Patrick Swayze dead

Dirty Dancing film star Patrick Swayze has died aged 57, his publicist says.
Annett Wolf said that the US actor, who had been battling pancreatic cancer for nearly two years, died with family at his side on Monday.
Swayze was diagnosed with advanced stage four pancreatic cancer in January last year.
The actor had been starring in US TV show The Beast since being diagnosed with the disease. He had also planned to write a memoir with his wife.
“Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months,” said a statement by Annett Wolf quoted by the Associated Press.

“Dirty Dancing” star Patrick Swayze has died after an almost two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

Annett Wolf, Swayze’s publicist, confirms that the 57-year-old actor died Monday with his family by his side.

It had been reported recently that he had gone home to be with his family.

Swayze’s role in “Dirty Dancing” propelled him to stardom in 1987.

But it was his role in the 1990 romantic drama “Ghost” that raised his celeb status to an even higher level.Swayze’s publicist Annett Wolf says the 57-year-old “Dirty Dancing” actor died Monday with family at his side. He came forward about his illness last spring, but continued working as he underwent treatments.

It was 1987 when Swayze became a star with his performance in “Dirty Dancing,” a coming-of-age story set in a Catskills resort. The 1990 film “Ghost” cemented his status as a screen favorite.

Swayze played a murdered man trying to communicate with his fiancee through a spirit played by Whoopi Goldberg.

He kept on working even after it was disclosed in March 2008 that he had a particularly deadly form of cancer. He starred in “The Beast,” an A&E drama series, and said he and his wife were working on a memoir.

Critics said Swayze was erratic in his choice of roles, reports CBS Radio’s Karyn Regal. He said true actors needed to take chances.

Swayze also didn’t want his head to swell over being declared People Magazine’s “sexiest man alive” in 1991 – a title earned after his erotic pottery scene in “Ghost,” Regal reports. But for many of his fans, that’s the image that will live on.