Career: Following small parts in TV movies, Swayze landed a role in Francis Ford Coppola's drama The Outsiders alongside other then unknowns, including Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon and Emilio Estevez. Its success brought him to the attention of other directors. In 1987 he became an overnight global sensation thanks to Dirty Dancing. Road House, Next of Kin, Ghost and Point Break followed, but by the early 1990s, his career had slowed down. His last films included Donnie Darko, Waking Up in Reno, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Keeping Mum, and Powder Blue. Swayze was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in January 2008. A year later, he was hospitalised with pneumonia that was said to be a complication of chemotherapy treatments he had received. He died aged 57 on September 14, 2009.