Actor Patrick Swayze has started to say goodbye to family and friends as he prepares for death following the spreading of his pancreatic cancer.
The 56-year star of Ghost and Dirty Dancing has come to terms with his illness and was told by doctors in January to prepare for the end.The National Enquirer reports that Swayze has told Lisa, his wife of 33-years and his brother Donny that since his illness has spread to his liver that it was time for him to start saying his farewells.
Swayze has been undergoing treatment for the illness at the Stanford Medical Center in California.
Swayze is a veteran of the big screen. He had a series of low-key projects starting with ‘Skatetown, USA’ in 1979 but it was 1987s blockbuster ‘Dirty Dancing’ that catapulted Swayze from actor to star.
That lead to a series of major motion pictures including ‘Road House’ in 1989 and ‘Point Break’ in 1991 but the big one was as Sam Wheat in the movie ‘Ghost’.
Even after learning of his terminal illness, Swayze continued to work. His final performance is in TV show ‘The Beast’ in which he plays Charles Barker. ‘The Beast’ debuted on A&E in January. Although fighting his illness during filming, Swayze only missed one day.
Swayze has the lead role in the show. He plays an unorthodox but effective FBI veteran. Critics are calling his performance “the performance of a lifetime”.
His final movie is ‘Powder Blue’. He plays a sleazy strip club owner. The movie also starts Forest Whitaker, Ray Liota and Jennifer Biel.
It had a limited edition screening this week in the USA and will be released on DVD on June 9.
