September 16, 2009

Farewell Patrick Swayze

Now I am not much of a movie buff, but even i was slightly perplexed and annoyed by the way the media announced Patrick Swayze’s death. Listening to the BBC, you would have thought that the only thing he did in his life was Dirty Dancing and Ghost. But anyone who went to the movies in the 80s and 90s knew there were many more strings to his bow than that.

It was left to the admirable Mark Kermode on Radio 5 to point out that to most of the blokes listening, Swayze was perhaps best remembered as an unlikely bouncer in Road House - or the laid back, surfing Buddhist leader of the ex-President’s gang in Point Break.

Others with a penchant for independent films might point to his role as a charming self-help guru with a stash of child porn in Donnie Darko.

I’d go back a bit further and point out he was a fine and upstanding confederate soldier in North v South in an era when the television mini series could have a lasting global impact..

So here was a man who was a consummate dancer and choreographer. He even ran a ballet school long before dancing became the groovy prime time viewing it is today. Yet when he made it big he could play a romantic lead in a romcom and a hard nut in an action movie. As fame faded he also took on more challenging roles including playing a paedophile and transvestite.

Patrick Swayze was a bit of a jock in his youth. He was an excellent diver, gymnast and athlete – and he also excelled at gridiron – though this sport was to give him a lingering knee injury.

All in all quite a varied career packed into a short time – because he was in his mid=-thirties before making the big time. It was his fate to feature in two of the most parodied roles of all time. The potting scene in ghost and smoulderingly saying with a straight face “Nobody puts baby in a corner.”

Farewell Patrick Swayze

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