Biography of Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze is a man whose personality, talent and charisma to this day do not leave people indifferent. A stunningly harmonious actor who gave the world “Ghost”, a graceful and flexible dancer who left a memory of this facet of talent in “Dirty Dancing”, author and performer of songs in several famous Hollywood films. Nominee of the Golden Globe and Saturn awards. He passed away in the fall of 2009 after a twenty-month battle with cancer.
Pictured: Patrick Swayze
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Childhood and adolescence: Houston - New York
The Swayze family named their second child, born in the summer of 1952 in Houston, Patrick. Patrick's older sister was Vicki Lynn, and after him two more boys were born - Don and Sean Kyle. Jesse Vane and Patsy Swayze later adopted a girl named Bora (Bambi).
Patrick Swayze with his parents, older sister and brother Donny
The ancestors of the family were British, Irish, and Apache. Talking about his father in an interview, Patrick said that he was a foreman at the largest ranch in the world, the Royal Ranch, where at one time he worked as a shepherd: As the actor explained, it was his father who taught him a lot that in the modern world seems hackneyed and banal: honesty, strong feelings in your work. Patrick lived in accordance with the principles that his father instilled in him in early childhood. It was his image that the actor later embodied on screen, playing Allan Quartermain in “King Solomon’s Mines.” Dad became a design engineer so he could implement many of his ideas for improving life on the ranch.
Patrick Swayze as a child
From his mother, a legendary choreographer, according to Patrick, he inherited a certain inner tension, passion, and belief that everything can be conveyed through art. Drive and the desire to always be the best - this side of character from the mother, who at one time led the young man along an inclined path. However, Swayze thought his parents were an amazing couple. Under his mother’s sensitive guidance, it was Patrick, of all the children, who studied choreography and music from an early age, especially since Patsy had her own ballet school.
Patrick Swayze in his school years
The boy was the most talented of all the students, he was distinguished by his diligence in his studies, for which he earned the nickname “mama’s boy” from his classmates. Little Patrick, good-natured and obedient, often ran to Patsy in tears, complaining that he had gotten too much from the boys again. His mother decided that he needed to be taught the ability to stand up for himself and enrolled her son in a martial arts school. Only six months of classes and Patrick was unrecognizable. They began to treat him with respect because he no longer allowed himself to be offended.
1978 Inside Patsy Swayze's dance studio
He graduated from school with honors, after which he went to New York to hone his ballet skills. After graduating from two ballet schools, Harkness and Joffrey, Swayze began working with the renowned Elliot Feld Dance Company. The public immediately noticed the graceful and handsome dancer in the musical “Diamond,” which was on Broadway. The talent of the leading young dancer of the troupe was noted by the famous Mikhail Baryshnikov, with whom Patrick performed on the same stage.
In his youth, Patrick Swayze studied ballet professionally.
For the time being, no one had any idea of the pain Swayze endured during performances, until one day doctors insisted on urgent surgery and forbade the artist from practicing ballet if he did not want to remain disabled. The career of a professional ballet dancer did not take place. It was all due to knees injured in childhood, when Patrick enthusiastically played football. His mother again helped him overcome the shock of what happened, advising his son to try his hand at acting. And he began to study acting.
Actor career
Swayze was almost thirty years old when he, a former dancer, made his debut in the film Skatetown, USA. The roller disco fashion was at its height. Patrick as Ace Johnson immediately became a teen idol. But he did not intend to stay in this image.
Patrick Swayze's first role (Skatetown)
When the opportunity to work in Francis Ford Coppola’s crime drama “The Outcasts” arose, he gladly agreed. In addition to him, Coppola selected completely unknown actors Tom Cruise and Matt Dillon for filming. Next, Patrick was invited to play the main role of Jed Eckert in the anti-Soviet film Red Dawn (1984).
On the set of the film "Outcasts"
The actor gained popularity after starring in the short series “North and South” (1985). He was immediately invited to play the main role of Johnny Castle in Emil Ardolino’s melodrama “Dirty Dancing.” This is where Swayze's talent was fully revealed, not only as a ballet dancer, but also as a dramatic actor.
Still from the TV series “North and South”
Along with his co-star, Jennifer Grey, Patrick was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. The first year of the film's release brought in more than one hundred and seventy million dollars. Gray later recalled that the actor was fearless and persistently performed all the stunts in the film himself: The success of the film contributed to further proposals, and every year Swayze appeared in new projects. In the fantastic Steel Dawn he played the nomad Nomad, in the drama Warsaw Nicknamed the Tiger - former drug addict Chuck Varso, in the thriller Road House - the legendary bouncer James Dalton, and in Next of Kin - policeman Truman Dalton. The eighties were fruitful in terms of work, and Patrick devoted himself to it with all the passion of his restless nature. Dirty dancing. Fragment The nineties brought the actor perhaps his most unforgettable role - Sam White in Jerry Zucker's dramatic film Ghost. Together with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, Swayze created an unforgettable love story on screen.
The magnificent cast of "Ghost"
The actor admitted that this story shocked him so much that, while reading the script, he could not hold back his tears several times. Whoopi won an Oscar for her supporting role, but said that she might not have received this award if it weren’t for Patrick, who inspired her on the set. Ghost. Fragment And Swayze has already literally plunged headlong into the role of Bodhi, starring in Kathryn Bigelow's thriller Point Break. In the film, he is a surfer and bank robber, who is trying to catch an ambitious FBI agent, brilliantly played by Keanu Reeves. The film did not have the same box office success as “Ghost,” but viewers will forever remember the freedom-loving and fearless Bodhi, who chose to die by catching his ideal wave rather than surrender to the hands of justice.
Patrick Swayze in the movie Point Break
In the nineties, Patrick starred exclusively in leading roles, embodying both positive and negative characters on the screen. But even the most inveterate scoundrels in his performances do not look so clear thanks to the actor’s charm and talent.
In almost all films, Swayze performed all the stunts himself, which sometimes ended in failure. The script for one of the films suggested that the main character was riding a horse without a saddle or bridle through the forest. Stubborn Patrick drove the horse on his own, but at some point the animal jumped out of the clearing onto a huge tree, and the actor landed on the ground, crippling himself so much that his legs were paralyzed.
Swayze did all the stunts on set himself
The loss of a finger and a dislocated shoulder were “trifles” in comparison with the spinal injury, after which the actor underwent long-term treatment and rehabilitation. But as soon as he got back on his feet, he got back into the saddle: He bought a ranch in Northern California, where he bred horses and took part in horse racing. He attended competitions in the United Arab Emirates, where he became the only American to reach the finish line after a four-hour race through the desert. In the eyes of his Arab rivals, he looked like a hero, since he managed to overcome a difficult distance, despite the fact that he finished only thirty-fifth.
Horses have always been his passion
The two thousand were not so brilliant in terms of roles, but even a cameo role as a dance teacher in the prequel Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights brought Swayze a fee of five million dollars.
A sequel to Dirty Dancing was released in 2004.
Fans of the actor's talent were delighted with his role as a fearless cowboy in King Solomon's Mines, and then with the completely opposite character of lawyer Richard Pressburger in the biographical drama Jump, directed by Joshua Sinclair. He also played the comedic role of Lance in Niell Johnson’s crime film “Be Quiet.”
Still from the film “King Solomon’s Mines”
Personal life of Patrick Swayze
The woman of Patrick Swayze's life was Lisa Niemi, whom he first saw at his mother's dance school. The first thing eighteen-year-old Patrick did when he saw a beautiful 14-year-old girl was to pinch her. And then he received a resounding slap in the face.
Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi in their youth
He was struck by the fact that she, unlike other girls, paid almost no attention to him, as it seemed to him then. And the girl was afraid to admit even to herself that she fell in love with the charming young man almost at first sight, so she chose this manner of behavior. Patrick admitted that if it weren't for his wife, some of his problems could have dragged him downhill. At one time, fame and crowds of loving fans turned his head, but the sobering help of his wife prevented him from falling ill with the “star” disease. In addition, although he made Lisa jealous by flirting with his film partners, Patrick remained a faithful husband.
Despite his fame, Patrick Swayze was a faithful husband
The only thing that saddened the actor was the absence of children in their family. Having experienced two miscarriages, the wife was never able to have them again.
Patrick Swayze with his wife
When Swayze found out about his terrible diagnosis, he decided to lead Lisa to the altar again, just like back in 1975. He arrived at the ceremony on a white horse, trying to impress his wife. Dance of Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi (1994) According to the recollections of friends who knew Patrick well, he repeated all his life that his Lisa was the most beautiful woman in the world, his best friend and faithful partner. Shortly before his death, in a long interview with the famous American TV presenter Barbara Walters, the actor admitted that without Lisa his life would be incomplete.
They were together until the last moment
A sex symbol is a truly faithful husband
The couple remained together after Swayze's incredible success in Hollywood. He was a sex symbol for women around the world, and People magazine named him the "Sexiest Man Alive." Despite this success, Patrick remained faithful to his wife.
After 30 years of marriage, the couple learned about Patrick's terrible illness. But, despite the not very good forecasts, the couple did not give up. Swayze continued to act. And his wife was on his side, agreeing with his every step.
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“This is the worst thing in the world that has happened to us in our entire lives,” Niemi said. “You spend every day fighting for this person’s life. I know my husband fought every day.”
Last years and death
The whole life of this unique actor is risk and overcoming. Racing car rallies, skydiving, airplane flying, desert racing. It was as if Swayze was trying to prove to himself and everyone that he could achieve anything he wanted.
Patrick's freedom-loving nature knew no barriers
With the same confidence in victory, he accepted the diagnosis that oncologists gave him in March 2008: inoperable stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He joked that he would certainly live until a panacea for cancer was invented and continued to act in films. His wife, a licensed pilot, took him to treatment on her own.
Lisa took Patrick to the hospital by plane
His most recent role was as undercover FBI operative Charles Barker in the drama series Beast. The actor sometimes worked up to twelve hours a day, not accepting pity. He wanted the viewer to see him as full of energy as before. At the same time, Patrick refused to take painkillers, since the side effects from them slowed down his consciousness and interfered with his play.
In his last interview, the actor admitted that the pain on set gave him “inner rage.” During the five months of filming, Swayze missed only a day, although in order to go to the set every day, he had to gather his strength for two to three hours.
Patrick Swayze's last role ("The Beast")
On weekends, he went to a California hospital where he underwent aggressive chemotherapy. Swayze also trusted the new method of radiosurgery and tested an experimental medicine on himself. For some period of time there was an improvement, which Patrick informed his fans about. But in January 2009, the actor was hospitalized with pneumonia, and a couple of months later metastases were discovered in the liver.
Patrick Swayze in the last year of his life
While Swayze was in a hurry to finish his memoirs with his wife, not particularly sensitive journalists from one of the Florida radio stations posted a message on Twitter about his death. Patrick was unpleasantly surprised to discover that Wikipedia even lists the date of death as May 20th. After this, his representative Annette Wolfe issued a refutation of the speculation and rumors, saying that the actor was “alive, feeling well, enjoying his life and continuing to receive treatment.”
To stop speculation about the state of his health, Swayze gave an interview on television, where he honestly spoke about how he was struggling with the disease and how he hoped for a miraculous healing. But he immediately noticed that he was not going to cling to life at any cost just to maintain existence. Swayze failed to overcome the disease. He died on September 14, 2009 in Los Angeles. Mikhail Baryshnikov took on part of the expenses for the funeral and cremation. The actor's ashes were scattered at his beloved Happy Days Ranch in New Mexico.
Shortly before death
Memory and legacy
On October 5, 2009, a memorial to Patrick Swayze was opened on the territory of the Sony film studio. The monument is made in the shape of a white horse, the actor’s favorite animal. Lisa Swayze found family happiness with jeweler Albert DePrisco in 2014. In 2020, she released the book “It Was Worth Fighting For,” which chronicled the last two years of her life with Patrick.
Lisa Niemi got married five years later
In 2020, Swayze’s relatives criticized Lisa’s desire to auction off all the personal belongings of the deceased (things, documents, old toys, keys, wallets, etc.), and send part of the proceeds to a cancer foundation. Previously, she refused to buy out Patrick's ranch, although the actor's relatives were going to turn it into a museum. It was reported that Lisa kicked Patrick's brother and his niece out of the ranch, although they helped her care for the sick man in the last year of his life and afterward maintained order in the house.
The actor's driver's license also went under the hammer
Patrick's close friend Charlotte Stevens told reporters that in the last month of his life, the actor often called her at night and complained about Lisa. According to the woman, the wife resorted to physical violence and deliberately isolated Patrick from his loved ones. Charlotte remained silent for many years, but could not contain herself when Lisa remarried and began to talk about her “touching love and support.” We do not undertake to judge the veracity of this information.
Don Swayze, Patrick's brother, also became an actor.
In 2020, the documentary film “I Am Patrick Swayze” was released, in which his relatives, friends and colleagues remembered one of the most outstanding actors of our time.
Personal life
The actor has been married to Lisa Niemi since 1975. Patrick Swayze met his wife in 1970, when she studied dance with his mother. The couple had no children.
Patrick was a heavy smoker and did not give up the habit even after he was diagnosed with cancer. Also in the nineties, he was treated for alcoholism in a rehabilitation center and even left show business for some time because of this.
He was interested in various religious movements, in particular Buddhism, and practiced meditation. He was a licensed pilot. In his youth he practiced martial arts and had a black belt.
