Skatetown U.S.A. - 1979

I didn't know how I didn't know that Patrick Swayze's first movie was a roller disco themed film, but it was. The photo here incorrectly says he is with Mark Hamill -- I cannot find any record of Luke Skywalker being in this movie -- but I'm sure he appreciates being associated with Greg Bradford's shoulders. Has anyone seen Skatetown USA?

Skatetown U.S.A. - 1979

BUT SERIOUSLY I might need to see it now.

Patrick and Lisa Niemi

The premiere was at a roller rink, and if you ask me, not enough movie premieres are held in places where dudes skate around shirtless in vests with their beloveds, with a faint air of danger (I would not have gone two feet without breaking all my bones). He and Lisa Niemi, by the way, were together all the way to the end. But I just read that they met when she was 14 (she was his mother's dance student) and he was 18? I hope... they did not date for a long time???!?

Maureen McCormick, Greg Bradford, Katherine Kelly Lang, Patrick Swayze and April Allen

Yes, that IS Marcia Brady (next to Greg "Not Mark Hamill" Bradford), and yes, that IS a very young Katherine Kelly Lang, aka B&B's Brooke Logan Forrester Forrester Chambers Forrester Jones Forrester Forrester Forrester Marrone Forrester Forrester Forrester Spencer Forrester.

The Outsiders - 1982

Many a crush was born from this movie.

On the Set of The Outsiders

It has been a really long time since I watched this movie, and apparently I forgot that Swayze rides a horse in it while sweaty?!?

Patrick Swayze Portrait Session, 1982

I call this, "Patrick Swayze As The One Nice Jock on the Basketball Team Who Respects Women and Actually Wants to Learn From His Tutor Because Secretly He Wants To Go to College For Book-Learning."

Patrick Swayze Portrait Session

And this is, "Patrick Swayze Is Dating Your Older Sister But Whenever He Comes Over To Pick Her Up, He's Super Nice To You And Sits Down and Talks Even Though She Thinks You're Lame."

Patrick Swayze Portrait Session

And this is, "Patrick Swayze Is On The Cover of a Teen Romance Novel About a Girl Who Goes to Her Summer Cabin, and Falls For the Boy Next Door Who Chops Wood; It's Called Splintered Heart."

Red Dawn - 1984

I have also never seen Red Dawn, somehow, so I didn't know all these people were in it.

Youngblood, 1985: Cynthia Gibb, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze

If you thought, "Wow, that is some real hockey hair on both those heartthrobs," you are correct. This was a hockey movie, and the IMDb synopsis is truly terrible: "A 17 year old farm boy is offered an ice hockey tryout. His brother drives him to Canada. He has fast legs, slow fists, but is chosen. Will he learn to use his fists and play ice hockey the Canuck way? Will he get the coach's cute daughter?"

North and South - 1985 - with Lesley Anne Down

I only watched bits and pieces of the original North and South, but I remember what a HUGE deal it was when it came out. The appetite for Civil War border-crossing romances is understandably not the same now.

1986, with Brooke Shields

"Hello, yes, we're both extremely attractive, no further questions at this time."

Dirty Dancing

She carried a watermelon! I truly love this movie, still. I saw it in the era it came out, so I can't ever really watch it objectively. It spoke to me so much -- the whole idea of the ordinary girl coming into her own, and truly being seen by the object of her affections, who also really admired her brain and her spirit and not just her abs. Plus at that age I always wished I had a secret amazing talent that I could use to shock and awe people. Being able to get up and casually drop a dance bomb on someone would have delighted me.

Film and Television

THE LIFT.

Once again, we must remember how fantastic this soundtrack is. "I Had The Time Of My Life" is just... the best. It's the perfect note on which to end the movie, even if it's anachronistic. I don't care. Nobody puts Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley in the corner. And when Johnny calls her "Frances" at the end and not "Baby," ugh, I love this movie. Also, Neil suggesting the Pechanga for the final dance lives rent-free in my head.

Dirty Dancing - 1987

This is such a gentle tagline compared to the title. I would love to have been in those marketing meetings. "The movie is sexy, but how do we get the parents to let their kids go see it?"

Dirty Dancing - 1987

This is clearly the UK poster, judging by the big old 15 rating. "Dancing to the beat of their hearts" is just so clumsy.

Film and Television

This is for Road House, and i have never seen THAT either (I know, I know), so I had no idea that floppy-haired Sam Elliot was so dreamy?

1989

An elegant Oscar photo.

Ghost

And then pottery class attendance went WAY up worldwide.

Ghost - 1990

I need to watch this movie again. Also, I read that tagline and thought, "SPOILER," but of course it's not. It's called GHOST. WE KNOW HE DIES, HEATHER.

1990

This was after he hosted SNL. The sun-kissed long blond hair was such a swerve for him, for me, but of course it was in aid if...

This is another one I need to revisit, for the surf hair alone.

Point Break - 1991

He looks kind of like Westley/Cary Elwes in this photo.

1990, with Tom Selleck

I mostly pulled this because, while I've seen Tom Selleck with a mustache and clean-shaven, I did not remember him ever having a full beard. It's important to mark the hair journeys.

65th Academy Awards 1992

Lisa looks GREAT, if perhaps in need of a hoik. That necklace is amazing.

1993

Patrick Swayze has such an open, friendly smile, considering he is famous for playing brooders.

1994

I like his snazzy jacket.

Wesley Snipes, John Leguizamo, Patrick Swayze

I need to rewatch this movie, too. He looks very elegant in that hat.

DRINKS WITH BROADS.

1997

And here he is, getting his star on the Walk of Fame. Spoiler: This will reappear in a poignant way.

2004 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

Guest-starring LL Cool J. I also have no idea what Patrick is wearing. A zip-up shirt with a vest?

2006

He starred in Guys and Dolls on the West End, which I had completely forgotten; I wish I'd gone to see that. There were a bunch of shots of him on stage and backstage, and he seemed really happy. This was the year before his cancer diagnosis.

And this is one of the last times he was seen out and about, after two years of treatments and rumors of the cancer spreading.

He passed away in September 2009.

Patrick Swayze

Cheers right back atcha, Patrick. Happy St. You Day.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Here is a Famous Patrick in History

Mr. Swayze.