Patrick Swayze Loses Battle with Cancer, Dies at Age 57
Patrick Swayze, who is perhaps best known for his roles in "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost" died Monday after a battle against pancreatic cancer ultimately took his life at the young age of 57. His publicist, Annett Wolf, confirmed his death:
“Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months."
No further details were provided..
News that the acclaimed actor was suffering from an especially deadly form of cancer broke in March 2008. At the time, some reports gave him merely weeks to live, but his doctor was more optimistic.
Despite the diagnosis, Swayze perservered and kept working. He put together a memoir with his wife, and shot a drama series for A&E called "The Beast", for which he had already made a pilot. 1.3 million viewers tuned in for the 13 episode season, which ran in 2009, but the network decided not to keep it going another season.
While making the series, Swayze decided not to use painkilling drugs, fearing it would take away from his performance. Given the survival rate for pancreatic cancer, Swayze acknowledged that his time might be running out.
Swayze said he opted not to use painkilling drugs while making “The Beast” because they would have taken the edge off his performance. He acknowledged that time might be running out given the grim nature of the disease.
Comments
You know, this is such a loss! and his wife--they were childhood sweethearts. And then they coudn't have children, now this. Life is not fair
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