Skip to Content

Patrick Swayze and his wife Lisa Niemi sat down with Barbara Walters for an exclusive interview that was broadcast last night. Entitled Barbara Walters Special-Patrick Swayze: The Truth, the special aired on January 7 at 10/9 on ABC.

Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early 2008 and underwent chemotherapy treatments at Stanford University Medical Center. He tells Barbara “You can bet that I’m going through hell and I’ve only seen the beginning of it. There’s a lot of fear here, there’s a lot of stuff going on. Yeah, I’m angry. Yeah, I’m scared.”

He is perhaps best known for his role as dance instructor Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing. He also appeared in the 1990 movie Ghost with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. His newest television show, The Beast on A&E premieres on January 15. The episodes were filmed while he was undergoing cancer treatment.

UPDATE: Patrick Swayze died on September 14, 2009. The full interview will air on Tuesday night September 15 in a Barbara Walters special – see film clip below.



Since the show aired, Swayze has been hospitalized with pneumonia.