Reeves pays tribute to 'generous' Swayze
Keanu Reeves described his 'Point Break' co-star Patrick Swayze as “a beautiful person” as he added his name to a growing list of celebrity tributes.
The 57-year-old 'Dirty Dancing' actor died yesterday after losing a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival, Reeves spoke fondly of his experience of working alongside Swayze on the movie about an FBI agent who infiltrates a group of bank robbing surfers.
He said Swayze showed a “passion and lust for life and his craft” during filming.
Reeves, 45, who was in Toronto to promote his new film 'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee', added: “He was very generous and to everyone around him he just lit up the room.
“He had a really good sense of humour and he lived life to the full.”
Reeves said that Swayze became a fan of ski-diving during filming for 'Point Break', much to the horror of film executives.
The actor said: “There were some ski-diving sequences in the film we did together.
“And it came to be that Patrick was jumping out of airplanes all the time.
“I think he did around 30 jumps during the course of filming.”
He said Swayze was eventually given a “cease and desist” letter to stop him.
Reeves is the latest in a string of former co-stars to recount happy memories of the actor.
Swayze shot to fame in 1987 with his performance as misunderstood bad boy dance instructor Johnny Castle in 'Dirty Dancing' – a coming-of-age story set in a Catskills resort in New York.
His co-star, Jennifer Grey, said: “Patrick was a rare and beautiful combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace.
“Gorgeous and strong, he was a real cowboy with a tender heart. He was fearless and insisted on always doing his own stunts, so it was not surprising to me that the war he waged on his cancer was so courageous and dignified.”
The film – which cost just five million dollars to make – is a firm favourite with young and old and his line “nobody puts Baby in a corner” is one of Hollywood’s most quoted.
It was the quirky 1990 romance 'Ghost' that cemented Swayze’s status as a screen heart-throb.
Swayze played Sam Wheat, a murdered man trying to communicate with his fiancee Molly Jensen, played by Demi Moore.
Moore, 46, said: “Patrick you are loved by so many and your light will forever shine in all of our lives.”
Rob Lowe, who played Swayze’s brother in 'The Outsiders' and 'Youngblood', said he had “lost a brother”.
