Patrick Swayze: Gone far too young

Patrick Swayze in the 1987 movie "Dirty Dancing".

Source: https://madlyodd.com/28-years-ago-this-dance-scene-left-the-audience-out-of-breath-do-you-remember-it/

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He may have sung “She’s like the Wind”, but when Patrick Swayze danced, he moved like the wind. His dance scenes in “Dirty Dancing” were absolutely breathtaking.

That was just part of a period in his career he could do no wrong. Swayze produced a string of hits from the 1970s through the 1990s that not only have stood the test of time, but are being remade.

I saw just today, the latest movie to be remade is “Ghost”.

It reminded me of a time when Patrick Swayze was a dancer and a singer in addition to being an actor.

The years before
Patrick Swayze’s first role was in a film called “Skatetown, U.S.A.” in 1979. He was also on television in 1980 with a small role in “The Comeback Kid”, starring John Ritter and Susan Dey.

In 1981, he was in an episode of “M*A*S*H”, playing a private who has minor injuries. However, it is discovered through the course of treatment he has leukemia. That same year Swayze also appeared in another TV movie called “Return of the Rebels”.

Within two years, Patrick Swayze’s career would really get rolling, as three major projects all came out in 1983.

Gang banger
Patrick Swayze appeared in “The Outsiders”, a big screen movie about two rival gangs in rural Oklahoma who come into conflict. The movie is well known for all the up-and-coming actors in it such as Swayze; Rob Lowe; Ralph Macchio; C. Thomas Howell; Matt Dillon; Emilio Estevez; Tom Cruise; Leif Garrett; and Diane Lane.

Swayze cultivated that rebel look back in “Return of the Rebels”. There he played the leader of a bunch of young punks terrorizing a campground. It is owned by a former member of a biker gang who calls up her old gang to run off the young punks.

Consequently, he appeared in “The Renegades”. It was a TV series about a street gang that becomes an undercover unit of the police to avoid jail time. Swayze plays “Bandit”, the leader of the Renegades.

My fondest memory of “The Renegades” was watching it at my friend Mike Hartman’s during a sleep over in Grade 8. He had cable TV, and I was so excited because I read about “The Renegades” in “TV Guide” but, sadly, it wasn’t on peasant vision.

“The Renegades” also starred Tracy Scoggins in the pilot; James Luisi, best known as Jim Rockford’s nemesis in “The Rockford Files”; and Kurtwood Smith, who would go on to play Red in “That ‘70s Show”.

Sadly, “The Renegades” only lasted six episodes, which I could only hear about at school from Hartman.

Back to ‘nam
Swayze also appeared in another movie in 1983, where he played a rebel of another kind. In “Uncommon Valor”, Gene Hackman plays a man who believes his son, who was missing in action in Vietnam, is alive and in a prison camp along with other captured soldiers. He assembles a group of men, who served with his son, to go back and rescue him. Swayze plays a current serviceman, who Hackman invites along. The other guys ask why he’s joining. Hackman tells them this serviceman’s dad, who is also listed as missing in action, may be in that camp as well.

It was a great movie, that I need to see again.

Incidentally, when my sister and I went to the theatre, there were two movies we wanted to see – “Uncommon Valor” and “Terms of Endearment”. I still haven’t seen “Terms of Endearment”.

Red scare
Patrick Swayze appeared in two more movies in 1984. In “Grandview, USA”, Wikipedia reveals the movie is about the owner of a demolition derby, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. She has an affair with a teenager, played by C. Thomas Howell, and a married driver, played by Swayze.

Then, Swayze and Howell were together again, along with Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson and Jennifer Grey in “Red Dawn”. They play a group of teenage guerillas in a United States that is invaded by Soviet forces.

Taking to the ice
In 1986, Swayze appeared alongside Rob Lowe in a hockey movie called “Youngblood”. Swayze played Derek Sutton, the captain of the Hamilton Mustangs hockey team, mentoring Dean Youngblood, played by Lowe. It also starred Holly Gibb who would star in the TV version of “Fame”

Seeing this movie was an adventure. I first read about “Youngblood” in “Marquee”. That was the magazine that used to be free at movie theatres promoting coming attractions. Then, in the winter of 1986, I saw an ad on TV that “Youngblood” was part of a sneak peak double feature with “Stitches” for one night only. I convinced my friend and neighbour Mat to go see it. As he drove us to Lethbridge, the road conditions were not great, and I was beginning to feel bad. We made it to the Paramount Theatre in Lethbridge, only to discover it was sold out. That may have been my first experience with karma.

Eventually, I saw it about six months later when me and my best friend Chris Vining rented it one Friday night.

Going south
Amidst his burgeoning movie career, Swayze did two projects for television. In 1985, he appeared in an episode of “Amazing Stories”, an anthology TV series produced by Steven Spielberg.

Then, Swayze starred as Orry Main in “North and South”, a television miniseries in 1985 based on the sweeping novel written by John Jakes. The story focuses on Orry Main and George Hazard, played by James Read, who meet at West Point military academy and become best friends. However, Orry is from the South and George from the North. With the American Civil War brewing, their loyalties are divided.

I was glued to the TV for “North and South”, which aired in 1985, and “North and South, Book II”, which concluded the saga in 1986.

I do recall joking that Swayze’s shock of long, thick, feathered hair looked a bit modern for a Civil War series.

Actor, dancer, singer
Swayze catapulted to super stardom in 1987 with “Dirty Dancing”. He not only showed he could act, but he could dance. It tells the story of a shy girl, played by Jennifer Grey. She is brought out of her shell one special summer at a vacation resort by a dance instructor, played by Swayze.

The role earned Swayze a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Swayze also recorded “She’s Like the Wind”. It was the third hit single from the ”Dirty Dancing” soundtrack, after “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, and “Hungry Eyes” by Eric Carmen. It was a brooding ballad that went all the way to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Bouncer extraordinaire
Swayze closed out the decade appearing in “Road House” in 1989 with Sam Elliott and Jeff Healey. Swayze is excellent as a bouncer who goes to work at a roadside bar to protect the denizens of a small town from a crooked businessman.

I actually just saw this movie a few months ago after seeing the re-make. The original, and Swayze, are much better.

The years after
Swayze’s career just took off after “Dirty Dancing” and “Road House”. He had another blockbuster role in 1990 with “Ghost”, then another hit with “Point Break” in 1991, opposite a young Keanu Reeves. He had yet another hit in 1995 with “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.” He was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for both “Ghost” and “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.”

Beyond that, he kept appearing in movies, and TV shows. His final role was as a cop in “The Beast” in 2009, which was critically acclaimed.

Patrick Swayze died in 2009.

He was 57 years old.

Parting thoughts
I always liked Patrick Swayze’s style, with that slight southern drawl, and the laser focus he had whether dancing, aiming a gun, or kicking someone out of a bar.

A few years ago, I read his autobiography and found out he was a devoted family man too.

You put all this together, and it just makes his passing even more tragic.

Patrick Swayze really was gone far too young.