HOLLYWOOD DIRT OVERFLOW (9-15-09)

PATRICK SWAYZE HAS PASSED AWAY:

PATRICK SWAYZE finally succumbed to cancer yesterday. He was 57 years old. Swayze revealed back in March of 2008 that he was battling pancreatic cancer, which is one of the deadliest forms of the disease. Some reports gave him mere WEEKS to live at the time.

His rep released a statement saying, quote, "Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months."

Swayze is survived by LISA NIEMI, his wife of 34 years. --Earlier this year, in an interview with BARBARA WALTERS, Swayze gave his own predictions . . . quote, "I'd say five years is pretty wishful thinking. Two years seems likely if you're going to believe the statistics. --"I want to last until they find a cure, which means I'd better get a fire under it."

-It was also during that interview that Swayze admitted that his longtime smoking habit probably had something to do with the cancer. --But despite the diagnosis, he admitted that he hadn't quit. He said, quote, "When it looks like I may live longer than five minutes, I'll drop cigarettes like a hot potato."

Swayze first started hitting the mainstream with "The Outsiders" in 1983, and "Red Dawn" the following year. (--"Red Dawn" is being remade as we speak, with Chris Hemsworth . . .who played Captain Kirk's dad in the newest "Star Trek" movie . . . in the Swayze role.)

The film that really made him a leading man, though, was "Dirty Dancing" in 1987. --Swayze even had a hit song on the soundtrack . . . which was, of course, the heart-wrenching ballad, "She's Like the Wind". --Within the next few years, Swayze would perform a feat which, as far as I'm concerned, had never been accomplished and still has yet to be paralleled in the history of cinema: --Starring in one of the greatest guy flicks of all time AND one of the greatest chick flicks of all time.

I'm talking, of course, about "Road House" in 1989, and "Ghost" in 1990. (--Of course, "Ghost" was one of those rare chick flicks that included SCENES OF VIOLENT DEATH. But Swayze could get away with that. Because he was Swayze.) --Swayze was nominated for three Golden Globes . . . for "Dirty Dancing", "Ghost" and 1995's "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" . . . in which he, John Leguizamo and Wesley Snipes played DRAG QUEENS.

His last true SWAYZE CLASSIC, though, was probably 1991's "Point Break" . . . in which he played the leader of a gang of adrenaline junkie thieves. KEANU REEVES played an undercover cop who had to take him down.

--Swayze was "People" magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1991 . . . but ironically, that's around the time he stopped being a marquee name. (--Although, I say one of Swayze's greatest roles was yet to come. That would be his portrayal of Jim Cunningham, a cheesy self-help guru with a secret child pornography stash, in the 2001 cult classic, "Donnie Darko".)

His last role was as a crooked cop in the A&E series "The Beast" . . . which he signed up for BEFORE he knew he had cancer. --Swayze went ahead and filmed 13 episodes of the series while simultaneously undergoing chemotherapy . . . and he often skipped his pain meds while he was working, to keep his mind sharp. The series ran from January through April of this year.

As far as great Swayze moments in video, for guys, it's hard to top his appearance on "Saturday Night Live", in the skit with CHRIS FARLEY where they compete for the same spot with the Chippendales. Here's that clip . . .)http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32172165

But for the ladies, his last dance with JENNIFER GREY at the end of "Dirty Dancing" is probably a strong contender. Here's that one. Swayze's famous lift is at 3:22 . . .)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmILPAcRQo


KANYE WEST HAS ISSUED ANOTHER APOLOGY . . . AND HE TOLD JAY LENO THAT HE FEELS "ASHAMED":

KANYE WEST has issued a second apology to TAYLOR SWIFT for rudely interrupting her acceptance speech at the "MTV Video Music Awards" Sunday night. (--Actually, "rudely" doesn't do it justice. Here's that clip again . . .)http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/435995/taylor-swift-wins-best-female-video.jhtml#id=1620605

On his blog, he wrote, quote, "I feel like BEN STILLER in 'Meet the Parents' when he messed up everything and ROBERT DENIRO asked him to leave. --"That was Taylor's moment and I had no right in any way to take it from her. I am truly sorry."

That apology seems SLIGHTLY more sincere than his first one, which has been removed from his site. --In that one, he said that he was, quote, "in the wrong" . . . and said that he was "happy" for Taylor, whom he called "talented." But he also reiterated that he thought BEYONCÉ had the better video . . . and whined about the audience booing him.

Then, last night he appeared on the debut of "The Jay Leno Show" . . . and for the first time, it seemed like Kanye was actually SORRY for what he did.--Initially, he was only going to be there to perform JAY-Z'S new song, "Run This Town", with Jay and RIHANNA. But after all the chaos he caused at the "VMAs", he agreed to talk with Jay about it.

He said, quote, "It's been extremely difficult. --"[I'm] just dealing with the fact that I hurt someone or took anything away, you know, from a talented artist, or from anyone, because I only wanted to help people. -"My entire life, I've only wanted to give and do something that I felt was right. And I immediately knew in the situation that it was wrong, and it wasn't a spectacle or just . . . you know, it's actually someone's emotions, you know, that I stepped on." --Kanye said that he knew he'd made a mistake, quote, "as soon as I gave the mic back to her and she didn't keep going."

He added, quote, "And it was very . . . rude, period. And, you know, I'd like to be able to apologize to her in person."--When Jay asked Kanye what his late mother might have thought of his VMA stunt, Kanye couldn't answer. He actually looked like he was about to cry. (--You can watch that moment, here . . .) http://www.thejaylenoshow.com/video/clips/jays-premiere-preview/1156980/

A LOT OF CELEBRITIES ARE HATING ON KANYE WEST . . . AND SHOWING THEIR SUPPORT FOR TAYLOR SWIFT:

KANYE WEST felt the hate from the audience at the VMAs Sunday night, when he interrupted TAYLOR SWIFT'S acceptance speech. And the outrage continues in the showbiz community. --Here's a rundown of some of the more interesting celebrity comments, from various interviews, blogs, and Twitter updates . . .

--KELLY CLARKSON: "Dear Kanye . . . what happened to you as a child?? Did you not get hugged enough?? --"Something must have happened to make you this way, and I think we're all just curious as to what would make a grown man go on national television and make a talented artist, let alone teenager, feel like (crap). --"I was actually nominated in the same category that Taylor won and I was excited for her, so why can't you be?" (--Kelly isn't pulling any punches . . . she's pretty angry. You can read her entire post, here . . .)http://iamkelly.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/kanye-west/

--GREEN DAY singer BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG: "She's young and I think she'll get over it . . . and I think that HE needs to get over it. It was very uncomfortable sitting there behind him."

--KELLIE PICKLER: "Tator Tot, you handled yourself with Grace. Kanye, go grow some (effing) balls (B-word)! Don't mess [with] my lil sis!" (!!!)

--PINK: "Kanye West is the biggest piece of (crap) on earth. Quote me. My heart goes out to Taylor Swift. She is a sweet and talented girl and deserved her moment. --"She should know we all love her. BEYONCÉ is a classy lady. I feel for her, too. It's not her fault at all, and her and Taylor did their thing."

--JOHN MAYER: "Big love to my girl [Taylor]. A class act."

--DONALD TRUMP: "[It was] disgusting. He couldn't care less about Beyoncé. It was grandstanding to get attention." Trump also called for a BOYCOTT on everything related to Kanye . . . quote, "So this kind of thing doesn't happen again."

--KATY PERRY: "(EFF) U KANYE. IT'S LIKE U STEPPED ON A KITTEN."

--JOEL MADDEN: "WOW. Taylor Swift's first VMA and she didn't even get to ENJOY it. Kanye, you were just a bully on that one man."

--ADAM LAMBERT: "Kanye needs to chill. He freaks out every year. It ain't that deep man."


A FIVE-MINUTE "GREY'S ANATOMY" PREVIEW IS NOW ONLINE:

ABC has unleashed the first five minutes of the sixth season premiere of "Grey's Anatomy" . . . actually, it's the first four-and-a-half minutes, with a bunch of credits and a promo clip for the full, two hour premiere. (--Watch it, here . . .) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHZ4MTo-yxo

It's not much of a spoiler at this point, but the clip shows KATHERINE HEIGL'S character surviving . . . and T.R. KNIGHT'S character, George, apparently dying. --That's "apparently" because at the end, the identity of the dead man is called into question. The man . . . who was an unrecognizable "John Doe" . . . was previously thought to be George. "Grey's" will return to ABC on September 24th.