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Patrick Wayne Swayze (born August 18, 1952) is an American dancer, actor, singer and songwriter.

Biography

Early life

Swayze was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Jesse Wayne Swayze and choreographer and ballet school owner Patricia Yvonne Helen Karnes. His brother, Don Swayze, is also an actor. Swayze attended Oak Forest Elementary School, Black Middle School, and Waltrip High School in Houston. There, he also lived in the Oak Forest area most of his life. Swayze formally trained at the Harkness and Joffrey Ballet Schools in New York City.

Career

His first professional appearance was as a dancer for Disney on Parade, then in the Broadway production of Grease, before his debut film role as Ace in Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979). He also appeared in the M*A*S*H episode Blood Brothers.

He is memorable for his roles in the popular films Dirty Dancing where he wrote and composed the hit song She's Like the Wind) (1987), Ghost (1990), and Point Break (1991). He also appeared in Red Dawn (1984), Road House (1989), Black Dog (1998), and Donnie Darko (2001). He is also famous for the North and South miniseries. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004), a quasi-sequel to Dirty Dancing, had Swayze cast as a dance instructor in a cameo.

Swayze received Golden Globe Award nominations for his roles in Dirty Dancing, Ghost and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995). He is currently starring as Nathan Detroit in the London production of Guys and Dolls.

Personal life

Patrick Swayze has been married to Lisa Niemi since 1975. The couple has been together since Lisa, at 15, began dance lessons with Patsy Swayze, Patrick's mother. The couple own a five-acre ranch in California called "Rancho Bizarro".

His father died of alcohol-related issues, and Swayze attended a clinic to overcome his own alcoholism after his sister Vicky committed suicide in 1994 using pain killers http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=370048&in_page_id=1773&in_a_source=&ct=5. After initial recovery, he retreated to his ranches in California and New Mexico to breed Arabian horses. His best-known horse was the late Tammen, a chestnut Arabian stallion. He also became very spiritual, and is known for his faith in the healing power of crystals - his favorite colors include blue, teal, burgundy, earthtones and faded black. Brought up Roman Catholic, is also a former Baptist, Buddhist, and Scientologist.

A qualified pilot, in 2000 he was flying solo in his twin-engine Cessna from California to Las Vegas when it developed a mechanical problem. Swayze made a precautionary landing on a dirt road near a housing complex in Prescott Valley in northern Arizona. When local fire department and sheriff's department officials arrived they said the plane had a damaged wing, and they could find no one. It later emerged that Swayze had hitched a ride from a passing vehicle and was taken to a nearby house, where he telephoned the authorities.

Trailer Park Boys' Julian is sometimes called Patrick Swayze due to the very slight resemblance. In the episode "Conky', Julian resorts to destroying a puppet's head with his gun after the comment.

Selected filmography

Trivia

• It is a common expression in hip hop songs to use the expression "...and I'm Swayze," meaning after the speaker has done something he is "like a ghost" meaning he is gone, a reference to the title character of Swayze's 1990 film Ghost. This was first done by EPMD http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=5193 in the early 90's on various songs, and more recently by The Notorious B.I.G. in the song Runnin' (Dying to Live) on the Tupac: Resurrection album, and by Aesop Rock on his song Zodiaccupuncture on Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives. The expression has become such a hip hop staple, that it was even used in the SNL hip hop parody, Lazy Sunday.
• In the hyphy song Ghost Ride It by Mistah Fab, a part in the song says ..."Whose that driving? It Patrick Swayze!"

References

External links

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