Patsy Swayze | |
|---|---|
| Born | Yvonne Helen Karnes (1927-02-07)February 7, 1927 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | September 16, 2013(2013-09-16) (aged 86) Simi Valley, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Filmchoreographer,dancer, anddanceinstructor |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5, includingPatrick andDon |
| Career | |
| Former groups | Houston Jazz Ballet Company Swayze School of Dance |
Yvonne Helen "Patsy"Swayze (néeKarnes; February 7, 1927 – September 16, 2013) was anAmerican filmchoreographer,dancer, anddanceinstructor, and the mother of actorsPatrick Swayze andDon Swayze. Her credits includechoreography forUrban Cowboy,Liar's Moon andHope Floats.[1]
Swayze grew up in Houston, the daughter of Gladys Mae Karnes (née Snell), a nurse, and Victor Elliott Karnes, aWorld War I pilot andgeologist.[2]
When she was 10 years old, Swayze was hit by a car and her mother enrolled her in dance classes for therapy. She eventually trained in both jazz and classical ballet.[1][2]
While in high school, she met and married Jesse Wayne "Buddy" Swayze, a mechanical engineer.[2] The couple had five children, including actorsPatrick Swayze andDon Swayze. The family lived on Wakefield Street in theGarden Oaks neighborhood of Houston. They later moved to another home on Del Norte Street.[3]
In the 1960s, Swayze founded and directed both the Houston Jazz Ballet Company,[1] and her own Houstondance studio, the Swayze School of Dance.[4] All five of her children became dancers and actors,[2] and Patsy's training has been credited for leading her sonPatrick to his starring role inDirty Dancing in 1987.[1][3][4] Patrick met his future wife,film director andactressLisa Niemi, while they were Patsy's students at the Swayze School of Dance.[1]
In addition to her own dance studio, for eighteen years Swayze taught dance and choreography at theUniversity of Houston.[1] Her most famous students included futureEmmy Award winnerDebbie Allen,Randy Quaid,Jaclyn Smith and future ten-timeTony Award winnerTommy Tune.[1]
Patsy Swayze transitioned to film by choreographing her first movie,Urban Cowboy, starringJohn Travolta andDebra Winger.[1] The success ofUrban Cowboy essentially launched her career as a film choreographer.[1]
In 1981, Patsy Swayze moved from Houston to southern California.[1][2] She choreographed numerous films over the next three decades, includingLiar's Moon in 1982 andHope Floats in 1998.[3] She teamed with her daughter-in-law Lisa Niemi to choreograph the 2003 film,One Last Dance, which starred Niemi, Patrick Swayze andGeorge de la Peña.[1]
She planned to retire from teaching and focus on film work, but instead opened a dance studio in aSimi Valley shopping center that operated for more than twenty years.[1][2]
On September 8, 2013, Swayze had a stroke at the age of 86.[2] She died of stroke complications eight days later at her home in Simi Valley.[1][4]
Swayze was predeceased by her parents; her husband, who died of a heart attack at the age of 57 in 1982;[5] her oldest daughter Vicky Lynn, who died from a suicide involving a drug overdose in 1994 at the age of 45;[6] her actor son Patrick, who died ofpancreatic cancer in 2009 at the age of 57; her sisters, Kathryn Buildt and Diana Latham; and her brother, Elliott Karnes.[2] Her younger son Sean, who served as an "entertainmentTeamster," died in 2025 from anupper gastrointestinal bleed caused by "severemetabolic acidosis,esophageal varices, andalcoholic liver cirrhosis," at the age of 63.[7][8]
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