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From ‘Dirty Dancing’ to ‘Ghost’ and Beyond, Your Complete Guide to the Movies of Patrick Swayze

Misc

Aug 18, 2019 9:06 am·

By Ed Gross

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For the late Patrick Swayze, August 18, 2019 would have marked his 67th birthday, and while the fact he’s no longer with us (and hasn’t been for nearly a decade) brings with it sadness, it’s also accompanied by a sense of joy with the arrival of the Paramount Network documentary, I Am Patrick Swayze. Joy because of Patrick’s body of work, which includes such audience favorites as Dirty Dancing (the 1987 movie that truly put him on the map) and 1990’s Ghost, the tragic yet inspiring love story co-starring Demi Moore that turned out to be his biggest hit.

All told, he starred in 31 feature films in the 30 years between 1979’s Skatetown, U.S.A. and 2009’s Powder Blue, but more important than any of that was the way he faced his late 2007 diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, pushing forward with any and all treatments and living beyond doctors’ expectations. “I’m a miracle, dude,” he told a reporter who caught up to him at LAX. “I don’t know why.”

He was also extremely honest about his feelings regarding his situation, telling Barbara Walters after being asked if he was scared, “I’ve never been one to run from a challenge. I will be so either truthful or stupid as to say no, but then immediately, when I say that, I have to say yes, I am. You can bet that I’m going through hell, and I’ve only seen the beginning of it.”

To celebrate the memory of Patrick, we’re providing the following guide to his 31 big screen films, with the highest of recommendations that you start checking out some of his varied performances that you may have missed.

Please scroll down for much more on Patrick Swayze.

1 of 31

‘Skatetown, U.S.A.’ (1979)

Starting off as rivals, a pair of skaters (Patrick and Star Wars‘ Mark Hamill) find themselves becoming good friends, despite the fact that they’re both vying for a $1,000 prize at a roller disco competition. Also starring alongside Patrick are actors like Scott Baio, Ron Palillo (from Welcome Back, Kotter) and Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick.

2 of 31

‘The Outsiders’ (1982)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and based on the novel by S.E. Hinton, the story focuses on a rivalry between a pair of gangs from two different worlds, the rich Socs and the poor Greasers, which grows more intense when a gang member is killed by a member of the opposition. Starring with Patrick are C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon and this fellow named Tom Cruise.

3 of 31

‘Uncommon Valor’ (1983)

Gene Hackman plays retired U.S. Marine Colonel Jason Rhodes who puts together a team to rescue American soldiers being held in a Laos P.O.W. camp. It’s been 10 years since Rhodes’ son went missing in Vietnam, and his hope is that he will be among the rescued.

4 of 31

‘Grandview, U.S.A.’

Co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis, Patrick is a student who, only a week before graduation, decides to give up his scholarship and pursue a career in oceanography — despite the intense resistance of his father.

5 of 31

‘Red Dawn’ (1984)

World War III is beginning as soldiers from the Soviet Union invade the U.S. Teenagers in the mid-West unite to fight them off. Battling alongside Patrick are actors like Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, C. Thomas Howell and a pre-Dirty Dancing Jennifer Grey.

6 of 31

‘Youngblood’ (1986)

Rob Lowe is a 17-year-old farm boy offered an ice hockey tryout. His brother (Patrick) drives him to Canada, where he is chosen though he has to adjust his thinking to the Canuck way. At the same time, he’s romantically attracted to the coach’s daughter (played by Cynthia Gibb).

7 of 31

‘Dirty Dancing’ (1987)

One of Patrick’s biggest hits, he plays dance instructor Johnny Castle at a Catskills resort who gradually falls in love with Jennifer Grey’s Frances “Baby” Houseman. He would play another dance instructor in the later film Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.

8 of 31

‘Steel Dawn’ (1987)

Think of this one as Patrick’s take on Mad Max. The setting is a post-apocalyptic world where he plays a warrior wandering through the desert who protects a group of settlers from a deadly gang intent on stealing the water that they control.

9 of 31

‘Tiger Warsaw’ (1988)

Following 15 years of self-destruction, Chuck Warsaw, who turned his father into a semi-invalid by shooting him, returns home to try and reconcile with his family.

10 of 31

‘Road House’ (1989)

Dalton is a bouncer hired to bring calm to a bar filled with people who want to fight as much as they want to drink. It sounds like such a nothing premise, but this is actually one of Swayze’s most enjoyable films. Also starring are Kelly Lynch and Sam Elliott.

11 of 31

‘Next of Kin’ (1989)

Truman Gates (Patrick) is a Chicago cop out to solve the murder of his brother, but finding the situation complicated when his other brother, Briar (Liam Neeson) decides to solve it himself.

12 of 31

‘Ghost’ (1990)

Patrick is Sam Wheat, a murdered man whose spirit refuses to to ascend so that he can protect the woman he loves, Molly Jensen (Demi Moore), from whoever was responsible for his death. To do so, he reaches out to psychic Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg). Cool supernatural premise and an incredible love story. Patrick’s most successful movie, pulling in over half a billion dollars at the box office in 1990 ($960 million adjusted for inflation).

13 of 31

‘Point Break’ (1991)

Keanu Reeves is FBI agent Johnny Utah who goes undercover within a gang of surfers, believing that they’re bank robbers. His main target is Patrick’s Bodhi, with whom he actually bonds with, creating an internal conflict.

14 of 31

‘City of Joy’ (1992)

Texan farmer Max Lowe is found beaten, robbed and left in the street to die by a family who has lost their farm and moved to Calcutta in search of a new life. What follows in the bonding between them as they help each other adjust to a new way of life.

15 of 31

‘Father Hood’ (1993)

Patrick is Jack Charles, a robber who decides he needs to spend more times with his kids, so he takes them from foster care but quickly discovers this wasn’t a well thought-out plan.

16 of 31

‘Tall Tale’ (1995)

When his family’s land is threatened by a land baron, a boy imagines life in the Old West and interacting with such legendary fable characters as Paul Bunyon, John Henry, Calamity Jane and Pecos Bill (Patrick).

17 of 31

‘To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar’ (1995)

Absolutely one of Patrick’s more off-beat roles: he plays one of three drag queens (the others portrayed by Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo) who are traveling cross-country, though they find themselves stranded in a small town when their car breaks down.

18 of 31

‘Three Wishes’ (1995)

A single mother (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) and her three kids’ lives are transformed when she accidentally hits a seemingly homeless man with her car, and brings him home to heal. His influence on all of them is never something they could have imagined at the start.

19 of 31

‘Black Dog’ (1998)

Certainly a plot we’ve all seen before: Jack Crews (Patrick) has just gotten out of prison and wants to make a fresh start of things, but finds himself pressured back into criminal activity.

20 of 31

‘Letters From a Killer’ (1998)

Race Darnell (Patrick) has been jailed after being falsely accused of murdering his wife. Some solace is provided in his communications with four women, and ultimately he is freed following his second court appearance. But then he finds himself falsely accused of two more murders and must clear his name before being captured and sent back to jail.

21 of 31

‘Forever Lulu’ (2000)

Melanie Griffith is Lulu McAfee, described as a “schizophrenic romantic,” who manages to track down college lover Ben Clifton (Patrick) to help her find their son, who she had given up for adoption 16 years earlier. Unsurprisingly, Ben’s wife, Claire (Penelope Ann Miller), is not too happy with the idea.

22 of 31

‘Green Dragon’ (2001)

The story of some Vietnamese refugees as they first arrive at Camp Pendleton in the United States as the Vietnam War ends in 1975. Patrick plays Gunnery Sergeant Jim Lance.

23 of 31

‘Donnie Darko’ (2001)

A man in a large rabbit suit manipulates a troubled teenager into committing a series of crimes. Starring along with Patrick are Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal and Mary McDonnell.

24 of 31

‘Waking Up in Reno’ (2002)

Two couples, best described as trashy, head to Reno for a monster truck show, a journey which turns out to be a romantic comedy. Patrick stars with Natasha Richardson, Billy Bob Thornton and Charlize Theron.

25 of 31

‘One Last Dance’ (2003)

In order to save their former mentor’s studio, three dancers (Patrick, Lisa Niemi — his real-life wife — and George De La Pena) decide to stage a special performance.

26 of 31

’11:14′ (2003)

A very cool concept, tracking five different stories as they lead to a massive car crash at 11:14 p.m. Besides Patrick, the cast includes Henry Thomas (Elliot of ET), Barbara Hershey, Clark Gregg and Hilary Swank.

27 of 31

‘George and the Dragon’ (2004)

James Purefoy is a knight who, upon returning to England, finds himself enlisted by King Edgar to find his missing daughter, Princess Lunna (Piper Perabo), who, it turns out is standing guard over a dragon egg that belongs to a now-dead dragon who kidnapped her. Patrick plays her fiance.

28 of 31

‘Keeping Mum’ (2005)

Rowan Atkinson is a pastor who is so obsessed with writing what he hopes will be the ultimate sermon, that he doesn’t realize his children are falling into bad ways or that his wife is having an affair. Co-starring with Patrick are Kristin Scott Thomas and Maggie Smith.

29 of 31

‘Christmas in Wonderland’ (2007)

After finding a bag filled with money at the mall, a couple of kids start buying everything in sight, though it isn’t long before the counterfeiters who printed the money they’re spending are after them. Patrick plays their dad.

30 of 31

‘Jump!’ (2008)

Set in 1928 Austria, Patrick is lawyer Richard Pressburger who could find himself sent to jail by a corrupt judge for defending a man accused of murdering his father.

31 of 31

‘Powder Blue’ (2009)

On Christmas Eve, a strange set of circumstances results in the bringing together of a stripper, an ex-con, a suicidal ex-priest and a mortician in Los Angeles. Also starring with Patrick are Jessica Biel, Eddie Redmayne (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta and Lisa Kudrow. This would be Patrick’s final film role.

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