Patrick Swayze dead at 57

by RebStew September 15th 2009, 8:40 am

This stinks. He was a good actor..

Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," publicist Annett Wolf said in a statement.

Swayze became one of Hollywood's top stars with 1987's "Dirty Dancing," which defied Hollywood expectations to become one of the most-watched movies of all time.

Swayze was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly forms of the disease, in January 2008. He said at the time that the cancer had already spread to his liver.

But he vowed to fight the disease and had treatment with an experimental drug, surprising Hollywood by filming a new detective series for television called "The Beast" in which he played the grueling lead role.

The series was broadcast earlier this year.

"I think everybody thought I was out of my mind ... thinking I'm gonna pull off a TV show," Swayze said in an interview in January 2009, adding that he was scared and angry at his diagnosis.

Swayze was working on a memoir with his wife of more than 30 years, Lisa Niemi, earlier this year.