Short Biography

Patrick Wayne Swayze (born August 18, 1952) is an American dancer, actor, singer and songwriter. His breakthrough role was as the dance instructor in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, and he also had a hit with the 1990 film Ghost.

Early life
Patrick Wayne Swayze was born in Houston, Texas to Jesse Wayne Swayze and choreographer and ballet school owner Patsy Swayze. According to his website, he is part Apache. His brother, Don Swayze, is also an actor. Swayze attended St Rose of Lima Catholic School, Oak Forest Elementary School, Black Middle School, and Waltrip High School in Houston. For most of his life, he lived in the Oak Forest area. His formal dance training was at the Harkness Ballet and Joffrey Ballet Schools in New York City.

Personal life
Swayze has been married to Lisa Niemi since 1975. The couple have been together since Lisa, at 15, began dance lessons with Swayze`s mother.

His father died of a heart attack. Swayze attended a clinic to overcome alcoholism after his sister Vicky passed away. After initial recovery, he retreated to his ranches in California and New Mexico to breed Arabian horses. His best-known horse was the late Tammen, a chestnut Arabian stallion. He also follows several spiritual traditions. Brought up a Roman Catholic, he has also studied Bahá`í, Buddhism, and Scientology.

Career
Swayze`s first professional appearance was as a dancer for Disney on Parade, then in the Broadway production of Grease, before his debut film role as Ace in Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979). He also appeared in the M*A*S*H episode "Blood Brothers" (Episode 9.18, 6 April 1981).

Swayze`s first roles were in films such as The Outsiders (1983), Red Dawn (1984) and "Youngblood" (1986) but his first major success was in the 1985 television mini-series North and South, which was set during the Civil War. His real breakthrough to stardom came with his performance as the dance instructor in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, where his earlier ballet experience came to good use. He starred with Jennifer Grey, who had also co-starred in Red Dawn. Dirty Dancing was originally a low-budget project that was intended to only show in theaters for one weekend and then go straight to video, but it became a surprise hit, and achieved massive international success. It was the first film to sell one million copies on video, and as of 2007 has earned over $US 300 million worldwide and spawned several alternate versions ranging from a television series to stage productions to a computer game. Swayze received a Golden Globe Award nomination for the role, and also sang one of the songs on the soundtrack, "She`s Like the Wind", which he had originally co-written with Stacy Widelitz for the film Grandview, U.S.A.. The song became a top-10 hit, and has been covered by other artists such as David Hasselhoff, and in 2006 was converted into a hip-hop version by Lumidee, who brought it to the top of the charts in Germany. After the success of Dirty Dancing, Swayze found himself heavily typecast and appeared in a series of flops. In 1989, he starred in the well-received Road House. However, his biggest hit came in 1990 when he starred in Ghost, working with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg.[3] This role had considerable cultural impact, and modern hip-hop lyrics routinely use the phra

Miscellaneous Information

Friends and Family

Sean Swayze [Brother]

Vicki Swayze [Sister] (Died from overdose in 1994)

Donald Carl Swayze [Brother] (August 10,1958)

Patricia Yvonne Helen Karnes [Mother] (aka Patsy Swayze)

Jesse Wayne Swayze [Father]

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