The Paramount Network has released the trailer for the documentary I Am Patrick Swayze, which takes a look at the life and legacy of the legendary actor. As a part of the network’s I Am documentary series, the TV special enlists many of Swayze’s most notable Hollywood colleagues to share their thoughts and memories of working with him across many projects. This includes such names as Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Sam Elliott, Jennifer Grey, C. Thomas Howell, Kelly Lynch, and Lori Petty.
One of Swayze’s most well-known pairings was with Demi Moore for Ghost, and Moore remembers the type of guy Swayze was in the doc. “Patrick had something about him that was very rugged but that also had that beautiful, gentle, sensuous ability to move,” Moore says in the trailer. Other co-stars speak about how charming and bubbly the actor always was on set, though as footage of Swayze himself speaking about it shows, the Dirty Dancing star was constantly dealing with his own “demons” as well. Still, the legacy the actor left behind is one that cannot be denied. “What Patrick accomplished in his life, very few people get to accomplish,” The Outsiders co-star Rob Lowe states.
Starting his career in the late ’70s, Patrick Swayze had become a household name within the span of just a few years. Movies like The Outsiders, Youngblood, and Red Dawn really helped to quickly launch his celebrity status, making him a popular actor and sex symbol by 1990. Some of his most memorable roles in the years since include parts in Point Break, Father Hood, and Donnie Darko. By 2008, Swayze was given the grim diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, though he continued working up until his death from the disease in 2009. His final roles would be for the movie Powder Blue and a recurring role in the TV series The Beast.
For his accomplishments in movies and television, Swayze has been granted many prestigious honors outside of the big screen. He was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards for his performances in Ghost, Dirty Dancing, and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. Swayze did manage to win a Bravo Otto Best Actor award for Tiger Warsaw. For writing and recording the Dirty Dancing song “She’s Like the Wind,” Swayze was also posthumously awarded the Rolex Dance Award in 2009. The actor is also one of the most well-known honorees to be named People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” which saw him take the honor in 1991.
I Am Patrick Swayze is the latest of the network’s I Am documentary series, which has previously highlighted celebrities like Richard Pryor, Heath Ledger, and Sam Kinison. The Swayze doc will premiere at the San Antonio Film Festival on Aug. 2, and will make its TV debut on the Paramount Network on Aug. 18. Needless to say, this one is going to be a must-see movie for fans of the actor, who’s still very much missed a decade after his death. You can see more from the series at ParamountNetwork.com.
