Actor Patrick Swayze Dies At Age 57
U.S. actor Patrick Swayze, who went from being a Broadway dancer to a Hollywood star with films like "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost," has died after a two-year battle against cancer. The artist, 57, died at his home.
"Patrick Swayze died peacefully today, with his family at his side, after meeting the challenges of his illness during the past 20 months," his publicist Annett Wolf said in a statement.
Born in Texas, Swayze started his career as a dancer and made dozens of appearances on stage, screen and television over four decades. His immortality on the big screen came in 1987 with "Dirty Dancing", which exceeded expectations to become one of the most watched films of all time.
In that tape, Swayze starred as Johnny Castle, an arrogant young man who falls in love with the shy teenager Frances "Baby" Houseman, played by Jennifer Gray, at a New York vacation during the decade of the 60s.
Swayze was diagnosed at stage 4 pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease in January 2008. At that point he said that evil had already spread to her liver. But the actor and former dancer promised to fight cancer and was treated with an experimental drug, surprising to shoot a new TV detective series called "The Beast", where
"Dirty Dancing", made on a shoestring budget and almost was thrown out by his studio, became a huge box office success, receiving nominations for Golden Globes for actors and giving rise to the single winner of an Oscar "( I've Had) The Time of My Life ".
Swayze co-wrote and sang "She's Like the Wind" for the soundtrack of the film, Which Came into third place in the pop charts. The popularity of the tape has spanned over two decades and recently caused a stage musical.
The producers did not have many expectations about the movie but got $ 64 million in U.S. box office and $ 214 million worldwide.
In 1990, "Ghost" was more successful than "Dirty Dancing" with a local collection of over 217 million U.S. dollars and 505 million worldwide. Swayze plays the deceased's love Demi Moore, Sam, in the emotional film, candidate for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Whoopi Goldberg won an Oscar for her supporting role as a spiritual medium who helps Sam to communicate with his girlfriend from beyond. Goldberg said he was Swayze who convinced the director Jerry Zucker to hire her.
His role as Danny Zuko in "Grease" on Broadway called the attention of Hollywood and moved to the West Coast in the late 1970s, where he appeared in small roles in film and television. The papers were brought him to stardom teen drama "The Outsiders" 1983 and "Red Dawn" in 1984, in which he and his co-star of "Dirty Dancing", Jennifer Gray, interpret adolescents struggling against an invasion Russian. After Dirty Dancing and Ghost, Swayze experienced several setbacks in his career, including a struggle with alcohol.
Attributing part of their problem drinking to his sudden fame and the Hollywood lifestyle, he returned to Texas with his wife Lisa Niemi, but worked on the tapes "The Green Dragon" and "Donnie Darko", both in 2001.
Swayze was born in Houston and entered the world of acting from a young age. His father was a rodeo champion and her mother had a dance studio. She trained in dance at an early age and played for ballet companies in New York before moving to Broadway.
