Patrick Swayze

Swayze was born on August 18, 1952 in Houston, Texas, the son of Patricia "Patsy" Yvonne Helen (née Karnes) (born 1927)—a choreographer, dance instructor, and dancer—and Jesse Wayne Swayze, an engineering drafter. He has two younger brothers, actor Don and Sean Kyle (born October 13, 1962), and two sisters, Vicky Lynn and Bambi, who were adopted into the family. Although the surname "Swayze" is of Welsh origin, his line is mainly Irish and rumored Apache descent.

Swayze's breakthrough role came with his performance as dance instructor Johnny Castle in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, alongside his Red Dawn costar, Jennifer Grey. Dirty Dancing was a low-budget project that was intended to be shown in theaters for one weekend only and then go straight to video, but it became a surprise hit and achieved massive international success.

It was the first film to sell one million copies on video, and as of 2007, has earned over US$ 300-million worldwide and spawned several alternate versions, ranging from a television series to stage productions to a computer game. Swayze received a Golden Globe Award nomination for the role and also sang one of the songs on the soundtrack, "She's Like the Wind," which he had originally cowritten with Stacy Widelitz for the film Grandview, U.S.A. The song became a top ten hit and has been covered by other artists, such as David Hasselhoff, and in 2006 was converted into a hip-hop version by Lumidee, who took it to the top of the charts in Germany.

Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late January 2008 and passed away on 14th September, 2009.