When did Patrick Swayze die and what was his cause of death?
PATRICK Swayze's life will be featured in a new episode of ABC's Superstar on April 14, 2022.
The show has shared the stories of other renowned actors including Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Kobe Bryant, Whitney Houston, and many others.
Who was Patrick Swayze?
Patrick Swayze was born in Houston, Texas in 1952 to Jesse Wayne Swayze who was an engineering draftsman, and his mom, Patsy Swayze, a dancer, dance instructor, and choreographer. She owned her own ballet studio and fought against segregation.
In high school, Swayze suffered from a football-related injury, pushing him on the path that would lead him to become a household name. His acting career began when he portrayed Darrel Curtis in the 1984 film adaptation of The Outsiders. But his breakthrough performance as Johnny in the acclaimed Blockbuster film, Dirty Dancing, opposite Jennifer Grey who played his character's love interest, Baby.
Throughout his cinematic career, Swayze was conscious of being typecast and took varying roles that would test him as an actor.
"In Hollywood, it's difficult to avoid stereotyping. And some actors like a niche," Swayze told The Baltimore Sun in 1995.
"But that would destroy me. I want to find out how far I can go. If you just live for fame and stardom, it will kill you," he said.
He was as good as his word, appearing in films like Ghost, Road House, Point Break, and the cult classic, Donnie Darko.
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How did Patrick Swayze die?
Swayze died at his Los Angeles home in 2009, surrounded by family and friends. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 20 months before his death in January 2008.
Six months after his diagnosis, Swayze called himself the "miracle dude," having surpassed the life expectancy he had been given. He continued working even after he received the news that is often a death sentence.
"How do you nurture a positive attitude when all the statistics say you’re a dead man?” he told The New York Times in October 2008. “You go to work.”
But he added about his prognosis, “There is probably that little bird that flies through your insides and says, ‘I sure would like to make a mark in life.'
“I’ve made a pretty decent mark so far, nothing to scoff at. But it does make you think: Wait a minute. There’s more I want to do. Lots more. Get on with it.”
His wife, Lisa Niemi, authored a book in 2011 titled Worth Fighting For she spoke of her husband's final moments, his final words.
"My last words to Patrick? ‘I love you,’" she wrote, adding, "and those were his last words to me."
Swayze slipped into a coma not long after and on September 14, 2009, he quietly passed away.
Was Patrick Swayze married and did he have kids?
Patrick was married to writer and director, Lisa Niemi from 1975, until his death.
The couple met when Swayze was 18 years old and Niemi was only 14. Swayze's mother was Niemi's dance instructor, and in a 2011 interview with Good Housekeeping Magazine, Niemi said, "The first time Buddy (her nickname for Swayze) and I danced together was at a school exhibition. We walked out on stage. I looked in his eyes, it was like everything came alive."
Although many thought it would make sense for Niemi to star alongside Swayze in Dirty Dancing, she did play a part in inspiring the song, She's Like the Wind, co-written by Swayze and Stacy Widelitz.
The song debuted in the movie and went on to reach Billboard's top 100. Swayze said Niemi was his inspiration, writing in his autobiography, Patrick Swayze: One Last Dance, “I just felt at the time that I’m very, very lucky to have a woman who thinks I hung the moon.”
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