Actor Patrick Swayze dies of cancer

After he turned his life around, the actor many called Hollywood's nicest guy was named People Magazine's sexiest man in 1991. He and Niemi bought themselves a five-acre spread north of L.A. at the foot of the Angeles National Forest, named it Rancho Bizarro, and populated it with Arabian horses, dogs and peacocks. They tried for children, but after several miscarriages both felt "the window had closed" on their opportunity to become parents.

A longtime student of Buddhism, Mr. Swayze was drawn to City of Joy (1992), the Calcutta-set film where he plays a dropout doctor who recovers his vocation.

He often delivered dialogue guru-style, and with his passing, some of his oracular lines seem eerily prescient. Mr. Swayze's family and fans (and who is not?) might find comfort in remembering Point Break, in which he says, "It's not tragic to die doing what you love." Or The Outsiders, where as the big brother counseling his baby bro, he says, "Just because you lose somebody, you don't stop living."

Besides his wife Lisa, he is survived by his mother, Patsy, and siblings Don, Sean and Bambi.

Contact movie critic Carrie Rickey at 215-854-5402 or crickey@phillynews.com. Read her blog, Flickgrrl, at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/flickgrrl/