Patrick Swayze: A Tribute
We were very saddened to hear the news that actor Patrick Swayze died today after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. No matter how you measure these things, he died much too young. He was many things to many people thanks to a variety of roles in a number of cult movie faves. Of course as is always the case with departed stars he'll be forever young up on the screen.
For many people they'll remember him in Dirty Dancing as Johnny Castle, the dance instructor who woos the privileged Jennifer Grey at a summer resort. He got to show off his dancing skills and deliver the oft-quoted line "no one puts Baby in the corner" . To others he'll be Sam, the dead husband of Demi Moore in Ghost. The movie had the potential to be laughable and at times was. But thanks to Swayze's efforts he got the filmmakers to hire Whoopi Goldberg and give the movie necessary comic relief.
Maybe you'll think of him in Point Break, where he played the bank robber/surfer Bodhi whose gang gets infiltrated by FBI agent Keanu Reeves. Perhaps memories of Swayze will remind you of Vida Boheme, the diva drag queen on the road with two other drag queens played by John Leguziamo & Wesley Smipes in To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar. Or maybe you'll recall Donnie Darko where he was the creepy evangelist and secret pedophile Jim Cunningham.
In these and other roles on TV, movies, & the stage Patrick Swayze made a lasting impression. That is something that so many try to achieve and so few do.
For many people they'll remember him in Dirty Dancing as Johnny Castle, the dance instructor who woos the privileged Jennifer Grey at a summer resort. He got to show off his dancing skills and deliver the oft-quoted line "no one puts Baby in the corner" . To others he'll be Sam, the dead husband of Demi Moore in Ghost. The movie had the potential to be laughable and at times was. But thanks to Swayze's efforts he got the filmmakers to hire Whoopi Goldberg and give the movie necessary comic relief.
Maybe you'll think of him in Point Break, where he played the bank robber/surfer Bodhi whose gang gets infiltrated by FBI agent Keanu Reeves. Perhaps memories of Swayze will remind you of Vida Boheme, the diva drag queen on the road with two other drag queens played by John Leguziamo & Wesley Smipes in To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar. Or maybe you'll recall Donnie Darko where he was the creepy evangelist and secret pedophile Jim Cunningham.
In these and other roles on TV, movies, & the stage Patrick Swayze made a lasting impression. That is something that so many try to achieve and so few do.
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