American actor, dancer, singer, and songwriter Patrick Swayze is remembered for his leading roles in films such as “Road House,” “Point Break,” and many more. Swayze was known for his handsome features and was considered a heartthrob. He was named People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” in 1991.
In 1952, Swayze was born in Houston, Texas, and lived there until he was 20. His mother was Patsy Swayze, a choreographer and dance instructor. The talented actor studied classical ballet as well as martial arts while in high school. He also played football until he suffered a knee injury that forced him to stop.
The star began his entertainment career as a dancer and went on to perform on Broadway before gracing the silver screen. He received many accolades for his acting, including three Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical. In 1997, Swayze was honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
It’s hard to believe that this legendary actor passed away more than a decade ago. A star even before “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost,” Swayze will forever be in our hearts. Unfortunately, Swayze died on Sept. 14, 2009, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. His loving wife of 34 years, Lisa Niemi, was by his side the entire time.
The couple met when they were teenagers and got married in 1975. This was four years before Swayze made his film debut in a roller disco film known as “Skatetown, USA.” The lovebirds were together until Swayze passed away. However, in 2014, Niemi took a “leap of faith” and remarried. In an interview in the same year, Niemi confessed that Swayze communicated with her through a dream.
Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi (1993), (IMAGO/Everett Collection)
Swayze married Niemi in June 1975 and became one of the most enduring couples in Hollywood at the time.
Sadly, there came a time when the grief was too much for Swayze – his father and sister died while Niemi suffered a miscarriage. Heartbroken, Swayze’s bodyguard said in a New Idea interview in 2019 that the actor “wanted to be a dad more than anything.” In a Closer Magazine interview back then, Swayze said that he was “born to be a dad,” highlighting his distress on Niemi’s miscarriage in 1990.
Thankfully, they moved past that and went on to become childless. Legendary television host Barbara Walters described the couple’s relationship as “extraordinary.”
“The way he looked at her, the way he held on to her, the way she smiled., I can’t really imagine one without the other,” Walters said.
However, on New Year’s Eve 2008, Swayze experienced something he never experienced before.
“I tried to have champagne… and it would be like pouring acid, you know, on an open wound, and then my indigestion issues got gigantic and constant, and then I started thinkin’, ‘I’m gettin’ skinny,’” he explained to Walters, as quoted by Access in 2009.
Then, Swayze dropped 20 pounds instantly. Eventually, Swayze was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Niemi talked to Entertainment Tonight about how awful it was to watch her husband fight the disease.
“It’s the worst thing in the world to go through, you spend every day fighting for that person’s life,” she said. “I know that he spent every day fighting for his own … He survived 22 months, which was miraculous with the diagnosis that he received.”
