Following the recent loss to Hollywood of Patrick Swayze I felt compelled to take a trip down memory or should I say Swayze lane. Patrick Swayze who fell ill with pancreatic cancer at the end of 2007, continued working even once he fell ill, demonstrating his commitment and enthusiasm to his acting career.
During his last days he co-wrote a biography "The Time of My Life" with his wife of 35 years Lisa Niemi in which he had criticized fellow actress Jennifer Grey’s behaviour during the filming of his most famous screen appearance Dirty Dancing. The Time of My Life is due to be released this week.
I wrote last month about the remake of one of my favourite films Red Dawn in which Patrick Swayze played a starring role, I’m sure we’ll hear more of the remake and Swayze when the film is released and performance comparisons are likely to be made. My only hope is that the remake will be similar to that of Michael Caine’s The Italian Job where direct comparisons cannot be made, otherwise I feel it unlikely that any newcomer can win out.
I remember Patrick Swayze’s career blooming following the making of Dirty Dancing and those are really the days for which I will remember him most. Of course it was by no means Swayze’s first release, he had acted in several films prior to Dirty Dancing in the eighties including;
- The Outsiders – 1983
- Uncommon Valor – 1983
- Red Dawn – 1984
- Young Blood – 1986
Of course then Dirty Dancing came along and after its release in 1987 it felt like an eternity until we next saw Swayze on the big screen starring in Road House (1989).
Road House did it for me; At the time I had a small vending machine business and frequented pubs and night clubs daily installing, filling and emptying my machines and I guess I probably knew most of the "bouncers" in my small city quite well, so it was an apt movie at the time, and one which I could really relate to the characters. Naturally, I therefore became an instant fan.
The next three films in Patrick Swayze’s portfolio were the last three that I will really remember him for; Next of Kin released in 1989, Ghost in 1990 and Point Break in 1991 were the next 3 films in which Swayze played leading roles. It was a good time to be a movie goer and these were the days when movies could be watched effortlessly time and time again, each time one could find something different to relish and talk about at the post matinee walk to the car.
This is when I lost track of Patrick Swayze’s movies and I do wonder what I must have been doing at the time to make that transition from several films a week movie goer to the occasional video watcher. I guess I was growing up and becoming a more career orientated individual with the unfortunate lack of social life that following such antics causes.
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I have never again since really taken on that mantle of movie buff, and except for those "one off" showstoppers that drive every man with a loose note in his wallet to the cinema, I have more often than not waited for their release on video or DVD, which for the UK can often be an age after the US have already seen, discussed and discarded the sequel!
As far as I can work out,
Patrick Swayze’s acting career spanned over quarter of a century, perhaps even longer and I am embarrassed to say that whilst I thought I was a big fan, it appears I have only watched a handful of the 30+ movies in which he played major roles.
I hope that if Swayze is looking down on us today that he will be happy to know that whilst he kept us spellbound in his own lifetime, for this moviegoer I am likely to see more of him after his life ended as I catch up on those 20 or so titles that I missed along the way.
Patrick Swayze – R.I.P.
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