First off, let me start by saying I'm not easily impressed by Hollywood stars (or any kind of "star" to be honest). Sure, I like the work of alot of actors/actresses, and just like everyone else, I follow along with their movies and all the unfortunate quips about their personal lives. After all, it's plastered all over the magazines at the checkouts, on the internet like a virus, and even on the National news when they think it merits attention.
But I'm not one to have a strong emotional response of any kind by a certain actor. (Well, except in the case of Johnny Depp, but I think you all are well aware of that addiction - and the emotional response for that matter!)
Fame is fleeting, and most actors (and by that I mean actresses as well) are utterly ridiculous. Complaining about their pay when they make hundreds of thousands - and even millions - of dollars for their work. (Hello? You're entertainment. You're not curing cancer or finding the remedy to rid the world of pollution.) Buying a purse for four thousand dollars or staying in ten-thousand-dollar-a-night hotel suites when most people could live off what actors spend on milk bones for their dog each year!
Let alone the promiscuity that begets the entire Hollywood scene. Seems someone's marriage is breaking up due to someone else's infidelity on a daily basis. Ugh.
My admiration is short-lived for people like that.
Let alone the promiscuity that begets the entire Hollywood scene. Seems someone's marriage is breaking up due to someone else's infidelity on a daily basis. Ugh.
My admiration is short-lived for people like that.
However, a select cluster of actors does have my respect. Such as Paul Newman (married over fifty years? Unheard of), Tom Hanks (long marriage, fantastic career choices on most counts), Johnny Depp (though quite a hellion in his younger years I have to admire his eccentric personality and devotion to only making the films he wants to), Clint Eastwood (well...it's CLINT, people.), and Leonardo Dicaprio (who, for a relatively young actor he hasn't had any of the tabloid crap and is a fantastic actor). As far as actresses, I'd go with Meryl Streep (for obvious reasons), Kate Winslet (superb choices, stellar acting), and Reese Witherspoon (who despite a rather public divorce still seems to be a genuinely decent person).
I'm sure there are others.
I'm sure there are others.
But to bring this long preamble to a close, what I'm trying to say is that alot of people in Hollywood (and by that I am speaking of NYC and everywhere else) are fickle, money-hungry, fame-seeking, embarrassingly unstable individuals.
So when I find someone whose acting I enjoy and whose personal choices I respect, I'm jazzed.
I've always liked Patrick Swayze. Loved his movies and had great respect for his long marriage (lengthy by even regular standards, not to mention Hollywood).
Not long ago on this very blog I waxed poetic about his accomplishments in cinema after his untimely death.
Knowing he had been writing an autobiography in the months before his death, I knew it was something I would want to pick up. Sadly, it was published post-mortem - but that only makes the tome more poignant and meaningful in my opinion.
Not long ago on this very blog I waxed poetic about his accomplishments in cinema after his untimely death.
Knowing he had been writing an autobiography in the months before his death, I knew it was something I would want to pick up. Sadly, it was published post-mortem - but that only makes the tome more poignant and meaningful in my opinion.
"The Time of My Life" is written by Patrick and his wife of 34 years, Lisa Niemi. It is the story of his life, as one would assume.
Some of the highlights:
*Patrick was a Texas high school football star and was sitting on a possible college scholarship when his knee was ripped to shreds in a nasty hit. He was in a hip to toe body cast for months.
*He rehabilitated and then focused on gymnastics - intending to go on to the Olympics - but his knee wouldn't hold out.
*His mother was a famous dance instructor and had her own studio in Houston. Patrick danced from the time he could walk. He had every intention of having a ballet career and lived in NYC most of his early twenties, studying at a famous studio and making a life with Lisa, also a dancer.
*He met Lisa at his mother's dance studio when she was 15 and he was 18. She totally ignored him...at first.
*It was only when he turned down a lucrative ballet job (and an opportunity to dance alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov no less) due to his knee that he started to seriously consider an acting career.
*He has a passionate love of horses, and has even shown Arabians professionally until his fame from Dirty Dancing made it impossible to continue. He has also bought several of the horses he rode in various movies, including Red Dawn and North & South.
*His nickname from the time he was a small child was "Buddy" - his father was also called Buddy, so Patrick was "Little Buddy" for years.
*At one point in L.A., he and Lisa were so broke they had to survive on peanut butter sandwiches and oranges off a tree in their backyard.
*He was known for elaborate pranks on set.
*Lisa traveled with him to most movie sets over the entire course of his career - both because he wanted her there and in some cases she was also acting, or helping with choreography.
*Ironically enough, the small role he had in an episode of M*A*S*H was about a soldier who finds out he has cancer.
*His mother found out about Patrick's cancer from a National Enquirer reporter on her doorstep.
*His ranch near L.A. is called "Rancho Bizarro". He also owns another in New Mexico.
*He and Jennifer Grey both starred in Red Dawn - years before Dirty Dancing would catapult them both into super-stardom. She actually didn't like him much till near the end of the Red Dawn shoot.
*Patrick wrote 'She's like the wind' way back in 1979 - so when it hit the charts as a number one single in 1987 and someone else tried to take credit for writing it and sue him, Patrick had only to find the demo recorded back in '79 to set those claims to rest.
*He explains just exactly what a 'gender bender' is, and how much he hated it.
*Contrary to popular belief, he did not wreck his airplane in 2000 because he was drinking. He had hypoxia caused by a change in cabin pressure. He nearly died.
*He filmed the entire season of the recent AMC drama 'The Beast' while undergoing chemotherapy, also refusing to take pain killers while on set because he thought it would interfere too much with his acting and take away (or perhaps give him?) his edge.
Seeing as how I read (almost exclusively) horror/paranormal/fantasy and mystery/thrillers, I found this book refreshing, interesting, funny, and finally - ever so sad.
Actually, just reading the prologue (which includes prefaces written by both Patrick and Lisa) had me tearing up. Books never affect me like that - not enough to cry. But knowing that he lost his fight just weeks ago, it was kinda tough to take.
For me, there were so many reasons to enjoy this book. Tidbits of life on a movie set provide an insight you've probably never heard before, his open and honest feelings on his love of family just pour out, his great passion for horses is brought up throughout the book - obviously having a profound effect on his life (hell, there's a horse on the cover!), and most of all - his enthusiastic and lasting love for his wife comes through literally on every page. They had alot of tough times but they made it work, and work well.
Overcoming adversities at nearly every step, Patrick Swayze had an eventful, inspiring life. I'm generally not too keen on autobiographies, but this one I can recommend in a heartbeat.
*Patrick was a Texas high school football star and was sitting on a possible college scholarship when his knee was ripped to shreds in a nasty hit. He was in a hip to toe body cast for months.
*He rehabilitated and then focused on gymnastics - intending to go on to the Olympics - but his knee wouldn't hold out.
*His mother was a famous dance instructor and had her own studio in Houston. Patrick danced from the time he could walk. He had every intention of having a ballet career and lived in NYC most of his early twenties, studying at a famous studio and making a life with Lisa, also a dancer.
*He met Lisa at his mother's dance studio when she was 15 and he was 18. She totally ignored him...at first.
*It was only when he turned down a lucrative ballet job (and an opportunity to dance alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov no less) due to his knee that he started to seriously consider an acting career.
*He has a passionate love of horses, and has even shown Arabians professionally until his fame from Dirty Dancing made it impossible to continue. He has also bought several of the horses he rode in various movies, including Red Dawn and North & South.
*His nickname from the time he was a small child was "Buddy" - his father was also called Buddy, so Patrick was "Little Buddy" for years.
*At one point in L.A., he and Lisa were so broke they had to survive on peanut butter sandwiches and oranges off a tree in their backyard.
*He was known for elaborate pranks on set.
*Lisa traveled with him to most movie sets over the entire course of his career - both because he wanted her there and in some cases she was also acting, or helping with choreography.
*Ironically enough, the small role he had in an episode of M*A*S*H was about a soldier who finds out he has cancer.
*His mother found out about Patrick's cancer from a National Enquirer reporter on her doorstep.
*His ranch near L.A. is called "Rancho Bizarro". He also owns another in New Mexico.
*He and Jennifer Grey both starred in Red Dawn - years before Dirty Dancing would catapult them both into super-stardom. She actually didn't like him much till near the end of the Red Dawn shoot.
*Patrick wrote 'She's like the wind' way back in 1979 - so when it hit the charts as a number one single in 1987 and someone else tried to take credit for writing it and sue him, Patrick had only to find the demo recorded back in '79 to set those claims to rest.
*He explains just exactly what a 'gender bender' is, and how much he hated it.
*Contrary to popular belief, he did not wreck his airplane in 2000 because he was drinking. He had hypoxia caused by a change in cabin pressure. He nearly died.
*He filmed the entire season of the recent AMC drama 'The Beast' while undergoing chemotherapy, also refusing to take pain killers while on set because he thought it would interfere too much with his acting and take away (or perhaps give him?) his edge.
Seeing as how I read (almost exclusively) horror/paranormal/fantasy and mystery/thrillers, I found this book refreshing, interesting, funny, and finally - ever so sad.
Actually, just reading the prologue (which includes prefaces written by both Patrick and Lisa) had me tearing up. Books never affect me like that - not enough to cry. But knowing that he lost his fight just weeks ago, it was kinda tough to take.
For me, there were so many reasons to enjoy this book. Tidbits of life on a movie set provide an insight you've probably never heard before, his open and honest feelings on his love of family just pour out, his great passion for horses is brought up throughout the book - obviously having a profound effect on his life (hell, there's a horse on the cover!), and most of all - his enthusiastic and lasting love for his wife comes through literally on every page. They had alot of tough times but they made it work, and work well.
Overcoming adversities at nearly every step, Patrick Swayze had an eventful, inspiring life. I'm generally not too keen on autobiographies, but this one I can recommend in a heartbeat.
No comments:
Post a Comment