Five Best Patrick Swayze Characters
Dirty Dancing Actor`s Classic Performances in Action, Comedy & Drama
Sep 15, 2009
An actor of stage and screen, 57-year-old Patrick Swayze died September 14, 2009 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Born Patrick Wayne Swayze in 1952, the late actor grew up in the limelight with his mother Patsy who owned a dance school in Houston. Swayze started his career with dancing yet was able to expand his abilities to deliver a wide range of performances in action, drama and comedic films. Swayze was named in People Magazine’s 1991 Most Beautiful People in The World and was married to his wife Lisa Niemi for 34 years.
What was unique about this versatile actor was not his roles in films from the 80s, 90s and today, but that he created characters people both love and hate.
Five of his most memorable characters are Darrel Curtis in The Outsiders, Jed in Red Dawn, Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing, Dalton in Roadhouse and Bodhi in Point Break.
Older Brother, Tough Guy Darrel Curtis in The Outsiders
The Outsiders, a play by S.E. Hinton, was one of Swayze’s first roles in 1983 – his first being Skatetown, U.S.A. in 1979. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Outsiders follows the life of two high school social classes, the Soc’s and Greasers, whose misunderstanding of each other leads to strife.
It’s similar in many ways to a modern-day Romeo and Juliet and Swayze plays the main character’s tough, older brother Darrel. This film also kickstarted the careers of other well-known actors such as Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez and Matt Dillon.
Swayze Fights a Soviet Invasion in Red Dawn
A year after the release of The Outsiders, Swayze starred in Red Dawn, the story of a group of high school students forced to fight a unexpected Soviet invasion. Red Dawn is a cult 80s classic that is the Brat Pack on steroids.
Swayze plays the patriarchal character Jed who helps the other teenagers survive in the wilderness and stage guerilla attacks against the Soviets. It also stars C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson and Charlie Sheen.
Nobody Puts Baby in The Corner, Swayze in Dirty Dancing
Perhaps one of Swayze’s most memorable characters is Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing. He showcases both his dancing abilities – as well as singing on the film’s soundtrack – and plays the “tough guy” from the other side of the tracks with a hint of sensitivity.
The character of Johnny, a dance instructor at an upstate New York summer resort, introduces the naïve Frances “Baby” Houseman (Played by Jennifer Grey) to the underground thrills of dirty dancing. The two later fall in love and perform a memorable dance scene at the end of the film.
Swayze as Dalton in Action Classic Roadhouse
Anyone with basic cable has seen Roadhouse at least once. The 1989 film features endless bar fights, monster trucks, kung fu and classic one-liners. Swayze plays Dalton, the philosophical bouncer who moves to a small town to tame an out-of-control bar.
In Roadhouse Swayze trades in dancing for fighting, alongside Sam Elliot who plays fellow bouncer Wade Garrett, and Kelly Lynch who plays his love interest.
Swayze as Surfing Sociopath Bodhi in Point Break
In 1991, Swayze starred as a sociopath surfer named Bodhi in Point Break. It also starred Keanu Reeves as ex-football player, FBI agent Johnny Utah and Gary Busey as his aged partner Pappas.
Bodhi and a group of surfing goons knock down Los Angeles banks while wearing masks of the ex-presidents. Swayze’s character is a philosophical beach bum in search for the ultimate ride.
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