Patrick Swayze

With his hunky looks and dancer’s grace, Patrick Swayze appeared in nearly three dozen films, often as a powerful yet tender leading man. “Even when playing a tough guy,” said People.com, he could convince audiences that “his character was actually kind, sensitive, and maybe even hurting.”

Swayze was born in Houston to an engineer father and choreographer mother, who “taught him to dance at an early age,” said the Los Angeles Times. He also studied at the Joffrey Ballet and later joined the Eliot Feld Ballet Company, but in 1976 “a knee injury from his high school football days flared up, ending his dance career.” So he turned to acting and, after performing the lead role of Danny Zuko in Grease on Broadway, began appearing in films, including Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders (1983) and John Milius’ cautionary Cold War tale Red Dawn (1984).

Swayze broke through with Dirty Dancing (1987), a “sexual-awakening story” that became a sleeper hit, said MSNBC.com. As bad-boy dancer Johnny Castle, he was the sensual yet “non-threatening first love” of Frances “Baby” Houseman, played by Jennifer Grey. “Instead of appearing in any way predatory, Swayze came off as lonely and a little sad.” And his signature line, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” became a 1980s catchphrase. Swayze followed up with Ghost (1990), playing a murdered investment banker whose spirit returns to earth to help solve his killing and protect his girlfriend (Demi Moore). He was nominated for Golden Globes for both movies.

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“Swayze’s career tapered off toward the end of the 1990s, when he went to rehab for alcohol abuse,” said the Associated Press. Last March, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; he used his remaining time to press for increased funding and research to fight the disease. “I dream that the word ‘cure,’” he said last September, “will no longer be followed by the words ‘is impossible.’” His wife of 34 years, Lisa, survives him. His last project before his death was The Beast, an A&E drama series.