It is with great sadness that we learn Patrick Swayze has died today. He was 57 years old. There aren't many celebrities whom I will cry over at their deaths, but Patrick Swayze is/was one of them.
Patrick, of course, had a whole slew of great movies out there, not the least of which is Ghost and Dirty Dancing. But the one that I loved the most was To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar. Swayze and Leguizamo earned Golden Globe Award nominations for "Best Actor" and "Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical" respectively.
"I couldn't get seen on (screen test for Wong Foo) because everyone viewed me as terminally heterosexually masculine-macho," Swayze told the AP back then. But he transformed himself so completely that when his screen test was sent to Steven Spielberg, whose Amblin pictures produced "To Wong Foo," Spielberg didn't even recognize him.
It's an amazing thing to see the total transformation of men considered ultra-macho. Swaze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo pulled off that magic quite well and entertained us with excellent drag performances.
I mean, how do you go from hot hunk to beauty queen and manage to pull it off? Altho his hands and, of course, Adam's Apple, gave him away... Patrick Swayze looked every bit like a woman in that movie. Brava!
Pancreatic Cancer is a bitch. I will miss you, Patrick, as will so many of us. Thank you for your contributions to our lives!
