Photo by Artisan Entertainment, Everett CollectionPatrick Swayze, star of such beloved movies as "Dirty Dancing," "Ghost," and "Point Break," died Monday after a very public battle with cancer. The son of choreographer Patsy Swayze, who worked on movies like "Urban Cowboy," Patrick started his career as a trained dancer but started making appearances in film and TV in 1979. Take a look back at ten of his most memorable performances.

Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures, Everett CollectionTHE OUTSIDERS

Swayze got his first big break in this Francis Ford Coppola adaptation of S.E. Hinton's teen-angst classic. He starred alongside a veritable Who's Who of '80s icons: Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, and C. Thomas Howell. Unlike his co-stars, who were all in their teens, Swayze was 30 years old when the movie was made.

Photo by MGM, Everett CollectionRED DAWN (1984)

Reuniting with many of his "Outsiders" castmates in this Reagan-era action flick, Swayze played the leader of the teenaged militia fighting against a Soviet invasion of the American heartland. This film was the first to be branded with the now ubiquitous PG-13 rating.

Photo by Vestron Pictures, Everett CollectionDIRTY DANCING (1987)

The movie that cemented Swayze's place in American pop-culture. His turn as Johnny Castle, a working-class dance instructor, seemed tailor-made for Swayze, combining his trademark rugged masculinity with some serious dance moves. The movie was a surprise blockbuster, earning $213 million and spawning a Broadway musical and a sequel, "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights," where he can be seen in a brief cameo.

Photo by United Artists, Everett CollectionROAD HOUSE (1989)

Following the staggering success of "Dirty Dancing," Swayze found himself typecast in a series of forgettable action flicks. But the role of Dalton, the "cooler" who comes in to chill out an excessively violent bar, was so over-the-top it made "Road House" a cult classic. The so-bad-it's-brilliant dialogue has made it a midnight movie staple and taught us all that "pain don't hurt."

Photo by Paramount Pictures, Everett CollectionGHOST (1990)

After half the male stars in Hollywood -- from Tom Cruise to Chevy Chase -- passed on playing the lead in this movie, the filmmakers brought in Swayze. As a result, audiences could never look at a potter's wheel in quite the same way again. The movie was the biggest hit of his career, taking in over $500 million worldwide.

Photo by 20th Century Fox, Everett CollectionPOINT BREAK

Another Swayze movie that's entered the canon of cult movies. As the adrenaline junky/criminal mastermind Bodhi in Kathryn Bigelow's "Point Break," Swayze did all of the skydiving and surfing stunts himself. He wound up breaking four ribs during production.

Photo by TriStar Pictures, Everett CollectionCITY OF JOY (1992)

After being dubbed "The Sexiest Man Alive," Swayze shifted gears with this film set in the slums of India. Though he was clearly looking to stretch his range with an entirely different kind of movie, he found more challenges than he bargained for. The local media attacked the production, resulting in mass protests, accusations of murder, and even fire-bombings.

Photo by MCA, Everett CollectionTO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR (1995)

Swayze went to even greater lengths to change his uber-macho persona by dressing as a woman for this road movie about drag queens. He was so convincing in his getup that Steven Spielberg, whose company produced the film, didn't recognize him in his screen test. Swayze received his third Golden Globe nomination for this performance.

Photo by Newmarket Releasing, Everett CollectionDONNIE DARKO (2001)

Swayze's career in the late '90s was sidelined through a combination of set-injuries -- he broke both of his legs when he was thrown from a horse while shooting the HBO movie "Letters from a Killer" -- and rehab for alcohol abuse. But with this surprise cult hit, along with some acclaimed stage performances in London and on Broadway, Swayze's star began to rise again.

Photo by Chuck Hodes/Sony/A&ETHE BEAST (2008)

Swayze gave what one critic called "the performance of a lifetime" in his final work, this A&E television series about a rogue FBI agent working outside the law. Even though he was suffering the effects of cancer at the time of production, he refused to take his pain medication because it would affect his performance.

Photo by Mark Mainz/Getty Images, Getty ImagesPatrick Swayze is survived by his wife of 34 years, Lisa Niemi, whom he met when he was just 18 years old. In September 2008, he appeared on the "Stand Up to Cancer" telecast which raised over $100 million for cancer research, where he said, "Together we can make a world where cancer no longer means living with fear, without hope, or worse."

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