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The great celebrity cull of 2009 continues with shocking abandon today as news reaches us that Patrick Swayze, the star of such beloved movies as Dirty Dancing, Point Break and Ghost, has died following a long and brave battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

The snake-hipped, ass-kicking icon who was beloved by both women and men for his undeniable charm, movie-star good looks and deft dance moves passed away peacefully on Monday with family at his side after suffering from the illness for the past 20 months.

The actor, who had kept working despite the diagnosis, was most recently seen on the small screen in the well-received A&E drama, The Beast. In what would be his final performance, Swayze, reportedly opted not to use painkilling drugs while making the show because they would have taken the edge off his performance - a fairly typical act of defiance from an actor who always threw himself fully into his roles.

Having made a name for himself in films such as Francis Ford Coppola's brat pack flick The Outsiders and gung-ho actioner Red Dawn, Swayze etched his visage (and toned abs!) into the minds of a movie-going generation with his role as Johnny Castle, the dance instructor who argued that "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" in the hugely popular Dirty Dancing.

From there, his career roles vacillated between romance (with the likes of ethereal tear-jerker Ghost), blockbuster action (he kicked ass in Road House and took names in Point Break) and some impressively left-field efforts (dragging up for the marvelous To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar and playing a paedophile self-help guru in Donnie Darko).

A trained dancer and gymnast, the athletic Swayze parlayed his skills into a variety or challenging roles and was rewarded with three Golden Globe nominations throughout his career.

After an astonishing run of hits in the late Eighties and early Nineties, Swayze's star wattage took a dip with roles in such lackluster flicks as City Of Joy, Father Hood, Three Wishes and Black Dog. However, the new century saw a turnabout in his fortunes with a host of roles that played up to (and sometimes parodied) his iconic status.

Having fallen in love with dancing and acting from an early age, the Texan-born compensated for what were perceived by some of his peers as girly pursuits with award-winning turns in high-school football, gymnastics and swimming.

In the last months of his battle against cancer, Swayze still continued to work with his wife of 34 years, Lisa Niemi, by his side and his open honesty about the ravages of the disease were seem by many to be typical of his brave and noble nature.

Swayze's former Dirty Dancing co-star, Jennifer Grey, probably sums it up best with her tribute… "Patrick was a rare and beautiful combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace. It’s no surprise to me that the war he waged on his cancer was so courageous and dignified."

Glen Ferris