LOS ANGELES — Patrick Swayze, the hunky actor who danced his way into viewers' hearts with "Dirty Dancing" and then broke them with "Ghost," died Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

"Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," said a statement released Monday evening by his publicist, Annett Wolf. No other details were given.

Fans of the actor were saddened to learn in March 2008 that Swayze was suffering from a particularly deadly form of cancer.

He had kept working despite the diagnosis, putting together a memoir with his wife and shooting "The Beast," an A&E drama series for which he had already made the pilot. It drew a respectable 1.3 million viewers when the 13 episodes ran in 2009, but A&E said it had reluctantly decided not to renew it for a second season.

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.

When he first went public with the illness, some reports gave him only weeks to live, but his doctor said his situation was "considerably more optimistic" than that.

"I'd say five years is pretty wishful thinking," Swayze told ABC's Barbara Walters in early 2009. "Two years seems likely if you're going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure, which means I'd better get a fire under it."

A three-time Golden Globe nominee, Swayze became a star with his performance as the misunderstood bad-boy Johnny Castle in "Dirty Dancing." As the son of a choreographer who began his career in musical theater, he seemed a natural to play the role.

A coming-of-age romance starring Jennifer Grey as an idealistic young woman on vacation with her family and Swayze as the Catskills resort's sexy (and much older) dance instructor, the film made great use of both his grace on his feet and his muscular physique.

It became an international phenomenon in the summer of 1987, spawning albums, an Oscar-winning hit song in "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," stage productions and a sequel, 2004's "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights," in which he made a cameo.

Oh, I just heard. :sad5: I am so very sad to hear this, but I am glad he is no longer suffering. He was not looking good during the Barbara Walters interview, so I am amazed that he was able to hold on so long. He had quite a determined spirit, that is for certain. May he rest in peace.

I loved him in "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost." May he rest in peace & now free of pain.

He was a great actor. It was nice that he died in peace, surrounded by family. He will be missed.

How terribly sad, I always loved watching him in movies......I saw that they had a picture of him in a wheelchair on the front of some gossip mag in Wal*Mart today and it said, "Patrick Swayze goes home to die."

My condolences to his family for their loss.


I hate this disease.........

I was so sad to hear the news. I am also glad he is no longer suffering.

I'll always remember his famous quote from "Dirty Dancing"................"Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

I was just reading an article, "Stars react to Patrick Swayze's death on Twitter & I ran across this "tweet" from MG. I thought it was really sweet!

MelissaEGilbert: "oh Buddy...no more pain for you. My prayers are with your beautiful Lisa and your family...Say hi to my Dad and my Pa."

My heart just broke when I read this earlier. He was one of my favorite actors. How sad for his family, but at least he's now at peace.

I heard this on the news this morning, and its such sad news! my thoughts are with his family

I Only found out he had cancer i think last week i have seen two movies of his i really like them he was great one was Black Dog and the other one was Road House Both intresting movies

i thoughts are with his family

It's truly amazing the love he had for life. I heard an interview and he was telling, Barbara Walters I think, what he had to do every day to keep his body going so he could continue to work and be there with his wife.

My prayers are with his wife and family.

So sad what an awesome actor and brave person. I loved The Outsiders and Ghost.

I have the latest People mag with him on the cover...it is a really good article. They shared part of the vows he wrote to his wife for their wedding renewal last year...it is truly the most beautiful thing I've ever read. They were one special couple. And they wrote a memoir together, due out this month, it said. They also showed the last professional shots of the two of them in the magazine, taken just last month. Yes, Patrick looked thin and guant, but there was such an amazing determination in his eyes. You'd have to see it to know what I mean. And the picture of him and his wife showed her leaning on him, and him kissing her forehead, with his eyes closed, and it's intense the love that you see there. Just beautiful.

Just a heads-up...Patrick's wife is going to be on Oprah today.

I set my DVR last night.

Looks like Lisa is doing well. I hope she has alot of family and friends around her during the holidays. She seems to be a strong person. She certainly had a gift of 34 yrs with Patrick. That is alot of great memories.