By now I’m sure everyone’s heard the news, beloved actor and 80s dance icon Patrick Swayze has succumbed to pancreatic cancer at the age of 57.

His publicist, Annett Wolf, told The Associated Press in Los Angeles that Mr. Swayze died with family at his side. Mr. Swayze’s cancer was diagnosed in January 2008. Six months after that, he had already outlived his prognosis and was filmed at an airport, smiling at photographers and calling himself, only half-facetiously, “a miracle dude.” He even went through with plans to star in “The Beast,” a new drama series for A&E, and filmed a complete season while undergoing treatment. Mr. Swayze insisted on continuing with the series. “How do you nurture a positive attitude when all the statistics say you’re a dead man?” he said to Bill Carter of The New York Times last October. “You go to work.”

My favorite Swayze films were definitely To Wong Foo, Ghost, and Dirty Dancing.  I had a professor in college who worked as a local news reporter and he said of all the celebrities he’d interviewed Patrick was the absolute nicest one.

We’ll miss you Sam Wheat!

Months ago when reports were swirling of Patrick being near death, Whoopi Goldberg declared on The View that she owed her Oscar to him.