On the other hand, due to the popularity of Heated Rivalry -on February 5, Movistar Plus+ will premiere the series under the name Más que rivales-, many internet users have crowned Connor Storrie (25), who plays the protagonist Ilya Rozanov, as the ideal actor to portray Patrick Swayze in a biopic.
Undoubtedly, the star of Dirty Dancing (1987) continues to be in the memory of several generations as he was one of the most beloved dancers and performers in the industry. We owe the fact that his image remains so vivid to Lisa Niemi Swayze (69), his widow.
Both met as teenagers while studying at Patrick's mother's dance academy in the 1970s. The chemistry between them was so magical that they got married in 1975 when he was 23 and she was 19. Like in any relationship, they had their ups and downs due to the actor's alcohol problems and a miscarriage, but they managed to redirect their feelings.
Lisa was his main support when the actor was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in January 2008. Since then, and for 20 months, the couple fought to face with serenity an unpromising fate. Patrick and Lisa lived away from Hollywood, specifically, in two ranches located in New Mexico and Van Nuys, California, with the latter being sold to heiress Aileen Getty, Elizabeth Taylor's former daughter-in-law.
In September 2009, Patrick passed away at the age of 57. Lisa was clear from the start that their shared fight would not be in vain. She published the booksThe Time of my Life (2009) and Worth Fighting For: Love, Loss, and Moving Forward (2012), with the latter being a story about the experiences of caring for her husband for 21 months and her experiences after his death. This is how she has aimed to keep alive the spirit of a husband who, in life, told her to remarry if she found true love. In 2024, she married jeweler Albert DePrisco, but she still uses the actor's last name, Swayze.
Lisa remains emotionally connected to Patrick. "Most of all, I hear him in my head. I hear him talking to me, saying things and saying, 'What are you doing?' and giving me advice," she told People. "But very, very often, I dream about him."
Since 2010, Lisa, who inherited $40 million after the actor's death, has been serving as the official spokesperson for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) to raise awareness and funds against this disease. Therefore, she participates in charity events, attends conferences, promotes marathons, and collaborates in various campaigns.
In 2013, thanks to the efforts of Barack Obama, pancreatic cancer patients received positive news, as Niemi revealed in an interview with Cancer Today: "Since the approval of the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act, there has been a glimmer of hope that something real can happen. Up to that point, everything had been bleak."
Through her participation in events, television programs, and social media, she emphasizes the urgency of research and provides hope to other affected families. In numerous interviews, Lisa dresses entirely in purple, the color associated with cancer awareness.
On her personal Instagram account, Lisa often remembers her husband through color and black-and-white images. In them, she declares her love, how much she misses him, celebrates important anniversaries, highlights the passion they both had for horses, and often mentions that November is pancreatic cancer awareness month.
For over 15 years, Lisa Niemi has not wavered in raising funds for a cure and, above all, for ensuring that patients have a dignified quality of life.