Patrick Swayze, star of stage and screen dies at 57

September 15, 11:50 AMNY Theater Producer ExaminerMeredith Lucio

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 Patrick Swayze with longtime love and wife Lisa / AP Photo

Texas born actor Patrick Swayze who took the world by storm in movies like Ghost, Dirty Dancing and Red Dawn has succumbed to his devastating illness late last night with family and friends at his side. Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early 2008 but the deadly disease did not slow him down. Swayze continued to star in the A&E Channel's The Beast an episodic drama about an aging FBI agent for the entire 13 episodes of its first season despite his battle with cancer. Never one to lie back and let fate control him, Swayze fought the disease to the very end- avoiding pain-killers for fear the drugs would dull his ability to perform his role in the series and asserting to the very end that he would fight to beat his disease and win.

Best known for his iconic performances in the aformentioned movies, Swayze was also a veteran of the stage, having been one of the many actors who performed in the original Broadway production of Grease who went on to become a notable name in Hollywood. Decades after his Broadway debut, Swayze returned to the stage with a star-turn as Billy Flynn in a limited engagement of the long-running Chicago currently running on Broadway today.

His movie Dirty Dancing, a coming of age tale about a young woman who meets and falls in love with a ballroom dancer (Swayze) over a summer's vacation, became a phenomena which inspired  a musical which is currently running in London. Swayze even sang and co-wrote a song from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, "She's Like the Wind" which became a hit eventually reaching the #3 slot on the US Billboard Top 100. The movie Ghost in which he starred with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg (Goldberg would eventually win an Oscar for her portrayal of medium Oda Mae Brown) became another international hit for Swayze. About a man who protects and loves his wife from beyond when he suffers an untimely death, Ghost went on to gross over half a billion dollars and solidify Swayze as a romantic-hero all over the world.

Swayze's personal life seems to echo that sentiment. His real-life love, Lisa Niemi Swayze, has been his love and companion for four decades.  The two met at Swayze's mother's dance studio when Lisa was 14 and Patrick was 18. They were married in 1975. Swayze credited his wife, Lisa as the inspiration for "She's Like the Wind".

Patrick Swayze
August 18, 1952 - September 14, 2009