The “amazing experience” Patrick Swayze called his “first great role in Hollywood”
It made perfect sense for Patrick Swayze, the son of a choreographer and dance instructor who took his first steps in the industry as a dancer, to become a household name by putting those skills to the test, but the actor’s “first great role in Hollywood” came years before Dirty Dancing.
He wasn’t an entirely unknown quantity before smouldering opposite Jennifer Grey in the 1987 classic that earned him a Golden Globe nomination for ‘Best Actor – Comedy or Musical’, though, with Swayze gaining attention in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders, John Milius’ Red Dawn, and the miniseries North and South.
None of those three earned that accolade either, and it didn’t even come in a movie. After making his feature debut in Skatetown, USA, a kitschy ode to roller disco so cheesy it could prove fatal to the lactose intolerant, Swayze wouldn’t appear in another film for four years until he joined Coppola’s ensemble of soon-to-be stars.
Between those two points, he made his small-screen bow in the 1980s made-for-television movie, The Comeback, before getting his episodic feet wet in the following year’s ‘Blood Brothers’, the 18th instalment in the second season of M*A*S*H, the hit series spun off from Robert Altman’s Academy Award-winning war comedy.
In his memoir, The Time of My Life, Swayze reflected on how landing a part on the show was the first time he’d felt like he was given a show of belief in his abilities, even if there was a bittersweet note to his arc. “Winning a part in M*A*S*H meant that the producers believed you could hold your own among the cast,” he wrote. “Playing Private Gary Sturgis was my first great role in Hollywood, and oddly enough, it had a plot twist involving cancer.”
In ‘Blood Brothers’, Swayze’s character is injured in combat at the same time as his friend, who finds himself in dire need of a blood transfusion. As he recalled, “Sturgis desperately wants to give blood to his buddy, knowing they have the same blood type, but Hawkeye tests Sturgis’ blood and discovers he has leukaemia.”
Alan Alda’s Benjamin ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce appeared in all 256 episodes of the 11-season favourite, and as the focal point of the show and a respected performer in his own right, it was an “amazing experience” that he’d never forget. “Everyone on the set was incredibly professional, and it was a dream to act opposite Alan Alda in my scenes,” he said. “I just followed his lead, and the emotion poured out of me.”
It was also the first time Swayze had been able to apply the lessons he’d learned in his acting classes to his work, and he “felt very proud of the work when I saw the finished episode.” It was a far cry from Skatetown, and winning over the producers of M*A*S*H did wonders for his confidence, with the aspiring star convinced that he had the tools to succeed as a dramatic actor. It might have been his first “great role” in Hollywood, but it was nowhere near his last.
