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OnDaFence 36M/44M
44267 posts
9/14/2014 10:13 am

Last Read:
12/26/2016 7:19 pm

Patrick



We lost Patrick Swayze to pancreatic cancer five years ago today.



Born Patrick Wayne Swayze on August 18, 1952 he entertained us with his exceptional acting, dancing, and singer-songwriting for most of his life.



Swayze's first professional appearance was as a dancer for Disney on Parade. He then starred as a replacement playing the role of Danny Zuko in the long-running Broadway production of Grease before his debut film role as "Ace" in Skatetown, U.S.A.. He appeared as Pvt. Sturgis in the M*A*S*H episode "Blood Brothers" and had a brief stint in 1982 on a short-lived TV series The Renegades playing a gang leader named Bandit. Swayze became known to the film industry after appearing in The Outsiders as the older brother of C. Thomas Howell and Rob Lowe. Swayze, Howell, and Howell's friend Darren Dalton reunited in Red Dawn the next year, and Lowe and Swayze reunited in Youngblood (1986). He was considered a member of the Brat Pack. His first major success was in the 1985 television miniseries North and South, which was set during the American Civil War.



Swayze's breakthrough role came with his performance as dance instructor Johnny Castle in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, alongside his Red Dawn co-star, Jennifer Grey. Dirty Dancing, a coming of age story, was a low-budget film that was intended to be shown in theaters for one weekend only and then go straight to video, but it became a surprise hit and achieved enormous international success. It was the first film to sell one million copies on video, and as of 2009, it earned over $214 million worldwide and spawned several alternative versions, ranging from a television series to stage productions to a computer game. Swayze received a Golden Globe Award nomination for the role and sang one of the songs on the soundtrack, "She's Like the Wind", which he had originally co-written with Stacy Widelitz for the film Grandview, U.S.A. The song became a top-ten hit and has been covered by other artists.



After Dirty Dancing, Swayze found himself in great acting demand and appeared in several films, of which Road House (1989) was the most successful. His biggest role came in 1990, when he starred in Ghost with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. In 1991, he starred alongside Youngblood castmate Keanu Reeves in another major action hit, Point Break, and he was chosen by People magazine as that year's "Sexiest Man Alive".



Swayze was seriously injured in 1998 while filming HBO's Letters from a Killer near Ione, California, when he fell from a and hit a tree. Both of his legs were broken and he suffered four detached tendons in his shoulder. Filming was suspended for two months, and the film aired in 1999. Swayze recovered from his injuries, but he had trouble resuming his career until 2000, when he co-starred in Waking Up in Reno, with Billy Bob Thornton and Charlize Theron, and in Forever Lulu, with Melanie Griffith.



In 2001, he appeared in the cult classic Donnie Darko, wherein he played a famous motivational speaker revealed to be a closet pedophile, and in 2004, he played Allan Quartermain in King Solomon's Mines. He also had a cameo appearance in the Dirty Dancing sequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, as an unnamed dance instructor.



Probably my favorite roll for Patrick comes in his 1995 To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.



Starring with Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo as three New York drag queens who embark on a road trip. In every roll Patrick always seemed to be the knight in shining armor taking on all odds for what he believed in. He inspired me and many others throughout his long career.


Thanks so much for the fine legacy you left us with Patrick!

OnDaFence 36M/44M

9/14/2014 10:37 am

    Quoting iml4it2:
    he was one of the best.. you bet!
Truly an inspiration for all.


OnDaFence 36M/44M

9/14/2014 10:44 am

    Quoting  :

He is a multi-talented treat for us all.


LckurnutsI 61M

9/14/2014 11:04 am

Taaaaa Dah!.....excellent post....Love the Caddy also


OnDaFence 36M/44M

9/14/2014 11:36 am

    Quoting LckurnutsI:
    Taaaaa Dah!.....excellent post....Love the Caddy also


The Caddy is more of a land cruiser!


OnDaFence 36M/44M

9/14/2014 11:38 am

    Quoting woodster4:
    I loved him in the movie "Dirty Dancing", he was HOT. I would have worn Baby's shoes any time so he could have porked ME. That movie is one of my all time favorites. And just remember, "nobody puts Baby in the corner".

    Another of my favorites (he wasn't in it) is "Boys on the Side". If you've never seen it, watch it sometime, Whoopi & Drew Barrymore were in it, along with Mathew M., (can't spell his last name), had me crying one minute, laughing the next.....

    Too bad he died so young......
Patrick achieved more in his short span than many do in a whole lifetime. He was always on the go active making the most of every minute.


OnDaFence 36M/44M

9/14/2014 12:16 pm

    Quoting  :

or........... he kept it hidden very well.


OnDaFence 36M/44M

9/14/2014 3:30 pm

    Quoting  :

To me it is not the longevity that counts but the value of the time given and how we utilize it to our best extent and Patrick made the most of it


bychance4709 61M

9/14/2014 6:19 pm

Another talent taken too soon.


OnDaFence 36M/44M

9/14/2014 6:25 pm

A few more years would have been nice.