Patrick Swayze lost his two year battle with pancreatic cancer last night, passing away “peacefully” whilst surrounded by his family at his home in Houston. He was 57.

As most have attested, there was two Patrick Swayze’s, both equally as compelling as the other. In my personal experience – there was the Swayze my mum fell in love with, the lean built and tough guy dancing instructor Johnny Castle from Dirty Dancing or the murdered Sam Wheat in Ghost, who just wanted to communicate with his lover from the grave.

For me, Swayze will always be the cover guy of the two VHS movies that were always on the top of my mum’s video pile next to our old t.v. I always fondly remember a bus journey to Spain in 1992 when Ghost screened on the coach ride, and I remember her in floods of tears.

Then there’s the one I enjoyed from Road House, Point Break and Red Dawn. A man’s man, the often no-nonsense taking Swayze, the coolest guy on screen for a big run in the 80’s. He kind of took over where John Travolta left off, bursting onto the scene when Travolta started to fade in 1983. His first movie was Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders, the same landmark which also gave us Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe for the first time.

My favourite late career Swayze was his role as the paedophile motivational speaker Jim Cunningham in Donnie Darko.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian has the best write up piece on Swayze so far.

DIRTY DANCING – THE TIME OF MY LIFE

GHOST

ROADHOUSE

Filmography