Actors who starred alongside Patrick Swayze in his best-known films have begun sending tributes to the former dancer turned actor who has died aged 57 from pancreatic cancer.
Jennifer Grey, who co-starred with Swayze in Dirty Dancing led the tributes, releasing a statement that said: "Patrick was a rare and beautiful combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace.
"Gorgeous and strong, he was a real cowboy with a tender heart. He was fearless and insisted on always doing his own stunts, so it was not surprising to me that the war he waged on his cancer was so courageous and dignified."
Writing on Twitter Demi Moore, who played Molly, fiancee to Swayze's character Sam, in the 1990 film Ghost said: "Patrick you are loved by so many and your light will forever shine in all of our lives."
In another message, slipping into character, she said: "And in the words of Sam to Molly. 'It's amazing Molly. The love inside, you take it with you.'
Whoopi Goldberg, who also appeared in Ghost, said: "Patrick was a really good man, a funny man and one to whom I owe much that I can't ever repay. I believe in Ghost's message, so he'll always be near."
Swayze went public with his illness in spring last year, and worked while he underwent treatment. He was writing a memoir and recently made The Beast, a well-received cable TV series about a veteran FBI agent.
Days ago it was reported he had left hospital to be at home with his wife, Lisa Niemi, his childhood sweetheart from Houston.
Swayze had said that he opted not to use painkillers while making The Beast because they would have taken the edge off his performance, but he never shied away from the fact his time may be running out. When he first went public, some reports gave him weeks to live, but his doctor said his situation was "considerably more optimistic" than that.
"I'd say five years is pretty wishful thinking," Swayze told ABC TV's Barbara Walters early this year. "Two years seems likely if you're going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure, which means I'd better get a fire under it."
Swayze will be best remembered for Dirty Dancing, made in 1987. As the snake-hipped dance instructor Johnny Castle, he taught Frances "Baby" Houseman to dance, and won the hearts of teenage girls with the immortal line: "No one puts baby in the corner."
Dirty Dancing, which was made for a modest budget and almost scrapped by its studio, became a massive box-office hit, earning Golden Globe nominations for both of its stars and spawning the Oscar-winning hit single (I've Had) The Time of My Life. The film reaped $64m (£39m) at the US box office and $214m worldwide.
Swayze co-wrote and performed the song She's Like the Wind for the movie's soundtrack, which went to No 3 in the music charts. The film remained widely popular more than two decades later and recently spawned a stage musical version.
The 1990 film Ghost cemented Swayze as a favourite. It was an even bigger hit than Dirty Dancing, with a domestic box office take of more than $217m, and $505m around the world.
After his early success, Swayze's personal life took a turn for the worse. Unable to cope with his father's death and sister's suicide in 1994, he repeatedly lapsed into alcoholism. In 1996 he broke both legs in a horse-riding stunt; in 2000 he made an emergency landing in his Cessna, and appeared to attempt to remove a crate of drink from the plane.
But in recent years he had made a comeback, playing Nathan Detroit in the West End revival of Guys and Dolls in 2006.
Writing on Twitter Larry King said: "Patrick Swayze was a wonderful actor & a terrific guy. He put his heart in everything. He was an extraordinary fighter in his battle w Cancer."
His early work included Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 film The Outsiders, where Swayze played alongside Rob Lowe in a star-studded lineup.
"He was an expert dancer, he wrote hit songs, he starred in hit movies, he was an amazing horseman. But the thing I will remember him most for was his amazing love affair with his wife, Lisa," Lowe said.
"He played my brother twice, in The Outsiders when I was 17, and then in Youngblood.
"Tonight I lost a brother."
