Patrick Swayze

Did You Know?

• Swayze co-wrote and recorded the song "She's Like the Wind" with Stacy Widelitz for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack; it peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.
• He was named "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine in 1991.
• Swayze's uncle, Bruce Swayze, was a professional wrestler.

Early life

Patrick Wayne Swayze was born on August 18, 1952, in Houston, Texas, the second child of Jesse Wayne Swayze, an engineering draftsman, and Patsy Swayze, a dancer and choreographer. His paternal ancestor John Swasey emigrated from Dorset, England, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Puritan migration. Swayze grew up in the Oak Forest neighborhood of Houston, attending St. Rose of Lima Catholic School, Frank Black Middle School, Waltrip High School, and San Jacinto College Central.

He pursued ice skating, classical ballet, and acting in school productions, and played football until a knee injury ended his scholarship hopes. He had a low Vietnam draft lottery number but likely avoided service due to that injury. He also practiced martial arts including Wushu, Taekwondo, and Aikido. In 1972, he moved to New York City to train at the Harkness Ballet and Joffrey Ballet schools; a planned ballet with Mikhail Baryshnikov was halted due to his knee reconstruction.

Career

Swayze's first professional appearance was as a dancer for Disney on Parade. He later played Danny Zuko in a replacement cast of the Broadway production Grease. His film debut came in 1979 with Skatetown, U.S.A. He appeared in a Pabst Blue Ribbon commercial, the M*A*S*H episode "Blood Brothers" in 1981, the video for Toto's "Rosanna", and the TV movie Return of the Rebels. In 1983, he had a brief stint on The Renegades. That same year he played a Marine Corps trainer in Uncommon Valor. In 1984, he reunited with C. Thomas Howell and Darren Dalton in Red Dawn, and in 1986 with Rob Lowe in Youngblood. His first major dramatic success was the 1985 television miniseries North and South, set during the American Civil War.

Personal life

Swayze was married to Lisa Niemi from June 12, 1975, until his death; they had no children, though Niemi experienced one miscarriage. They met in 1970 when Swayze was 18 and Niemi, then 14, was taking dance lessons from his mother. Swayze said Niemi inspired his 1987 song "She's Like the Wind." He practiced transcendental meditation and explored Soka Gakkai Buddhism, zen buddhism, Scientology, EST training, and Transcendental Meditation, stating he valued learning about different belief systems.

He publicly discussed a 10-year struggle with alcoholism following his father's death, entered rehabilitation in the 1990s, and temporarily stepped away from acting. He bred Arabian horses on ranches in California and New Mexico; his best-known horse was Tammen. An FAA-certificated pilot, Swayze made a precautionary landing in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on June 1, 2000, after a pressurization problem. Witnesses reported he appeared intoxicated, but it was later determined the probable cause was carbon monoxide exposure and hypoxia, and alcohol had been stored in inaccessible external compartments.

Illness and death

In late December 2007, after filming the pilot for The Beast, Swayze experienced a burning sensation in his abdomen from a bile duct blockage. In mid-January 2008, he was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer and underwent chemotherapy and treatment with the experimental drug vatalanib at Stanford University Medical Center. In March 2008, his doctor confirmed the diagnosis but said Swayze was not as close to death as some reports claimed. Despite tabloid stories, Swayze continued working.

In May 2008, he made his first public appearance since diagnosis at a Los Angeles Lakers game. He stated in June 2008 that his treatments were working. In September 2008, he appeared on Stand Up to Cancer, urging donations. In December 2008, he denied claims the cancer had spread to his liver.

In a January 2009 interview with Barbara Walters, he acknowledged a small mass in his liver but said he was "kicking it." He was hospitalized with pneumonia on January 9, 2009, and released on January 16. On April 19, 2009, doctors informed him the cancer had metastasized to his liver. Swayze died of pancreatic cancer on September 14, 2009, at age 57.