Patrick Swayze: 1952-2009

"Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

How many young girls (and older women, and many men as well) swooned when that rough-hewn handsome yet sensitive, yet beautifully graceful Patrick Swayze stood up for the awkward,  nerdy Jennifer Grey in the admittedly cheesy but now classic Dirty Dancing? Legions. Legions. I remember sitting on the school bus in 1987, wondering what these girls were excitedly yammering on about like middle-aged housewives -- a 1960s-era story of the mismatched but eventual love between a Catskills dance instructor/bad boy and a sweet, smart but insecure vacationing teenager? OK. When I finally got around to seeing the movie later, I thought, wow, kind of cornpone, and ..."She's like the wind?"

But there was something -- a definite "it" quality that spiked directly into the world's romantic fantasy jugular. But for me, that "it" was Swayze himself. He was the movie. He could dance. And was, perhaps, one the last tough guy dancers who could reveal his significant talent without worrying about being feminized by it. In many ways, and through many pictures, Patrick Swayze is the perfect example of pre-1990s irony. It's not funny he can dance -- it's goddamn lovely he can dance.

His dancing was not only erotic swagger; he brought the heart and soul and heat and sexuality and even a wounded vulnerability to his part (and the music, particularly the Otis Redding, helped). Much like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, this was a man, not a little boy, not Zac Efron, but a man, dancing with such impressive athleticism and grace that, no matter what you thought of the movie itself, you could not take your eyes off of him.

Born in 1952 in Houston, this rough-around-the-edges Road House toughie was actually (and perhaps, not surprisingly) the son of a choreographer/dancer mother, who influenced young Swayze toward dance. Rounding out his abilities nicely, he took up ice skating, classical ballet, gymnastics and acting. But it's the dancing that stuck, so, in 1972, he completed his formal dance training in New York at the Harkness and Joffrey ballet schools.

But, in spite of his training, it wasn't the dancing that gave him his Hollywood breakthrough. It was the movie in which I first saw him: Francis Ford Coppola's lovingly made, bad boy teen melodrama The Outsiders, in which he played Darrel -- the older, greaser brother and concerned surrogate parent for his troubled Tulsan siblings Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell) and Sodapop (Rob Lowe). Lecturing his brothers with a rugged, likable and stern quality (he had that kind of face), this somewhat odd looking yet severely handsome man could rumble, carry heavy artillery and fight. And we knew it especially in works like the spectacular Red Dawn, Youngblood and his acclaimed Civil War TV miniseries North and South. He was well on his way to becoming a huge star. Who even knew this guy was a dancer? By 1987, everyone.

And then, there was the absurdly entertaining Road House.  Though considered trash by those who should know better, the picture is another  un-ironic tale (and truly, one of the last serious good ol' boy type movies) that finds Swayze's bar "cooler" taking on crazy drunks, a hot blonde and a town run by a ridiculously, yet hilariously neofascist Ben Gazzara.  Road House has since (and deservedly) become a cult classic and it's rather surprising, refreshingly shocking line ("I used to fu** guys like you in prison") spat to Swayze,  is among Road House fanatics just as famous as that "Baby in the corner" business. Or "Ditto." (I personally like the simplicity of "left boot" but I love watching people excel at their job).

But back to "ditto" -- the enormously successful Ghost would provide Swayze a colossal hit. The movie was nominated for Best Picture, Goldberg won Best Supporting Actress, and Demi's pixie haircut became as famous as "the Farrah" or "the Rachel." It seems like Swayze was left out of the accolades, which is a shame. Among all of the picture's sappy "Unchained Melody," pottery wheel spinning eroticism, it was Swayze who provided the picture's emotional weight. Carrying the universal understanding of sadness, love and regret -- and in particular, the regret of not saying those things we should have said to loved ones, he was the film's center. No matter how schmaltzy the movie was, Swayze always seemed real to me. 

And he had range. After Ghost, a tanned and coiffed Swayze starred in Kathryn Bigelow's undeniably entertaining Point Break, playing the guru villain opposite Keanu Reeves. And watch it again. It's so giddily entertaining and he's so yes, magical here, that you're sad movies like this, really, don't exist anymore. Again, Irony. Oh the irony of movies these days.  Not that Swayze didn't allow self humor -- he did. But he also, wonderfully, memorably played it straight. God bless him for that.

After a riding accident in which he fell from a horse and broke both of his legs -- not good for an actor, and especially a dancer -- his career was on hold for a while. He was depressed. He was reportedly drinking (and would stop). I have to think that his bouts with darkness were always in him, making him a lot more interesting than he was given credit for. I loved that Richard Kelly recognized his varied sides and so brilliantly cast him as a motivational speaker/secret pedophile in 2000's Donnie Darko. What a bold move for Swayze. And what a complicated performance. He plays it as a joke at first (that scale of fear and love), and then becomes a monster, and then, an oddly heartbreaking human being  -- and in one brief moment.  During a beautifully filmed sequence set to Gary Jules' cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World," he conveys such intense anguish it's hard to not gasp by how intensely moving he is.

And his face, his tough yet pleading face, filled with such mysterious need that, combined with his body, a body that understood dance, made him a unique, underrated creature. He may have become typecast as a kind of cheesy relic of the 1980s, but, really, he was so much more than that. He had a great career, certainly, but it could have been greater. Had he'd been allowed to stretch, been allowed to express his natural poignancy (think of that oddly touching Chippendale's comedy sketch with Chris Farley), and been allowed (or able) or to extend his dancing, Swayze could have soared even higher.  Since early dance training may have caused Swayze to fight against any labels of "sissy," he exuded a touching empathy while looking like a guy you'd want on your side in a bar fight. 

Ah, I'll state the obvious here, but it's damn sad. Quite simply, I liked him. And I'd love for him to come back, if only for one moment, and even just to say that one corny line: "Ditto." Or better yet and without one trace of irony, "Left boot."

Read more Kim Morgan at Sunset Gun.

Comments

[jameseveritt]

PATRICK SWAYZE TRIBUTE
August 18, 1952 - September 14, 2009
http://www.patrickswayze1952.com/default.html

Patrick Swayze's The Time of My Life": 10 memorable stories!

He may have lost his father in 1982, but Patrick Swayze never forgot him, and never stopped trying to make him proud. In that respect, the late actor’s memoir, The Time of My Life, cowritten with his wife, Lisa Niemi, is his crowning achievement. The two lessons communicated throughout the book, as well as in Swayze’s life, are the ones his father taught him: Having a gentle side doesn’t make you less of a man, it makes you a better one; and you might not always win, but you never, ever give up.

Here, 10 memorable stories from The Time of My Life.
http://www.patrickswayzetimeofmylife.com/index.htm

[TotallyAmazed]

Ironically, last night, GHOST and DIRTY DANCING were playing on different TV stations. I'd been sleeping for nearly 12 hours straight due to a sinus infection, and had got up just to make sure I was still alive and to drink some hot tea my husband had fixed for me.

I started flipping channels with the remote and came up with GHOST. I slowed down there for a few minutes, then continued the flipping to see what else was one. When I came across DIRTY DANCING, I figured it was destined for me to watch a Swayze movie.

For the next hour and a half, I flipped back and forth - as commercials dictated, - first with Jenifer and then with Demi and Whoopi. My poor husband at first questioned the sanity of watching two movies he knew I'd seen multiple times already, two movies on different channels, and two movies both with increasingly longer commercial breaks. But, the guy finally assumed (and rightly so) that you don't mess around with a women who's head throbs, who's nose won't take in air and who's throat feels like ground up glass. Smart fella.

He went back to the computer to rack up 'Solitaire' points, while I boo-hooed with Patrick, Jennifer, Demi and Whoopi. Ah - sometimes life is good even with commercials.

The loss of Patrick Swayze feels more personal than most celebrity losses.

[davide1982]

Whoopy Goldberg: "Patrick was a really good man, a funny man and one to whom I owe much that I can't ever repay. I believe in 'Ghost's message, so he'll always be near." RIP Patrick!
Here I've tried to collect all notable tributes paid to Patrick Swayze by peers:

http://www.tributespaid.com/category/p/patrick-swayze

[Patrick-Reynolds]

I remember Patrick Swayze and his wife Lisa from our time together in Milton Katselas' acting workshop, two or three years before he made 'Dirty Dancing'. One night he got up on the tiny stage and performed a scene with fellow student Michelle Pfeiffer; they chose Noel Coward's 'Private Lives'. It's tragic he smoked (so did I at the time), and that he used alcohol -- two destroyers of the RJ Reynolds family. I remember Patrick fondly, and this is a real loss.

[TigersEye]

Great article, thank you. He always seemed like one of the good guys. I enjoyed many of his movies, as well as that hilarious SNL Chippendales skit with Chris Farley. He will be missed.

[Pippen]

Couldn't agree more. He grew up down the street from me and my mom used to give us a monthly blow by blow on how Pat Swayze's son is going off to New York and become a great dancer. When we saw him turn up on in the cinema we were'nt even the least bit surprised.

I met him once briefly at a bar years later. He stepped in to say something to a friend and I recognized that glint in his face even with the hat and sunglasses. He paused long enough to make me feel like he was my friend but he was just being himself. I doubt he would even recall the encounter but it made me idolize him even more.

What a hero of a man. They don't make men like this often. We were lucky to have him as long as we did.

Thank you for the writeup your always at the heart of an idea that flowers and sings with harmony.

[Charlotte Safavi - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Kim,
Nice piece. Read my blog about Patrick Swayze when you get a chance (it's a featured living post today). I met him around the time of Dirty Dancing. I was an agent at the agency who represented him.

[Kim Morgan - Huffpost Blogger]

Charlotte:

What a wonderful piece. Thank you for that. He really was a rare talent, and I don't think he gets enough credit for being so.

[AurigaRa]

Never saw any of these movies, but admired him for his devotion to his wife.
So un-Hollywood.

That alone makes him honorable.

[slg]

Thank You. That was lovely.