Actor Patrick Swayze has passed away!

After a long 20 month battle with pancreatic cancer actor Patrick Swayze has passed away at the age of 57. His publicist told the Associated Press that Swayze passed away peacefully at home with his family by his side. No further details were released.

Swayze earned his fame and sex symbol status with roles in film's such as "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost". Even after learning of his cancer diagnosis Swayze continued to work and keep a positive attitude. After outliving his initial prognosis of 6 months, he went on to complete filming on an entire season of the A&E drama series "The Beast" in which he played an undercover F.B.I agent, earning rave reviews from fans and critics.

Swayze put up a good fight and Hollywood has lost another iconic star, our thoughts are with this family and friends during this difficult time!

Patrick Swayze's Fight For Life

Patrick Swayze may be dying, but he is not going without a fight. Remember Dalton in Roadhouse? Smart and strong? Swayze embodies his character in real life too with action, not bravado.

In his recent interview with Barbara Walters on ABC he revealed that not only is he not on his deathbed (which we all at PCM have been reporting), he has gone as far as to refuse pain killers while working a hard work schedule (TV Series "The Beast") on top of his pancreatic cancer treatment.

He is quick to report he is not dying. Not now. "Am I dying? Am I giving up? Am I on my death bed? Am I saying goodbye to people? No way," he told Barbara Walters.

He is clear on his passion to live too: "I keep dreaming of a future, a future with a long and healthy life, not lived in the shadow of cancer but in the light," he said. Despite his positive outlook on life, he admits he may only have two years to live. He wants to live long enough to find a cure. Many have reached out to Swayze suggesting he can go for a liver transplant which could extend his life by 18 years.

The Media Wants Patrick Swayze Dead

A couple weeks ago we at Pop Culture Madness reported how many of our fellow media reporters are calling these the last days of Patric Swayze. It appears the media wants him dead despite his heroic effort at recovery. In his own words, "They're reporting that I'm on my last legs and saying goodbye to my tearful family! ... It's upsetting that the shoddy and reckless reporting from these publications cast a negative shadow on the positive and good fight I'm fighting."

His new show The Beast is set for release January 15th and Patrick is reportedly benefiting from the work. His health is improving. His will to beat pancreatic cancer is important. It's important to so many people afflicted with this condition. Hope is a very powerful thing and for the media to circle like vultures is sick.

I personally speculated that Patrick was being used by his own studio to play into his character on the show The Beast. In retrospect, I feel that even I became caught in the trap of discussing his condition rather than his hope and how he is living. My truest hope now is that my original speculation is very wrong. It's one time I want to be wrong. Go Patrick!

Patrick Swayze celebrates 56th birthday

Patrick Swayze celebrated his 56th birthday with family and friends in Chicago on Monday.

The actor was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March, and at the time it was reported he had weeks to live.

His wife Lisa Niemi turned up on set of his A&E series The Beast and crew members surprised him with with a cake and decorations.

Fans also arrived at the bash to wish him well.

The Beast will air in the US next year.

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