Fans are missingPatrick Swayzeall over again on the day the late actor would have turned 69, and theDirty Dancingstar’s name is trending online with thousands paying tribute. A beloved Hollywood icon for decades, Swayze’s death shocked the world when he died of cancer in 2009 at theage of 57. He’s just as missed now as when the news first broke, as can be seen from the sheer amount of love Swayze is receiving on social media.
“Happy birthday to our resident bad boy, Patrick Swayze. We miss you,” tweets the officialDirty DancingTwitter account.
“Dirty Dancingis a testament to Patrick Swayze’s star quality, an actor with a charisma we don’t see nowadays. Gone too soon,” a fan of the movie adds.
“Today would have been Patrick Swayze birthday he sadly lost his life to young but today is celebrating such an incredible actor. happy birthdays Patrick,” says someone else.
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network tweeted: “'…No matter what’s thrown at me, I can take it. And I can keep going.' Patrick Swayze’s words certainly rang true as he fought a courageous battle with #pancreaticcancer. Today, we celebrate what would have been his 69th birthday & remember his work that touched so many of us.”
A tweet from San Jacinto College includes a photo of a younger Swayze with a message that reads, “Happy Birthday to our most famous former student, Patrick Swayze! Did you know he attended San Jac on a gymnastics scholarship? He was a student at Central Campus. What is your favorite Swayze movie?”
Along withDirty Dancing, Swayze is well known for his leading roles in many other popular movies, includingGhost,To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar,Road House, andPoint Break. He also appeared as a dance instructor in 2004’sDirty Dancing: Havana Nightswith his other late movie credits includingDonnie Darko,Christmas in Wonderland, andPowder Blue. One of his last roles was as a series regular in the seriesThe Beastin 2009.
At the height of his fame, Swayze was one of the biggest names in Hollywood. He was named as People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1991. Six years later, he was honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He earned three nominations for the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actor and was posthumously awarded the Rolex Dance Award in 2012.
The late actor’s life and career was explored in the 2019 documentaryI Am Patrick Swayze. It featured many of the actor’s family and friends speaking about their memories of Swayze, including commentary from his wife, Lisa Niemi, along with some of his old co-stars like Rob Lowe, C. Thomas Howell, and Sam Elliott. The leading ladies from many of his biggest movies, like Jennifer Grey, Demi Moore, Kelly Lynch, and Lori Petty, also appear in the doc.
In honor of the late actor’s heavenly birthday, many fans are choosing to watchDirty Dancing,Ghost, and several otherfan favorite Patrick Swayze titlesfrom his body of work. Swayze might be gone, but it’s clear that his legacy continues to live on. You can see what other fans are saying about Swayze in honor of the late actor on Twitter.
