Patrick Wayne Swayze

 Patrick Wayne Swayze ( August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009)

Having gained fame with appearances in films during the 1980s, Swayze became popular for playing tough guys and romantic lead males, gaining him a wide fan base with female audiences, and status as a teen idol and sex symbol. He starred in films from a range of genres, including the drama The Outsiders (1983), the war film Red Dawn (1984), the romantic "coming-of-age" drama Dirty Dancing (1987), the action film Road House (1989), the romantic fantasy/crime thriller Ghost (1990), the action crime film Point Break (1991), the action film Black Dog (1998), the supernatural drama film Donnie Darko (2001), and the drama Jump! (2008), as well as in the television serials North and South and The Beast, his final role. During his career he received three Golden Globe Award nominations and was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1991. In January 2008, he was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer (specifically, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm). He traveled to the Stanford University Medical Center for chemotherapy and treatment with the experimental drug Vatalanib, which doctors hoped would cut off the blood supply to the tumor. Despite the diagnosis, Swayze continued to act while receiving treatment. His last role was the lead in an A&E TV series, The Beast, which premiered on January 15, 2009. On April 19, 2009, doctors informed Swayze that the cancer had again metastasized to his liver. Swayze died, with family at his side, on September 14, 2009, at age 57, 20 months after being diagnosed.