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According to multiple sources, Patrick Swayze died this evening at the age of 57 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.  Patrick revealed his illness to his fans in March of 2008 and while some reports said he would be dead within a matter of weeks, Swayze not only continued to tell those reporters to go screw but work on a memoir with his wife Annett Wolf as well as doing 13 episodes of the A&E series "The Beast", work he did without painkillers because he felt it would take the edge off his performance.

Click through for more regarding Swayze's passing.

Known as an 80s-icon who starred in such hits as "Point Break", "The Outsiders", "Red Dawn", "Ghost" along with cult hits like "Road House" and "Too Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar".  Of course, Swayze is best remembered for his iconic role in 1987's "Dirty Dancing".  With news of Swayze's death, prepare for "clever" people to try and meld his famous line from that film, "Nobody puts baby in a corner," with him being dead.  You see, because he said that line and now that he's dead there's a joke in there that no one else will think of.  Brilliant.

In a sign of the peculiarity of public reaction in the digital age, some celebrities like Demi Moore and Larry King are using Twitter to express their condolences and I wonder if one can provide an honest and respectful remembrance in 140 characters or less.

As for myself, I never felt much of a connection towards Swayze one way or the other.  I enjoyed his movies, but not having him as a constant present in current mainstream cinema didn't really phase me.  Still, I want to express condolences on Swayze's passing both for myself and for the crew here at Collider.  I imagine many will pay their respects by taking out their DVD of "Dirty Dancing" and maybe cry during the song "(I've Had) the Time of My Life".  But there will also be those who break out their copy of "Road House" and watch Swayze beat the shit out of guys for two hours.  I'll probably choose the latter.

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