When Patrick Swayze died of pancreatic cancer last September, the news hit like a shockwave. Everyone knew he had cancer and was dying, but the impact of seeing the words “Swayze Dead” in the newspaper really took me by surprise. I guess it’s because the man seemed invincible, unconquerable to some degree. He admits in his biography The Time Of My Life (co-written with his wife Lisa Niemi), that he wasn’t going to let cancer beat him. “Cancer was trying to kill me and I was going to do everything to kill it,” he says. Unfortunately for him, for all of us, the cancer won. But his memoir is a gift from beyond the grave.
I opted out of reading the book and listened to the audiobook instead. It was a good decision. His writing isn’t Shakespeare, but listening to him tell his life story over five hours is a moving experience.
He begins with his life growing up in Houston, Texas, where he was a star athlete and top-notch dancer. He met the love of his life, Lisa Niemi, at a young age, and after a long courtship, married her (they would be together for thirty-four years). His acting career took off when he was cast in the ABC miniseries, North and South, and he became a huge star when he landed the role of dance instructor Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing. The box-office success of that movie not only earned him immense fame, but a golden-globe nomination (the first of three). He went on to star in another blockbuster film with Demi Moore in Ghost, as well as the action films, Red Dawn, Road House and Dashing Fellows favourite, Point Break.
Although his career never reached the peak it did after Ghost, Swayze continued to act, mostly in smaller, independent films like Donnie Darko and Powder Blue. But he emerged on the small-screen again as FBI agent Charles Barker in The Beast, the short-lived A&E drama he was filming during his chemo-therapy.
What’s so striking about listening to Swayze’s story is just how earnest he is about life and performing in general. Things that would make most men cringe, like ballet, he adored and lived for. He isn’t cynical about anything. He takes pleasure in the things that he loves and didn’t care if people thought otherwise. He brought that same attitude with him on-screen, notably in Point Break. Although he doesn’t delve into the film’s very obvious homoeroticism, he thoroughly enjoyed his character Bodhi’s new age, surfer attitude. “I loved Bodhi because I identified with his quest for perfection and the ultimate adrenaline high,” he said. He played that character completely straight, and gave, arguably, his best performance. This attitude not only made him a good actor, but an endearing human being as well.
Swayze tells some great annecdotes, particularly about growing up as a dancer in Houston. Being involved in the arts made him a target for the boys in school, and he was beaten up by five bullies one day coming home. Realizing his son needed to learn how to defend himself, his dad trained him in martial arts and boxing. When he thought his son was ready, he asked the school’s gym teacher to remove the five bullies from class so Patrick could fight them one-on-one. The teacher agreed. Swayze fought all five boys and won. Awesome.
(He also talks about nearly coming to blows with co-star John Leguizamo on the set of To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar. Both men were in drag at the time.)
But what ties this story together is the romance between Swayze and his wife Lisa, which went through its ups and downs, but never stopped growing. He talks about his love for her, and she for him, with real exuberance, and it’s heartwarming to hear just how much love they had for each other.
I think Swayze’s legacy will be that he expanded the notion of masculinity. Through his films and approach to life, he showed that it was possible for men to enjoy “sissy” things like dance and the arts and still be masculine. His roles in Dirty Dancing and Ghost endeared him to women, while Road House and Point Break made him an icon for men. As Max wrote earlier this year, “Swayze could have been that guy, that guy you can’t leave alone with your girl. But, he’s never that guy. Swayze’s always guy code. A bit better looking than average, but always with that Spaghetti Western swag. He’s the guy you’d follow into battle and the guy who could be your Iceman (or your Maverick, depending).”
Guys like Swayze are rare in this world, and he is missed.
