Patrick Swayze Reportedly Near Death from Cancer

Patrick Wayne Swayze was born August 18th, 1952 and his breakthrough role was as the dance instructor in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.

"Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost" star Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that has spread throughout his body and he was given only five more weeks to live, the National Enquirer is reporting

(LOS ANGELES) - (Editor's note: This story from March 5, 2008 has been getting a lot of traffic on the Internet. For a current story about Patrick Swayze's condition, visit this link: Patrick Swayze Gravely Ill But Very Much Alive - Tim King Salem-News.com)

"Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost" star Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that has spread throughout his body and he was given only five more weeks to live, the National Enquirer is reporting.

The 55-year-old actor has been fighting the illness since late January and has been receiving radical chemotherapy from Stanford University's advanced cancer center in Palo Alto where he has been flying with his personal plane. He received three doses of chemotherapy and the tumor shrank, but less than his doctors had hoped for — and Patrick was told he should prepare for the worst, the Enquirer reports.

A "very good source" reportedly told blogger Perez Hilton that Swayze has seemed fine lately.

An official confirmation from Swayze or his publicist has not been made yet but a source close to the star said: "He was told he could have two more treatments, but his cancer was not responding. In short - they held out little hope for a cure.

"It's time to start praying for a miracle."

The article also states that Swayze has lost 20 pounds and is on a liquid diet because he can’t keep food down.

Patrick Wayne Swayze was born August 18th, 1952 and his breakthrough role was as the dance instructor in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing and he also had a hit with the 1990 film Ghost.

Swayze has been married to Lisa Niemi since 1975. The couple have been together since Lisa, at 15, began dance lessons with Swayze's mother.

Swayze's first professional appearance was as a dancer for Disney on Parade, then in the Broadway production of Grease, before his debut film role as Ace in Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979). He also appeared in the M*A*S*H episode "Blood Brothers"

Swayze's first roles were in films such as The Outsiders (1983), Red Dawn (1984) and "Youngblood" (1986) but his first major success was in the 1985 television mini-series North and South, which was set during the Civil War.

His real breakthrough to stardom came with his performance as the dance instructor in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, where his earlier ballet experience came to good use.

He starred with Jennifer Grey, who had also co-starred in Red Dawn. Dirty Dancing was originally a low-budget project that was intended to only show in theaters for one weekend and then go straight to video, but it became a surprise hit, and achieved massive international success.

It was the first film to sell one million copies on video, and as of 2007 has earned over $US 300 million worldwide and spawned several alternate versions ranging from a television series to stage productions to a computer game.

Swayze received a Golden Globe Award nomination for the role, and also sang one of the songs on the soundtrack, "She's Like the Wind", which he had originally co-written with Stacy Widelitz for the film Grandview, U.S.A.

The song became a top-10 hit, and has been covered by other artists such as David Hasselhoff, and in 2006 was converted into a hip-hop version by Lumidee, who brought it to the top of the charts in Germany.

After the success of Dirty Dancing, Swayze found himself heavily typecast and appeared in a series of flops. In 1989, he starred in the well-received Road House. However, his biggest hit came in 1990 when he starred in Ghost, working with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. This role had considerable cultural impact, and modern hip-hop lyrics routinely use the phrase "Like a Swayze", referring to that film. In 1991 he starred alongside "Youngblood" castmate Keanu Reeves in another major action hit, Point Break.

In 1996, Swayze was seriously injured while filming the HBO Letters from a Killer in the Ione area, when he fell from a horse and hit a tree. Both of his legs were broken, and he suffered four detached tendons in his shoulder.

Filming was suspended for two months, but the film finally aired in 1999. Swayze recovered from his injuries, but had trouble finding work until 2000, when he co-starred in Waking Up in Reno with Billy Bob Thornton and Charlize Theron, and Forever Lulu with Melanie Griffith.