The short and bright path of Patrick Swayze: What caused the premature departure of the Hollywood star

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

He was allotted only 57 years of life, but during this time the actor and dancer Patrick Swayze managed to do a lot. In the 1980s-1990s. he became the idol of millions of viewers after the release of the films "Dirty Dancing", "Ghost", "On the Crest of a Wave". Thousands of fans were looking for meetings with him, but he spent 34 years with one woman whom he fell in love with in his youth, earning the reputation of the most famous Hollywood monogamous man. Their marriage was called ideal, although each of them had their own skeletons in the closet, and the last years for both became a living hell …

His path was predetermined from birth - Patrick Swayze's mother was a choreographer and taught at a private ballet school, and his son danced from childhood. Classmates teased him as a mama's boy and ridiculed him for studying at a ballet school. Then Patrick also began to go to martial arts school, where he soon received a black belt in kung fu. Since then, no one dared to mock him. Later in an interview, Swayze said: "".

In 1972, Patrick Swayze set out to conquer New York - there he took part in ballet performances and musicals for 7 years, performing on the same stage with the legendary Mikhail Baryshnikov. But when Swayze became the leading dancer of the troupe, he had to put an end to his dance career. The cause was a kneecap injury, due to which he underwent several operations. After that, a return to ballet became impossible, and Patrick Swayze enrolled in acting classes.

In 1979, Patrick Swayze moved to Los Angeles, but his acting talents were not immediately noticed. At first he had to work in a factory, as a salesman in a store, as a carpenter, until one day he starred in an advertisement. After that, directors drew attention to him, and they began to offer him cameo roles in films.

He was often offered the role of dancers, but Swayze dreamed of proving to everyone that he was a talented actor. He refused many works, expecting worthwhile interesting roles. His finest hour came in 1987, when the 35-year-old actor starred in the film Dirty Dancing. At first, he reacted to this proposal with great doubt - he again had to play a dancer, and the script seemed to him frankly weak. Even the filmmakers did not expect the simple love story of a high society girl and a dancer entertaining wealthy tourists in a resort town to become a hit, gross over $ 200 million worldwide and bring incredible popularity to the actors who played the main roles.

This film was so popular among women that it even became known as "Star Wars for Girls", and Patrick Swayze had thousands of female fans who followed him everywhere. For this role, he received his first Golden Globe nomination. Later, the actor admitted: "". After that, new proposals poured in one after another.

Despite the fact that the actor enjoyed great success with women, he remained a monogamous person all his life. While still at the ballet school, he met the dancer Lisa Niemi. At that time he was 19 years old, and she was only 15. After 3 years they got married and did not part until the end of his days. The actor said about his chosen one: "".

Their family happiness was not cloudless - the couple did not have children, and Patrick was very worried about this. After his wife's second unsuccessful pregnancy, he began to drink. During this period, his father died, the loss of which he experienced very hard. And Swayze broke off and went into a binge. In the early 1980s, when he was not yet a sought-after actor, the most difficult times came for him. Patrick Swayze later said about this: "". His wife, who always remained by his side, helped him cope with alcohol addiction.

Many doubted that Patrick Swayze would be able to repeat his success after Dirty Dancing. However, in 1990 he succeeded - the main role in the film "Ghost" became a triumphant one for him. And the peak of Patrick Swayze's Hollywood film career was the next year's On the Crest of the Wave, a film about a gang of surfers robbing banks wearing masks of American presidents. In this film, as in many others, the actor performed all the most difficult stunts on his own.

Later, the actor said: "". But the image created in the movie "On the Crest of the Wave" earned Patrick Swayze the title of "Sexiest Man on the Planet" according to the magazine "People".

While performing stunts, the actor often risked his life, and sometimes this turned into serious health problems. On the set of Killer's Letters in 1997, Patrick Swayze fell off his horse and broke both legs. The recovery was long, but after that he was able to walk and even dance again. And he even continued to practice horse riding and breeding horses on his California ranch.

In 2008, Patrick Swayze's doctor, with his permission, made a statement about the actor's cancer. It seemed to him necessary because of the numerous rumors spread about him in the press, and photos that frightened fans - in recent years, Swayze has changed beyond recognition, having lost a lot of weight and age. He underwent a course of chemotherapy, after which he seemed to be on the mend. But in 2009, the actor again went to the hospital with pneumonia, and during the examination he was found to have metastases. On September 14, 2009 he was gone.

A few years ago, a scandal erupted in the press: Patrick Swayze's childhood friend Charlotte Stevens said that in recent years he was subjected to domestic violence by his wife, who allegedly beat him and did not allow him to communicate with his family. Of course, Lisa Niemi herself denied these rumors. And in 2017, they started talking about her again: the widow, who by that time had married again, was going to auction off all the personal belongings of her ex-husband. Her decision caused an ambiguous reaction: the actor's relatives were outraged by this act and accused her of greed, and she herself explained it this way: "".

The premature departure of the actor was a big shock for his co-star Jennifer Gray, who has rarely been seen on the screens lately: What ruined the film career of the Dirty Dancing star.