Patrick Swayze rose to fame with his role as Johnny Castle in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, and his fans around the world were left heartbroken when he died from stage four pancreatic cancer at the age of 57 on September 14, 2009.
Abaca Press / Alamy Stock PhotoPatrick Swayze died from stage four pancreatic cancer less than two years after his initial diagnosis.
On September 14, 2009, actor and dancer Patrick Swayze lost his 20-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He passed away at his California ranch with his wife, Lisa, by his side. Swayze was 57 years old.
The news of Patrick Swayze’s death left his fans heartbroken. The charismatic movie star’s bout with cancer was brief — but brutal. Those who saw him during his illness were shocked at his appearance: Swayze’s once-muscular physique was weakened and fragile.
His breakout film was the coming-of-age drama The Outsiders. However, he was best known for his roles in the blockbusters Dirty Dancing and Ghost. Audiences couldn’t get enough of the rugged cowboy who was also a dancing phenom. He did it all, and with an endearing sensitivity that set him apart from other leading men.
Patrick Swayze’s death was a great loss to his family, to Hollywood, and to the world.
From Dancing Youth To Leading Man
Patrick Wayne Swayze was born on August 18, 1952, to a dance instructor and a rodeo cowboy. His mother enrolled him in her dance class almost as soon as he could walk. As a young boy growing up in Houston, Texas, he took his fair share of beatings from bullies over his love of ballet.
However, Swayze had plenty of his dad’s attributes, too. He loved riding horses and was even dubbed a “horse whisperer” by those who saw him interact with the creatures. There was also a certain amount of cowboy swagger that came out as Swayze grew up. The teenager put on a tough persona, and he had the reputation of being a Casanova.
Alan Light/Wikimedia CommonsPatrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi at the 1989 Academy Awards.
It was in his mother’s class at the Houston Jazz Ballet Company that Patrick Swayze met the love of his life, Lisa Niemi. She walked by and began watching the dancers through a window. Swayze’s mother invited her in to dance with them, free of charge, and the two became inseparable.
In 1972, Patrick Swayze moved to New York City to pursue his dreams, and the Eliot Feld dancing company hired him as a principal dancer. However, an old football knee injury flared up, and the following surgery, infection, and amputation scare cost him his position.
Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi got married in the summer of 1975, when she was 19 and he was 22. The following year, he began working as a stage actor and dancer. His Broadway debut was a role in Goodtime Charley. He also earned a part in West Side Story, and in 1978, he landed the role of Danny Zuko in the stage production of Grease.
Soon, the TV and movie offers started to roll in.
ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock PhotoPatrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey at the premiere of Dirty Dancing in 1987.
Swayze’s film debut was in the 1979 movie Skatetown U.S.A. Then came his breakout role in The Outsiders (1983) alongside future members of the Brat Pack. And after the 1987 blockbuster hit Dirty Dancing, Swayze was an instant celebrity and Hollywood’s hottest leading man.
Patrick Swayze’s Personal Struggles And Cancer Diagnosis
Aside from the physical setback from his knee injury, Patrick Swayze also dealt with psychological demons stemming back to his childhood. He credited his mother with instilling a strong work ethic in him, but his wife later revealed that his mom’s insistence on perfection could sometimes veer into physical abuse.
In the 2019 documentary I Am Patrick Swayze, his widow Lisa stated that Swayze’s mom “was really an example of what happens in families in a cycle of abuse… She could be very violent, but it was nothing compared to what she endured growing up and the stories I heard about what she went through with her own mother”.
Swayze privately shared that on his 18th birthday, his mother was “laying into him” before his dad told her that he would divorce her if she ever touched their son again. “She never hit him after that”, Lisa told PEOPLE.
Instagram/Lisa Niemi SwayzePatrick Swayze on his one of his horses, Tammen.
Later, Swayze tried to tame the self-esteem issues he developed due to his overbearing mother with addiction, entering rehab for alcoholism in 1997. He also smoked for 40 years, and he once admitted that he chain-smoked upwards of 60 cigarettes a day at the height of his habit.
Upon receiving his stage four pancreatic cancer diagnosis in January 2008, Swayze knew that he’d fight the battle — even though he did not expect to win the war. Advanced pancreatic cancer has a very low survival rate; just one percent of those diagnosed with stage four will live for longer than five years, according to Johns Hopkins. Swayze believed that his vices probably “had something to do with” his cancer — but he didn’t let that dull his fighting spirit.
Patrick Swayze’s Death At Home
During his final weeks, Swayze began suffering from ascites, a painful collection of fluid in the abdomen. His sudden weight loss turned his once athletic physique weak and his face gaunt.
The hospital admitted him for what was his impending death, but Swayze and his family had other ideas about what his final days should look like. His loved ones brought him home to pass away in his own bed on his horse ranch.
Lisa remembers things progressing quickly once Swayze was home. She put a white rose on his chest and brought in his favorite horse, Roh, for a final goodbye.
In her memoir, she wrote, “My last words to Patrick? ‘I love you,’ and those were his last words to me. I cherished our time alone, holding his hand, listening to music, sleeping with my arm around him, my head on his shoulder, wordlessly.”
She added, “In the quiet of Monday morning, September 14th, I looked at his face and listened to the tiny sips of air he was taking. There was something delicate, childlike about it. I knew it was time.”
Patrick Swayze died in his wife’s arms, a beautiful final bow for the couple who considered themselves soulmates.
His Larger Than Life Legacy
Even though Patrick Swayze had no children, his is a legacy of living — and loving. Besides an impressive body of work, he leaves behind the immense imprint he had on others.
Maximum Film / Alamy Stock PhotoPatrick Swayze in Road House (1989).
“Patrick lived a hundred lifetimes in one,” said Rob Lowe, who appeared alongside Swayze in The Outsiders, as reported by PEOPLE. “I will remember him for that, and I will remember him for how much he loved his wife Lisa. He was such an intense actor, so full of passion and vigor. He definitely made the most out of it. It’s a sad day.”
“Patrick was a really good man, a funny man and one to whom I owe much that I can’t ever repay,” stated Whoopi Goldberg, who starred with Swayze in Ghost. “I believe in Ghost’s message, so he’ll always be near.”
Lisa, now remarried, also believes this to be true, and she knows one day they’ll be reunited. “Yeah. He’ll be waiting for me,” she said. “And that’s a wonderful thing.”
After reading about the death of Patrick Swayze, check out these vintage photos of Hollywood’s forgotten celebrity couples. Then, have a laugh at these nostalgic and often cringeworthy photos from the 1980s.
