Tribute to Patrick Swayze (August 18th 1952 – September 14th 2009)

This month the world is mourning one of its biggest and brightest stars. Patrick Swayze shot to fame in the 1980’s, and starred in numerous movies, the most notable of these being “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost”. A heart-throb for a generation, Patrick was named as the “Sexiest Man Alive” by People Magazine in 1991.

Born in Houston Texas in 1952, Patrick was the second child of Patsy and Jesse Swayze. In his youth, he trained as a dancer, and made his first professional appearance in “Disney on Parade” as “Prince Charming”. Following this, Patrick Swayze took on the lead role of “Danny Zuko” in the original Broadway production of “Grease”. In 1975, he married actress Lisa Niemi, and they remained happily married until his death. Patrick Swayze made his movie debut in 1979 in the film Skatetown, U.S.A., and from then onwards his career went from strength to strength (see credits below).

In January 2008, Patrick Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, however he refused to give in to the illness. Patrick continued to work right up to the end. His last project was a TV series called The Beast, which first aired in January 2009. The show was ultimately cancelled, reportedly as Patrick was too ill to promote the series.

On 14th September 2009, Patrick Swayze lost his battle against the disease, but he will be fondly remembered and much missed by millions of fans around the world.

Filmography
Christmas in Wonderland (2007) …. Wayne Saunders
Jump! (2007/I) …. Richard Pressburger
The Fox and the Hound 2 (2006) (V) …. Cash
Keeping Mum (2005) …. Lance
Icon (2005) (TV) …. Jason Monk
King Solomon’s Mines (2004) (TV) …. Allan Quatermain
George and the Dragon (2004) …. Garth
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004) …. Dance Class Instructor
Whoopi …. Tony (1 episode, 2004)
11:14 (2003) …. Frank
One Last Dance (2003) …. Travis MacPhearson
Waking Up in Reno (2002) …. Roy Kirkendall
Donnie Darko (2001) …. Jim Cunningham
Green Dragon (2001) …. Gunnery Sergeant Jim Lance
Forever Lulu (2000) …. Ben Clifton
Letters from a Killer (1998) …. Race Darnell
Black Dog (1998) …. Jack Crews
Three Wishes (1995) …. Jack McCloud
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995) …. Vida Boheme
Tall Tale (1995) …. Pecos Bill
Father Hood (1993) …. Jack Charles
City of Joy (1992) …. Max Lowe
Amazing Stories: Book Three (1992) (V) …. Eric David Peterson (segment “Life on Death Row”)
Point Break (1991) …. Bodhi
Saturday Night Live …. Host (1 episode, 1990)
Ghost (1990) …. Sam Wheat
Next of Kin (1989) …. Truman Gates
Road House (1989) …. James Dalton
Tiger Warsaw (1988) …. Chuck ‘Tiger’ Warsaw
Steel Dawn (1987) …. Nomad
Dirty Dancing (1987) …. Johnny Castle
Amazing Stories …. Eric David Peterson (1 episode, 1986)
North and South, Book II (1986) (mini) TV mini-series …. Orry Main
Youngblood (1986) …. Derek Sutton
North and South (1985) (mini) TV mini-series …. Orry Main
Red Dawn (1984) …. Jed
Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) …. Ernie ‘Slam’ Webster
Pigs vs. Freaks (1984) (TV) …. Doug Zimmer
Renegades (1983) TV series …. Bandit (1983)
Uncommon Valor (1983) …. Kevin Scott
Staying Alive (1983) (uncredited) …. Dancer/extra
The Outsiders (1983) …. Darrel ‘Darry’ Curtis
The Renegades (1982) (TV) …. Bandit
Return of the Rebels (1981) (TV) …. K.C. Barnes
M*A*S*H …. Pvt. Gary Sturgis (1 episode, 1981)
The Comeback Kid (1980) (TV) …. Chuck
Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979) …. Ace Johnson

Christian Slater – Discovering a True Talent

I recently wrote a piece on Squidoo about the life and work of Christian Slater which you can access here http://www.squidoo.com/Christian-Slater since seeing his brand new TV series “My Own Worst Enemy”, and being very impressed by his performance.

While researching this piece I realised that although I had always liked what I saw of his work, I had only just scratched the surface. As I was looking to update this lens, I decided to watch some more of his films. I discussed this with my partner, whose opinion of him was that he ALWAYS played the “bad guy” in movies! Therefore, I searched out movies to see whether this was really the case (although he was always very good at this).

I am now working through his past films, and discovering that not only is he NOT always the bad guy, but regardless of the character he plays, he is a much, much better actor than I have previously given him credit for (sorry Christian for not noticing this before!).

Also, I have heard that he has more recently become notable as a stunning stage actor, consistently receiving a standing ovation on the West End stage as Randall P McMurphy in the classic “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” (the role Jack Nicolson played in the film version). This is a performance I wish I could have seen!

These are the performances I have seen and can recommend so far:

Bed of Roses (1996) – Review pending
Very Bad Things (1998) – Review pending
Untamed Heart (1993) – Already reviewed
He Was a Quiet Man (2007) – Already reviewed
My Own Worst Enemy (2008) (TV) – see link below: http://www.squidoo.com/My-Own-Worst-Enemy
Young Guns II (1990) – Not yet reviewed
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves – Not yet reviewed

Christian Slater is fast becoming one of my favourite actors. However, there are still so many more Christian Slater movies out there to see, and I hear he is also due to return to TV shortly in the brand new drama series “The Forgotten”.

Keep an eye on this blog and my Squidoo lens http://www.squidoo.com/Christian-Slater as I shall be updating both as I find more amazing performances and news to tell all the many Christian Slater fans out there!

If you know an actor/ actress whose work really deserves watching, or a movie that really deserves to be seen and reviewed, please let me know.