September 14th 2009 was a yet another sad day for the world of celebrity as the hunky Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze succumbs to the complications associated with pancreatic cancer.

This year has seen the demise of so many iconic celebrity figures, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Bea Arthur, David Carradine, Ed McMahn, Dominick Dunne, Edward Kennedy, Carl Malden, Natasha Richardson, Walter Kronkite and of course the UK’s Wendy Richards and Jade Goody.

But for fans of Swayze it has all ended too soon, at the age of just 57.

Known for a handful of Hollywood movie roles, including, Ghost in which he starred opposite Demi Moore, Dirty Dancing which saw him dancing his way into the lives of an ever increasing fan base and of course his last role as the hard hitting FBI agent.

Born in Texas, Patrick liked to keep his life private and to those ends the paps pretty much avoided tracking his life, private of public, as he lived with his wife Lisa Niemi whom he married in 1975. The couple never had children.

Swayze’s own father also died at age 57 from a heart attack in 1982, and from that time on Swayze began to drink heavily and following the suicide of his sister Vicky by an overdose in 1994, Patrick sought treatment for his addiction to alcohol.

During his school and college years Swayze took an interest in several artistic and athletic pursuits, such as ice skating, classical ballet, and acting in school plays. He also studied gymnastics for two years. By 1972 he’d moved to New York City to complete his formal dance training.

But to this day, ask any movie loving member of the public for their abiding memory of Swayze and chances are they will immediately come up with either his role as the physically perfect dancer in Dirty Dancing or the heartbreaking role of Sam Wheat in Ghost, where he gentle appears behind his co star Demi as their hands entwine around a potter’s wheel to the romantic sounds of the Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody!