The late, great Patrick Swayze, who passed away yesterday at the age of 57 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, began his career, famously, as a dancer.
But he also managed to score a 1987 pop hit with the ballad “She’s Like the Wind” from Dirty Dancing, and many of his most iconic stage and screen appearances hinged on musical moments, aside from Dirty D‘s multiple song performances — “Love Man,” “Johnny’s Mambo,” “Love Is Strange” (“Sylvia! Yes Mickey? How do you call your lovvvverboy..”) and, of course “I’ve Had the Time of My Life.”
And what girl didn’t ask for a pottery wheel for Christmas after Ghost‘s infamous extracurricular late-night lesson in bowl-making to the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody”?
Over the years, he busted some pretty sweet moves-on-wheels in 1979′s Skatetown U.S.A., seduced Kelly Lynch to Otis Redding’s “These Arms of Mine” in Roadhouse, (alas, this clip is altered for copyright), took it (nearly) all off to Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend” as a Chippendale-hopeful with Chris Farley on SNL, and even hoofed his way through a West End run of Guys and Dolls in 2006.
But you tell us, readers, what’s your favorite Swayze moment, musically? Watch him pull baby out of the corner one more time, below:
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My fvorite moment was his repetitive sing of “I’m Henry the 8th I Am” in Ghost. What a rip!
My favorite moment of any Patrick Swaze movie, of course — the closing credits.
jacka$$
Oh, come on. You don’t have to be a Dirty Dancing fan… but Red Dawn is made of awesome.
My fav will always be “Love is Strange”. Just the two of them playing around on the floor, dancing and lip-syncing. So cute and hot. As a teenager, I always wanted a boyfriend to do that with me. *sigh*
Talk about feeding off the dead. But then your are called EW.
The last dance in “Dirty Dancing”, of course… and the way he looks at Baby… every woman wants to be looked at in that way…
Definitely the final dance in Dirty Dancing and also “Love is Strange”. I will miss him
My favorite moment was what I just watched, I Had The Time Of My Life. I couldn’t even watch it without breaking down in tears.
Dirty Dancing of course. The last dance is incredible. But also, their interaction in the dance studio as they are singing “Mickey”. The chemistry was fantastic the whole movie. I loved “Ghost”, the Outsiders. But Dirty Dancing will always be my favorite. I watch it last night in honor.
The way he and Jennifer Grey looked at each other when practicing their dance for the Sheldrake Hotel. Those practice sessions were way hotter than the actual performance. But then again, she didn’t do the lift that time!
Ghost the last scene where he is asending to heaven, I lost my youngest son about the time this movie came out, and I would love to think this is the way it would be for him
Wolverines!!!!!!!!
Wolverines!!!! For sure!
Open sequence of “To Wong Foo,” with him and Wesley Snipes getting made up to “Body Beautiful.”
My memories of him are in Dirty Dancing and Ghost. But Patrick Swayze being in Dirty Dancing was the best! Yahoo!
I liked him in almost everything that he did. He was fun in “To Wong Foo”, he was incredible in “Ghost” (I still can’t hear Unchained Melody without tearing up), and loved the chemistry between he and Sam Elliot in “Road House”. Of course, there is Dirty Dancing….ah, I loved this cheesy movie right from the start!
But the role that I first saw him, and was the starting point of my swooning was that of Darrel in “The Outsiders”.
Thank you for leaving a great many films behind for me to continually enjoy.
On another note, one of the best musical “performances”, I’d have to say was on Saturday Night Live. Not the Chippendales scene with Chris Farley (although, that was hilarious), but the opening monologue, where instead of doing the usual opening schtick, he brought out his wife and danced with her. Beautiful!