Actor Patrick Swayze Dies at 57

Actor Patrick Swayze, who attained heartthrob status in the movies Dirty Dancing and Ghost, died Monday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer; he was 57. The star revealed in March of 2008 that he was suffering from the deadly form of cancer, but continued working on the A&E series The Beast, and remained optimistic in interviews and on the set during his treatment.

Swayze shot to fame in the early ’80s as part of the destined-for-fame ensemble in the 1983 drama The Outsiders, and also appeared in the action drama Red Dawn before taking on one of the lead roles in the popular miniseries North and South. He hit his zenith of fame in the late ’80s and early ’90s with the smash hit Dirty Dancing (1987), the cult fave Road House (1989), and the Oscar-winner Ghost (1990), opposite Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, where his pottery-making scene with Moore became one of cinema’s most iconic romantic scenes.

His films in the ’90s included another cult favorite, Point Break, as well as the drama City of Joy, the cross-dressing comedy To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar, and the indie hit Donnie Darko. He reprised his Dirty Dancing role in the quasi-remake Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. In addition to his role in The Beast, Swayze most recently appeared in the drama Powder Blue and British comedy Keeping Mum.

Swayze is survived by his wife Lisa Niemi, whom he married in 1975.

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John Hughes: 1950-2009

We’re still in shock after learning that John Hughes passed away today in Manhattan, at age 59.

Perhaps it’s because 59 seems too young, or maybe it’s more that he’s someone that has such strong ties to and influence on the teen years of so many of us, that we’re strangely without words.  We find ourselves only able to reminisce about funny scenes in films he directed or bits of dialogue that we still repeat to this day.  (We’re pulling together a group of favorite video clips from his movies and will be adding them to the upper left-hand side of our homepage any minute now.)

So we ask: what are some of your favorite John Hughes-related moments?  What are the characters, or places, or scenes that stick with you even now?

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