Patrick Swayze fans get behind his best films 10 years after his death as Aussie stars join The Real Dirty Dancing
From Dirty Dancing to channelling ghosts, fans of Patrick Swayze have got behind a TV revival of his life’s work — sending the late actor’s most popular movies back to the top of the charts.
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Exclusive: To his family and closest acting friends, Patrick Swayze was known simply as ‘Buddy.’
It was the nickname of his rancher father, Jesse Wayne Swayze and as the eldest son, Patrick would inherit the moniker and make it a name for himself.
The charismatic star of international blockbusters, including Dirty Dancing, Ghost and Point Break, had a lot to live up to when it came to his macho Texan dad — not least trying to impress upon him that he was all man, in between ballet lessons with his dance instructor and stage mum, Patsy.
Tragically, the father and son would have something in common that bonded them in life and death — dying too young, at the same age of 57.
Swayze senior’s death pulled the rug on his son’s climb up the celebrity ladder, robbing him of the purpose to impress and inspire his father in all he was able to achieve.
But, as is celebrated in the stunning documentary about his life, I Am Patrick Swayze, the actor’s film legacy and some of his most famous roles carried an echo of his devotion to his dad — living on 10 years today after his death to pancreatic cancer.
Taking fans back to where it all began for Swayze, his on-screen swagger and raw sex appeal were hard to miss at the start.
It was 1979 and a shirt-less Swayze was roller-skating his way into the hearts of teenage girls and casting directors everywhere, in his breakthrough role in Skatetown USA.
The critics went wild for him too, with his physicality and dance moves drawing comparisons to John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
His agent, Nicole David saw him on screen and his future as a superstar was clear in her eyes.
“I could tell after Skatetown USA that Patrick was a star. I knew I had something special … I just didn’t know how special,” she would say.
For wife, Lisa Niemi, who began dating Swayze when they were both young ballet dancers in Houston, the movie’s success convinced her his talent could take them all the way to Hollywood, California.
But Swayze had his own plans, a mind map of the career he wanted and the lasting impression he wanted to make.
Knocking back a multi-movie deal with Columbia Pictures seemed madness to those who knew the young couple were desperate for money and “really broke”.
As he explains in archival footage, “I knew that something would happen or I would turn into a teen idol and be a flash in the pan and be out of here in five minutes; so I turned it all down and buried myself back into acting classes.”
That quiet determination to be respected for his craft, not his looks, served him well — winning him the coveted role as older, wiser brother Daryl in Francis Ford Coppola’s coming-of-age classic, The Outsiders.
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He knew how to play the alpha male and while his co-stars — including Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez — may have arrived with bigger cache, he ruled the roost, Lowe remembers with his “big dick energy.”
The film’s critical acclaim and box office success came too late for Buddy senior, who dropped dead suddenly of a heart attack, after a lifetime of drinking and smoking, his surviving son and fellow actor, Don Swayze says.
“Now that my dad was gone, I don’t think Patrick knew what to do with it [grief].”
Instead of learning from his dad’s mistakes, Don says his famous brother took the same fatal path to alcoholism and the cancer which cut his own life short.
On the flip side, Patrick could channel his brooding and broken heart into roles that made him a star — downtrodden dancer, Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing; and the dead husband of Demi Moore, in 1990 hit, Ghost.
In one of the most famous scenes from the latter — before his character Sam Wheat is murdered by an unscrupulous friend — his fears mirror those Swayze himself felt in his own life: “whenever anything good in my life happens, I’m just afraid I’m going to lose it.”
His wife could vouch for the same vulnerability in her husband, forever feeling the void left by his father, which he attempted to fill with alcohol.
His drinking problems would deepen as his career on screen took off, with Lisa secretly leaving him for a year when it became clear to her “someone’s going to die here … it was going to be him or me.”
They would reunite just before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer — calling on all his fighting spirit to survive, she says.
“He always played heroes in his movies … the cape, the sword and the horse. But he showed himself to truly be a hero [fighting cancer]. I just saw the most incredible man, the best of himself that I saw.”
THE TIME OF OUR LIVES
The anniversary of Swayze’s death has ignited a renaissance of his big screen back catalogue — with no greater revival than Dirty Dancing.
The 1988 blockbuster was a teen phenomenon, making Swayze a pin-up as sexy dance instructor Johnny Castle, who falls for dorky do-gooder, ‘Baby’ (Jennifer Grey) Houseman, when her family holiday at a PG-rated camp, Kellerman’s.
The soundtrack for the movie packed plenty of hits, including a number one for Swayze, who won hearts with his moody crooning, She’s Like The Wind.
Netflix has seen the cult classic spike in popularity for streamers, while Channel 7 has embraced the Dirty Dancing fever to commission its own reality series.
Jessica Rowe, Firass Dirani, Jamie Durie and The Bachelor favourite, Anna Heinrich all compete to learn the moves made famous in the film, in The Real Dirty Dancing.
Seven’s programming boss Angus Ross said: “There are many reasons for the enduring popularity of Dirty Dancing, and right up there is Patrick Swayze’s swagger, sex appeal and charm. Not to mention those hips!”
“We’re thrilled to celebrate this iconic movie with our new event series, The Real Dirty Dancing — a thoroughly entertaining and joyous trip down memory lane, as our eight celebs take on the real dance moves at the real locations.”
* I Am Patrick Swayze, 9pm, Tuesday September 24; Dirty Dancing, 8.30pm, Friday September 27; and The Real Dirty Dancing, from 7.30pm, Monday September 30, all on Seven.