Actor Patrick Swayze, the romantic leading man of "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost," has died at 57 after a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
"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.
The actor came forward with his illness in March 2008, but valiantly continued to work on his new television series, "The Beast."
Swayze said he did not use painkillers while making the series because he feared they would weaken his edgy performance as FBI agent who may be on the wrong side of the law.
Swayze rose to fame during the 1980s by appearing in a number of iconic films: Francis Ford Coppola's "The Outsiders," the ultra-violent Cold War saga "Red Dawn" and "Road House."
But it was his role of bad-boy Johnny Castle in the 1987 film "Dirty Dancing" that forever cemented Swayze as a heartthrob leading man.
The coming-of-age romance co-starring Jennifer Grey, made great use of Swayze's graceful dancing and muscular physique.
The film, which continues to have a place in teenage girls' hearts, was a hit in the summer of 1987 and spawned the Oscar-winning "(I've Had) the Time of my Life" hit song.
It also featured the classic line spoken by Swayze, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."
The film has since been turned into numerous stage productions and had a 2004 sequel in which Swayze had a cameo.
If "Dancing" won over the hearts of millions, the 1990 film "Ghost" broke them.
Starring Swayze as a murdered man trying to communicate with his fianc�e (Demi Moore) through a psychic (Whoopi Goldberg), the film was a massive box office success, taking in more than $215 million.
It was also a critical success and was nominated for the Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and won two Oscars.
At the time, Swayze said he worked hard for the role.
"It made me cry four or five times," he told the Associated Press of the script.
In 1991 he appeared on the cover of People magazine as the "Sexiest Man Alive" but his career dwindled in the 1990s.
While he starred in the well-received "Point Break," other films such as "Tall Tale" and "Three Wishes" fizzled.
By the end of the 90s, he went into rehab for alcohol abuse.
His career picked back up in the early 2000s, when he played against typecast as a closeted pedophile in the 2001 cult classic "Donnie Darko."
He also returned to the stage, playing in "Chicago" in New York and later in "Guys and Dolls" in London.
Swayze was born in 1952 in Houston to Jesse Swayze and choreographer Patsy Swayze.
While he played football, Swayze was drawn to dance and theatre and played Danny Zuko in "Grease" on Broadway. But a series of injuries turned his attention to acting fulltime.
After moving to Los Angeles he made his big-screen debut alongside Scott Baio and Maureen McCormack in 1979's "Skatetown, U.S.A."
Swayze has been married since 1975 to Lisa Niemi, a dancer who took lessons from his mother. They met when he was only 19 and she was 15.
A licensed pilot, Niemi would fly her husband for treatment at Stanford University Medical Center in northern California, People magazine has reported.
The couple did not have any children.
