Patrick Swayze had the kind of charm that sold tickets all by itself. He could do action, romance, and he could dance like a professional. So when his plane went down, everyone whispered it was because he’d been flying drunk. But the truth was far worse.
And it would change everything. He came into the world on August 18th, 1952 in Houston, Texas. His father was an engineer, but his future was written by his mother, Patsy, a dancer and choreographer. In high school, he played football and planned to use a scholarship for college.
But his classmates tormented him because he loved dance and the arts. He later said it filled him with rage. So he channeled that anger into martial arts. When he graduated, he moved to New York City, studied ballet with the Joffrey Ballet Company, and worked as a figure skater.
At 18, his mother introduced him to her 14-year-old student, Lisa Niemi. Something clicked, and they started dating. When she turned 19, they married. He used his dancing in Disney on Parade, and then got the offer that would change his trajectory: the lead role in the Broadway production of Grease.
But fame didn’t come easy. He did a Pabst commercial, a one-episode MASH appearance, aand a Toto music video. He landed the lead in a biker series called The Renegades, about a street gang that works with cops to avoid prison. It lasted one season.
Still, he was finding his way. Then Francis Ford Coppola was casting his adaptation ofThe Outsiders. Producer Fred Roos had spotted Swayze’s performance inSkatetown U. S.
A. , of all things, and pushed for him. Coppola’s casting process was chaotic: up to20 actors in a room, playing different roles. Swayze fought for his place alongside Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, and Rob Lowe.
He got the part, and the film opened big: over$5 million its first weekend, taking second place behind another teen film. In 1984, he starred inRed Dawn, again playing a high school student even though he was over30. The script had an intimate scene with co-star Jennifer Grey, years before they’d reunite inDirty Dancing. They were supposed to get into a sleeping bag together.
But according to Grey, they cut the scene because Swayze couldn’t remember his lines. He’d had too much to drink. She also mentioned she was high on marijuana. The scene never made it to theaters.
Critics weren’t crazy aboutRed Dawn, but audiences were. It earned over$8 million its opening weekend. He followed it with the TV mini-seriesNorth and South, which earned him respect as a dramatic actor. His dancing career had taken a backseat.
Then the script forDirty Dancing came his way. He was interested, but he had a bad knee and hadn’t danced on film in years. He loved the script so much he decided to risk it. If he took the role, he knew he’d be reuniting with Jennifer Grey.
They hadn’t parted on good terms. OnRed Dawn, he’d pulled pranks that really bothered her. Before the screen test, he took her aside and pleaded with her. He apologized for his behavior onRed Dawn, and then told her he loved her.
Grey knew he was working her, but both of them got tears in their eyes. She saw chemistry between them. The writer, Eleanor Bergstein, had written the film from her own true story. When she saw Swayze and Grey dance together, she called it breathtaking.
The roles were theirs. But during filming, the chemistry disappeared. In one scene, where his hand had to brush lightly against Grey’s underarm, it was 4:00 in the morning. A very tired Grey couldn’t stop giggling.
Swayze was exhausted too, and her giggling got under his skin. The camera caught his annoyed expression. Editors saw it and decided it fit his character, so they kept it in the movie. The crew knew they had to fix things.
They sat the two stars down and showed them film of them dancing together for the first time. Somehow, it worked. The chemistry came back. The producers sawDirty Dancing as a cute little low-budget film.
The plan was a one-week theatrical run, then straight to video stores. But it shocked everyone: it earned$214 million on a$4. 5 million budget. Swayze wanted fame, but once he had it, he was uncomfortable with the attention.
He turned to drugs and drinking to cope. He later called that period “Crazy Swayze. ”
In 1982, his father died. He struggled.
In an interview with Barbara Walters, he broke down and cried right on camera. Producer Bruce Joel Rubin watched carefully. He was looking for a star who was manly but unafraid to show emotion. Swayze was also looking for change.
He’d just played tough guys inRoad HouseandNext of Kin, and he felt he wasn’t showing his vulnerable side. He’d also earned two Golden Raspberry nominations. So whenRubin offered himGhost, he said yes immediately. But director Jerry Zucker, known for spoofs likeAirplane!
, wasn’t sold. He didn’t want Swayze. Rubin slowly convinced him to at least see him read for the part. They had Swayze read the end of the movie.
When he finished, everyoneincluding Zucker, had tears in their eyes. Swayze won the role. Critics were lukewarm, but the box office exploded:Ghost pulled in over$505 million on a$23 million budget. It won Whoopi Goldberg her only Academy Award, and Golden Globe nominations for Swayze and Demi Moore.
He followed it withPoint Break, surfing alongsideKeanu Reeves. He refused a stunt double, even though he barely knew how to surf. He, Reeves, andLori Petty took lessons. But Swayze pushed so hard that he cracked four ribs during the shoot.
Still, the movie pulled in over$80 million internationally. People magazine named him the sexiest man alive. At the top of his game, he agreed to a low-budget HBO film calledLetters from a Killer. It didn’t excite anyone.
Then something worse happened: he had a horseback riding accident and broke both legs. In 2000, he was flying his Cessna414 when he had to make an emergency landing on a dirt road. His wing hit a pole, but he walked away without a scratch. Witnesses claimed he seemed intoxicated, that he was asking for help hiding evidence that he’d been drinking on board.
He hid from authorities for a few hours, then emerged with an explanation. He hadn’t been drinking at all. His strange behavior was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning from the engine exhaust, combined with his chain-smoking, which left him critically short of oxygen. The three eyewitnesses, construction workers aged20,23,and27, later found themselves in trouble with the law for allegedly fabricating the story.
With no evidence of drinking, Swayze walked away a free man. He returned to making movies, but there was never another hit likeDirty Dancing. He took a breakfrom Hollywood, performed inLondon’s West End inGuys and Dolls, and then joined the FBI in the TV seriesThe Beast. Things were looking up.
Just after filming the pilot, he felt a burning in his stomach. In January2008, doctors gave him the news: stage four pancreatic cancer. Tabloids screamed that the end was near. But he kept working.
In May2008, he attended a Lakers game, proving he wasn’t on his deathbed. In September, he appeared onStand Up to Cancerand received a standing ovation. In January2009, he went on Barbara Walters’ show again and downplayed his illness, asking her to report that he was kicking it. Around that time, he landed in the hospital with pneumonia caused by chemotherapy.
Two weeks later, he was home with his wife. In April, doctors gave him worse news: the cancer had metastasized again. On September14th,2009,five months after that devastating news, he passed away at home. His widow, Lisa Niemi, was left to mourn.
They’d met as teenagers and stayed married their whole lives, sharing ranches in California and New Mexico. It was a true Hollywood love story. After his death, the Mountain Lake Lodge in Virginia, where they’d filmedDirty Dancing, honored him with a large granite stone. The gift shop proudly displayed the page in the guest registry where he’d signed his name.
Swayze had always resented his heartthrob appeal. Maybe that’s why he never won a major award. But inThe Beast, his last project, he finally got what he wanted. Critics called his performance the best of his career.
The performance of a lifetime.
