The Biography Channel - Patrick Swayze Biography

The lucky man with the clay and Demi Moore in 'Ghost' once shone with an NY ballet company. As the dancing got dirtier, so did life - drink and drugs took their toll.

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Patrick Swayze
born: 18-08-1952
birth place: Texas, USA

The son of dancer and choreographer Patsy Swayze, Patrick was a professional dancer who trained with prestigious dance troupes, and was the principal dancer in the Eliot Feld company.

In high school, Swayze was a talented football player and gymnast, and won an athletic scholarship to college, however, recurring knee problems from an old football injury turned Swayze toward acting.

The actor got his first big break, playing Danny, in the Broadway version of 'Grease'. His stage success led him to Hollywood, where he made his film debut in 'Skatetown, U.S.A.', in 1979.

Swayze went on to play supporting roles on various TV series and in made-for-television movies, all of which usually cast him as a teenage juvenile delinquent.

In 1983, Swayze joined fellow fledgling 1980s stars, in Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Outsiders', but did not have his true breakthrough until he starred opposite Jennifer Grey in the smash hit, 'Dirty Dancing', in 1987. The film rewarded him with bona fide heartthrob status and established him as one of the late 1980s new screen icons.

Swayze's next few films were of uneven quality (e.g. 'Roadhouse'), but in 1990, the actor again struck gold, starring opposite Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg in 'Ghost', a romantic drama that proved to be the highest-grossing film of the year.

He found more success the following year with a starring role as a surfing guru/bank robber, opposite G-man Keanu Reeves, in 'Point Break', but Swayze's subsequent film appearances throughout the 1990s were sporadic.

In 1996, Swayze was seriously injured when he fell from a horse and hit a tree while filming Letters From A Killer. Both of his legs were broken, and he suffered four detached tendons in his shoulder. Filming was suspended for two months, but the film finally aired in 1999.

Swayze recovered from his injuries, but had trouble finding work until 2000, when he co-starred in Waking Up in Reno with Billy Bob Thornton and Charlize Theron, and Forever Lulu with Melanie Griffith.