JAKARTA LIFE'S STYLE
Patrick Swayze, best known for his roles in Dirty Dancing and Ghost, has died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.
Publicist Annett Wolf says the actor died this morning with his family by his side.
Swayze was diagnosed with advanced stage four pancreatic cancer in January 2008.
Medical experts had said he had only a 1 per cent chance of surviving for more than five years.
Swayze bravely fought the disease in the public eye, continuing to work despite treatment and significant weight loss.
In January, he slammed tabloid reporting of his illness in an interview with ABC America's Barbara Walters.
Swayze told Walters he had tried to keep his illness secret but went public to protect family and friends after tabloids reported he was close to death.
"Hope is a very, very fragile thing in anyone's life and the people I love do not need to have that hope robbed from them when it's unjustified and it's untrue," he said.
Memorable roles
Swayze was born in Houston, Texas, on August 18, 1952.
He was introduced to performing at an early age - his father was a champion rodeo cowboy and his mother owned a ballet studio.
In 1972, he moved from Texas to New York City for formal dance training at the prestigious Harkness and Joffrey ballet schools.
After landing the role of Danny Zuko in the Broadway production of Grease, he caught the attention of Hollywood and moved to the West Coast in the late '70s.
He had breakout roles in 1983's The Outsiders and 1984's Red Dawn, but it was 1987's Dirty Dancing that made Swayze a pop culture icon.
Swayze set teenage hearts aflutter playing swaggering dance instructor Johnny Castle opposite Jennifer Grey's Frances "Baby" Houseman.
The film became a massive box office hit, earned Golden Globe nominations for both stars and spawned the Oscar-winning hit single (I've Had) The Time Of My Life.
Swayze also co-wrote and performed the song She's Like The Wind for the movie's soundtrack, which went to number three on the US pop music charts.
In 1990, Ghost was an even bigger hit than Dirty Dancing with worldwide box office takings of more than $US505 million.
Swayze was cast as Demi Moore's deceased lover in the tear-jerker romance, which was nominated for a best film Oscar.
Whoopi Goldberg won an Academy Award for her supporting role as a spiritual medium who helps Swayze's character Sam communicate with his girlfriend from beyond the grave.
Goldberg credited Swayze with convincing director Jerry Zucker to cast her.
After Dirty Dancing and Ghost, Swayze had roles in Point Break, Donnie Darko and Green Dragon but never reached the same dizzying heights of fame again.
He admitted to battling alcoholism before moving back to Texas with his wife of 34 years, fellow dancer Lisa Niemi. The couple did not have children.
Most recently Swayze acted for five months in a TV series, The Beast.
- ABC/AFP/Reuters
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