traded in his clean-cut masculine appearance for a shaggy, surfer look. This film did not garner the attention that Swayze’s previous films did, but action fans regard it, almost 20 years later, as an underrated classic.
The next big role that came his way was the hilarious Vida in 1995’s “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar,” a tale of three drag queens who get stuck in a small rural town and turn everything there upside-down. Alongside Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo, Swayze took a role that could have easily turned into a farce and created a lovable character who gave audiences a peek into a whole new world.
After suffering a terrible fall in 1998 that broke both of his legs, his career never fully recovered. Never again did he play the lead in any film that brought him as much attention as “Ghost” or “Dirty Dancing.” He had a five-month stint in a West End production of “Guys and Dolls” in 2006.
Following “Guys and Dolls” Swayze kept a relatively low profile until news of his pancreatic cancer in 2008, when he became the constant target of reporters and paparazzi. He embraced his resurgence in popularity to the best of his ability, appearing on 2008’s “Stand Up To Cancer” to try to help raise funds for the organization.
With the debut of his A&E series “The Beast” in Jan. 2009, it appeared that the actor had regained his health. Six months later, Entertainment Weekly reported that the show had been cancelled, due in large part to Swayze’s failing health.
On Monday, Sept. 14. Patrick Swayze, 57, died with his family by his side. His publicist confirmed to CNN that his death was a result of his pancreatic cancer.
