Patrick Swayze's Famous Friends Fondly Remember Him in Moving Trailer for Doc About His Life
“You’re only on this planet for so long — go for it now.”
Those are the first words the late Patrick Swayze says in PEOPLE’s exclusive trailer for the upcoming documentary I Am Patrick Swayze. The Dirty Dancing actor, who died in Sept. 2009 at 57 of pancreatic cancer, is the latest subject for the team behind the Paramount Network documentary series, which has already debuted films about Heath Ledger, Paul Walker and John F. Kennedy Jr.
The documentary follows Swayze’s life, from his impressive talents, beginnings and Hollywood stardom to his tragic death after an almost two-year fight with cancer.
It also relies on friends and family to tell his story, including famous pals like Ghost costar Demi Moore and Rob Lowe.
“Patrick had something about him that was very rugged, but that also had that beautiful, gentle, sensuous ability to move,” Moore says at the beginning.
“Patrick performed like he had something to prove. He was a gymnast, a world-class cowboy, a dancer. Really?” an incredulous Lowe follows.
“What Patrick accomplished in his life, very few people get to accomplish,” Lowe adds later.
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But behind the Hollywood star was a man with who struggled with “demons,” as the late actor called it.
“I have these demons that run around my insides. I’ve done everything in the world, thinking I’m gonna get rid of them. I don’t know if I ever will,” Swayze admitted in an old interview clip.
Swayze’s longtime wife Lisa Niemi also appears in the documentary, getting personal about his lifelong struggle. The two married in 1975 and remained together until his death. The couple, who had no children, first met in 1970 when he was 18 and she was his mother’s 14-year-old dance student.
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“He’d be bubbly and fun, and as soon as he’s by himself and alone, he would just crash,” Niemi says in the trailer. “We had so many challenging things to deal with, but I still loved him.”
I Am Patrick Swayze, produced by Network Entertainment, will world premiere in the actor’s home state at the San Antonio Film Festival on Friday, August 2, and will debut on Swayze’s birthday, Sunday, August 18 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Paramount Network.
