Swayze's first professional appearance was as a dancer for Disney on Parade. He then starred as a replacement playing the role of Danny Zuko in the long-running Broadway production of Grease[9] before his debut film role as "Ace" in Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979). He appeared as Pvt. Sturgis in the M*A*S*H episode "Blood Brothers" (1981)[10] as well as in the TV movie Return of the Rebels (1981) with Barbara Eden[11] and had a brief stint in 1982 on a short-lived TV series The Renegades[12] playing a gang leader named Bandit. Swayze became known to the film industry after appearing in The Outsiders (1983) as the older brother of C. Thomas Howell and Rob Lowe. Swayze, Howell, and Howell's friend Darren Dalton reunited in Red Dawn (1984) the next year, and Lowe and Swayze reunited in Youngblood (1986). His first major success was in the 1985 television miniseries North and South, which was set during the American Civil War.[13]
Swayze and Paula Abdul at the 1990 Grammy Awards
Swayze's breakthrough role came with his performance as dance instructor Johnny Castle in the film Dirty Dancing (1987), alongside his Red Dawn co-star, Jennifer Grey. Dirty Dancing, a coming of age story, was a low-budget film that was intended to be shown in theaters for one weekend only and then be released on video, but it became a surprise hit and achieved an enormous international success. It was the first film to sell one million copies on video, and as of 2009, it had earned over $214 million worldwide and spawned several alternative versions, ranging from a television series to stage productions to a computer game. Swayze received a Golden Globe Award nomination for the role, and sang one of the songs on the soundtrack, "She's Like the Wind", which he had originally co-written with Stacy Widelitz for the film Grandview, U.S.A. (1984). The song became a top-10 hit and has been covered by other artists.
After Dirty Dancing, Swayze found himself in great acting demand and appeared in several films, of which Road House (1989) was the most successful. His biggest role came when he starred in Ghost (1990) with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg.[14] In 1991, he starred alongside Youngblood castmate Keanu Reeves in another major action hit, Point Break, and he was chosen by People magazine as that year's "Sexiest Man Alive".[citation needed]
For his contributions to the film industry, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997.[15]
Swayze was seriously injured in 1998 while filming HBO's Letters from a Killer near Ione, California, when he fell from a horse and hit a tree. Both of his legs were broken, and he suffered four detached tendons in his shoulder. Filming was suspended for two months, and the film aired in 1999. Swayze recovered from his injuries, but he had trouble resuming his career until 2000, when he co-starred in Forever Lulu, with Melanie Griffith.
In 2001, he appeared in the cult classic Donnie Darko, wherein he played a famous motivational speaker revealed to be a closet pedophile. In 2002, he co-starred with Billy Bob Thornton and Charlize Theron in Waking Up in Reno, which focuses on two redneck couples taking a road trip from Little Rock to Reno to see a monster truck rally. In 2004, he played Allan Quartermain in King Solomon's Mines and had a cameo appearance in the Dirty Dancing prequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, as an unnamed dance instructor.
Swayze made his West End theatre début in the musical Guys and Dolls as Nathan Detroit on July 27, 2006,[16][17][18] alongside Neil Jerzak, and remained in the role until November 25, 2006. His previous appearances on the Broadway stage had included productions of Goodtime Charley (1975)[19] and Chicago.[citation needed]
Swayze also provided the voice for Cash the country music band dog in The Fox and the Hound 2 (2006), and in 2007 he starred in the film Christmas in Wonderland. Swayze played an aging rock star in Powder Blue (2008), co-starring his younger brother Don in their first film together. In his final role, Swayze starred in the A&E FBI drama The Beast,[20] filmed in Chicago, as FBI Agent Charles Barker.[21]
