Patrick Swayze was born on August 18th, 1952 in Houston, Texas to mother Patsy, a choreographer, and father Jesse, an engineer. So it’s pretty evident who Patrick got his moves from for Dirty Dancing! And speaking of that movie, that’s what put Patrick on the map!
But prior to Dirty Dancing, Swayze got roles such as Danny Zuko in the Broadway production of Grease, a part in The Outsiders, and Youngblood, in which he was considered part of the then “brat pack.”
After Dirty Dancing in 1987 came his next big hit Ghost, in which he starred with Demi Moore and Whoopie Goldberg in 1990. The next year, he was chosen as People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive.
Patrick has had ups and downs in his personal life. He’s been married to Lisa Niemi since 1975, which has been one of the few stable aspects of his life. In 1982 Patrick’s father died of a heart attack, which caused him to turn to alcohol. But his latest battle has been with pancreatic cancer, with with he was diagnosed in January of 2008. He’s been undergoing chemo and other treatments at the Stanford University Medical Center. Most recently Patrick denied that the cancer had spread to his liver. In April 2009, it was reported that Patrick only weighed 109 pounds.
Did you know…
- Patrick competed as a college gymnast for two years before getting into showbiz.
- His role in Ghost led to the phrase “I’m Swayze”, which meant “I’m leaving now.”
- Patrick makes a cameo in the Dirty Dancing prequel Havana Nights as an unnamed dance instructor.
- He breeds Arabian horses on his ranches in California and in New Mexico.
- Patrick survived a plane crash in 2000. He was flying the plane from California to New Mexico when the right wing struck a pole, and he was unharmed.
- He has followed several spiritual traditions. Brought up a Roman Catholic, he has also studied the Bahá'í Faith, Buddhism, and Scientology.
- Patrick sang the song She’s Like The Wind on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.
- Dirty Dancing was a low-budget project that was intended to be shown in theaters for one weekend only and then go straight to video.
