Patrick Swayze Biography

Fast Facts

• Was a running back on Waltrip High School's football team
• Attended San Jacinto College on a gymnastics scholarship, but left after two years to tour with Disney on Parade as Prince Charming
• Met his wife Lisa Niemi while she was a student at his mother's dance academy
• Studied at the Harkness and Joffrey Ballet Companies and was named principal dancer at the Eliot Feld Ballet Company
• Played Danny Zuko during the original Broadway run of Grease
• Taught North and South co-star James Read how to ride horses
• Wrote and sang "She's Like the Wind" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack
• Turned down $6 million to reprise his role as Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights