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Patrick Swayze may have had the time of his life on the dance floor — but the path that led him there wasn’t always filled with such stunning lifts.

He went on to make a permanent mark in dance history in 1987’s romantic drama film Dirty Dancing with Jennifer Grey , before taking over Hollywood as one of the top leading men of the 80s and 90s, starring in classics like 1990’s Ghost and 1990’s Point Break .

But his talents were robbed from the world when he succumbed to pancreatic cancer and died on September 14, 2009, at the age of 57.

Swayze was raised in the dance studio

Born August 18, 1952 in Houston, Texas, Swayze was literally raised in a dance studio run by his mother Patsy Swayze, who died in 2013. “Didn’t believe in babysitters,”

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