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Patrick Swayze’s tragic death from pancreatic cancer this week was felt across the movie community, by fans and non-fans alike. Swayze had been heroically fighting the illness in stage IV for a year and a half, surviving much longer than people often do. His courage in battling cancer was admirable, and his legacy as an actor will remain along with his legacy as a fighter.
Swayze began his career with Brat Pack-ers Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film “The Outsiders.” But he was best known for his roles as a sexy dance instructor in “Dirty Dancing” (1987) and as a devoted boyfriend helping to solve his own murder from beyond the grave in “Ghost” (1990). Swayze was nominated for three Golden Globes over the course of his career, and is also credited with writing and performing the song “She’s Like the Wind” for the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack.
