Friends and Family Remember Patrick Swayze 15 Years After His Death

Transcript

00:0015 years ago, the world lost Patrick Swayze, and now his friends and co-workers are telling us

00:05Weekly what made the beloved actor so special, and why he is still so beloved after his untimely

00:11death. His former manager, Kate Edwards, tells us Weekly in this week's Cover Story,

00:15When you go see a Patrick Swayze film, you know before a single frame is shown that no matter

00:20what, he'll take care of business, and he'll take care of you. It's that promise and commitment

00:26to the viewer that keeps us coming back again and again, and it's why he'll remain a movie star

00:31forever. The actor landed a breakthrough role in 1983's The Outsider, along Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe,

00:38and C. Thomas Howell. Howell told us, Patrick wore his heart on his sleeve. He was one of the

00:43most giving people I've ever been around. Within two years, Swayze was getting top billing in

00:48movies with established stars like Gene Hackman and starring in the globally successful TV series

00:54North & South. And in 1987, he became a global phenomenon with Dirty Dancing,

01:00and later with Roadhouse, Ghost, and Point Break. Frank Whiteley, who was Patrick's

01:04longtime bodyguard, tells us, He chose roles that would mimic his life. While Edwards adds,

01:10Patrick was the ultimate risk-taker. He pushed himself to the very edge of no return in most

01:15everything he did. He liked that edge and the adrenaline that came with it. It fed him more

01:21than any food. For the next decade, Swayze's life was peaceful with his wife, Lisa. However,

01:26in 2008, while filming A&E TV drama The Beast, the actor received tragic news. Whiteley remembers

01:33getting the call from Swayze when he told him that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Whiteley

01:38tells us, He's like, There's like a 98 percent chance I'm gonna die, but there's a 2 percent

01:44chance that I can kick its ass and win. That's his philosophy, and he gave it a good fight.

01:49His longtime assistant, Rosemary Highgate, recalls Swayze fought like the warrior that he was,

01:54and never lost hope that he was going to be the exception to the rule for that particular

01:59diagnosis. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case, and Swayze succumbed to his cancer

02:05the following year. In the years since his passing, it's those stories about his normalcy,

02:10his decency, and his generosity that have continued to grow in stature,

02:15and he is now remembered as one of the nicest superstars of all time. Edwards tells us,

02:20Patrick's personal legacy to us would be to never limit yourself,

02:24follow your passion, and never, ever give up.