Lisa Niemi, Patrick Swayze’s wife, delivers painful words following his death

In Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze, a much-loved performer, captivated the globe with his depiction as Johnny Castle.

People continue to this day to mourn the great and renowned actor Patrick Swayze. He was just 57 when he died of cancer in 2009, yet his legacy continues.

Swayze has a successful career that included nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Awards as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 

Not to mention the fact that his romance with his wife Lisa Niemi sounds like a Hollywood film script.

In Houston, Texas, on August 18, 1952, Patrick Wayne Swayze was born. Parents Patsy and Jesse Swayze raised him and his four siblings.

Father Jesse worked as a chemical plant engineer draftsman, while mother Patsy was the director of the Houston Jazz Ballet Company.

Swayze became interested in dance from an early age. At a dance studio, his mother introduced him to ballet, and soon after, Swayze was hooked.

He was, however, frequently made fun of by his peers due to his love for dancing. Swayze would end up having the last laugh and go on to become one of the greatest and brightest movie stars in history.

Patrick attended Waltrip High School in Houston, and in his yearbook, students referred to him as “Buddy Swayze.” Before he left the school in 1971, he participated in both football and theatre programs.

Swayze had begun to learn ballet by that point. At his mother’s dance studio, he had developed a profound affection for dancing. He had no idea that there he would also run across the love of his life.

At the Houston Jazz Ballet Company, Swayze spent a lot of time. He once encountered a girl in one of his mother’s lessons who he just could not look away from. Lisa Niemi is her name.

Patrick Swayze was a talented dancer before he finished high school. In New York City, he took dancing lessons at the Joffrey Ballet School and the Harkness Ballet School.

As Prince Charming in Disney on Parade, he landed his first role. Soon after, he appeared on Broadway in the original production of Grease as Danny Zuko.

Then, in 1979, Swayze had a brief role in Skatetown U.S.A., which served as his feature film debut. Two years later, he made his television debut in the venerable show MAS*H, playing a soldier battling leukemia. The Outsiders, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starred him with Matt Dillon in 1983, giving Swayze’s career a needed boost.

Swayze earned the role that would transform his life after appearing in six episodes of the television show North and South, putting him among some of the finest.

Swayze enjoyed tremendous success for his role as dance instructor Johnny Castle in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. The world has now witnessed many imitations of the legendary dance routines done with Baby (Jennifer Grey). Of course, the music continues to be noteworthy today.

Golden Globe for “Best Original Song – Motion Picture” and an Academy Award for “Best Music, Original Song” went to The Time of My Life.

In contrast, Swayze received a Golden Globe nomination for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.” He did, however, get the highest and most valuable prize for audience popularity.

Swayze received a second Golden Globe nomination in 1990 for his performance as Sam Wheat in the popular film Ghost. Whoopi Goldberg and Demi Moore also appeared in the movie, which went on to make over $500 million worldwide.

Ghost reportedly became the highest-grossing film of 1990 and, at the time of its release, the third-highest-grossing film of all time, according to Box Office Mojo. It is the 93rd-highest grossing movie of all time as of 2015 after being adjusted for inflation.

Lisa Niemi met Swayze for the first time when she was 15 years old. She was taking lessons from Swayze’s mother, but it would take some time before their future romance truly took off.

Patrick realized he couldn’t let her go. She discovered she liked him as time passed. And so they started dating rather quickly.

Over time, Patrick and Lisa formed a strong love. Nobody or anything could separate them. Not even the knowledge that Swayze will soon become a global icon could alter his feelings for her.

The two exchanged vows on June 12 1975. Given how frequently marriages end in divorce in Hollywood, Lisa and Patrick’s relationship stood apart.

The only thing lacking from this storybook relationship was the absence of children for Lisa and Patrick.

Swayze and Niemi had longed to conceive a family ever since they were married. When Lisa learned she was pregnant, they were ecstatic. However, when she miscarried, their delight was replaced with grief.

“It broke his heart. He wanted to be a dad more than anything. He had skills, knowledge, kindness, and love – everything a child would want.”

“I was born to be a dad,” Swayze said.

Lisa became aware as the years went by that she was growing too old to have children. Niemi decided to ask her husband instead whether he thought about adoption.

“I probably should have been better informed about to go about it, but anyway I may have wasted some time. But you know I said ‘you know, how would you feel about adopting?’ He got very teary-eyed and he said ‘I want to have children with you.’”

“Patrick very much wanted to be a father because I think he wanted to be as good a father to his child as his dad had been to him.”

“You could tell he would have been a great dad, Just as an uncle you could see it, you could see the amazing dad he would be.”