Patrick Swayze's representatives says that reports of an impending demise for the actor are untrue.
Many news reports stated that Swayze may have less than 5 weeks to live.In a statement, Swayze's management says "Actor Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and is currently undergoing treatment. Patrick's physician Dr. George Fisher states, "Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far. All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue. We are considerably more optimistic." Patrick is continuing his normal schedule during this time, which includes working on upcoming projects. The outpouring of support and concern he has already received from the public is deeply appreciated by Patrick and his family."
It was revealed earlier this week that Swayze was suffering from cancer. Also earlier this week, his co-star in the movie Road House, guitarist Jeff Healey, died of cancer at the age of 41.
The 55 year old actor was born in Houston, Texas. He is part Apache Indian.
In his early acting career, the soon-to-be star made a one-off role in M*A*S*H. He appeared in the season 9 episode 'Blood Brothers' in 1981.
His first movie was 'The Outsiders' in 1983, but it was 'Dirty Dancing' that made Swayze an international star as both an actor and a singer. The song he sang on the soundtrack, 'She's Like The Wind', became an international hit single.
Next came Road House, a movie that brought him back to his Texas roots. He played a bouncer but Jeff Healey got to do that soundtrack.
The big one was 'Ghost'. It established him as a top-shelf Hollywood property.
Another big movie was 'Point Break' in which he starred alongside Keanu Reeves.
In 1995, he took the piss out of his Hollywood reputation by playing a drag queen in 'To Wong Fong, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar'. The movie, despite being an American rip-off of the Australian film 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert', earned Patrick a nomination for 'Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture' at the Golden Globe awards.
His next movie will be out soon. It is called 'Powder Blue'. It is about four LA natives, a mortician, an ex-con, a suicidal ex-priest and a stripper who are brought together on Christmas Eve.
Swayze was diagnosed in January 2008 and has been undergoing chemotherapy.
