'Dirty Dancing' star Patrick Swayze dies at 57

 Hollywood actor Patrick Swayze, best-known to Indian audience for his role as the good-hearted American doctor Max Lowe in the 1992 movie ‘City of Joy’, has died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

The ‘Dirty Dancing’ star died on Monday in a Los Angeles hospital, with his wife Lisa Niemi and family at his side, said his publicist, Annett Wolf.

“Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today (Monday) with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months,” said a statement released by Wolf.

The three-times Golden Globe nominated actor stole millions of hearts with his turn as the rakish dancer Johnny Castle in cult classic ‘Dirty Dancing’, which catapulted him to instant global fame. Swayze, the son of a choreographer and a trained dancer himself, immortalised the line “No one puts Baby in a corner” in the 1987 movie, which continues to be one of the most successful romances in Hollywood history.

The actor, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, had vowed that he will fight till the very end and had continued to shoot for the TV drama ‘The Beast’, while undergoing treatment.

“I am proud of what I am doing? How do you nurture a positive attitude when all the statistics say you are a dead man? You go to work,” the actor had said. Swayze’s fame intruded on his final months as he wrestled with what he called the “reckless reporting” that regularly pronounced he was near death. Such coverage amounted to “emotional cruelty, when hope is so precious.” he had said.

The actor, who was voted the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ by People magazine in 1991, reaffirmed his heartthrob status with the blockbuster romance ‘Ghost’ opposite Demi Moore.
He played Sam in the movie, who returns after his death to meet his lover Molly for one last time. “Patrick you are so loved by so many and your life will forever shine in all of our lives and in the words of Sam to Molly ‘Its amazing Molly the love inside you take with you’ I will love and miss you Patrick,” Moore wrote in her emotional tribute to her ‘Ghost’ co-star on Twitter.


‘He loved India and Mother Teresa’

Actor Om Puri who shared a close friendship with Patrick Swayze after working with him in 1991 ‘City of Joy’ is deeply saddened by the Hollywood star’s death and remembers him as “humble and simple” person, reports PTI from Mumbai. “Om is deeply hurt over his demise as their friendship went back a long way. Patrick always spoke of his love for India and Mother Teresa,” Puri’s wife Nandita said. Nandita said that Puri’s first thought on meeting Patrick were that despite being a big star, with hits like ‘Ghost’ to his credit, he was a humble and simple person.