Point Break is a 1991 action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The title refers to the surfing term point break, where a wave breaks as it hits a point of land jutting out from the coastline.

The film was a box office success upon its release and it has since gathered a worldwide cult following in VHS and later DVD releases.^{[citation needed]}

Synopsis[link]

Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), is a rookie FBI Agent and former Ohio State quarterback. He and his veteran partner, Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey), are investigating a string of bank robberies by a gang known as the "Ex-Presidents" (during their robberies they use masks of former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter to disguise their true identities).

Pursuing Angelo's theory that the criminals are surfers, Johnny goes undercover to infiltrate the surfing community. Knowing nothing of the sport/lifestyle, he persuades orphan surfer girl Tyler Endicott (Lori Petty) to teach him to surf. In the process, Johnny develops a complex friendship with Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), a charismatic leader of a gang of surfers, Roach (James LeGros), Grommet (Bojesse Christopher) and Nathaniel (John Philbin), who accept Johnny when they realize he is a great athlete. As he masters the art of surfing, Johnny finds himself increasingly drawn to the surfers' adrenaline-charged lifestyle, Bodhi's philosophies and Tyler.

Following a clue retrieved by analyzing toxins found in the hair of one of the bank robbers, Johnny and Angelo lead an FBI raid on another gang of surfers. While criminals, this group are not the "Ex-Presidents" and the raid inadvertently ruins a DEA undercover operation.

Watching Bodhi's group surfing, Johnny suspects they are the "Ex-Presidents" because of how close a group they are and because one of them moons everyone in the same way one of the robbers does when leaving the bank. He tails Bodhi and his suspicions are confirmed when he sees Bodhi and Roach casing a bank. Johnny and Angelo stake out the bank and the "Ex-Presidents" appear. A furious chase of Bodhi (masked the entire time) by Johnny ensues through the neighborhood, culminating in Johnny jumping over a fence and injuring his knee, an old football injury flaring up again. Despite having a clear shot at Bodhi (locking eyes with him), Johnny does not shoot and Bodhi escapes.

Bodhi aggressively recruits Johnny into going skydiving with him and his friends. Johnny, still without proof of Bodhi's bank robbing, goes along. Because of his knee, they land in water. After the jump, Bodhi reveals that he knows Johnny is an FBI agent and has arranged for his friend, Rosie (Lee Tergesen), a non-surfing thug, to hold Tyler hostage. Johnny is forced to go with the "Ex-Presidents" in their last bank robbery of the summer. The robbery goes wrong as Grommet, an off-duty police officer and a security guard, who had tried to stop the robbery, are killed. Angered by Grommet's death, Bodhi knocks Johnny out and leaves him at the scene. Defying their boss, who arrested the agent for armed robbery, Angelo and Johnny go to the airport where Bodhi, Roach, and Nathaniel are about to leave for Mexico (where Rosie awaits them with Tyler). In a shootout, Angelo and Nathaniel are killed, while Roach is seriously wounded. With Roach aboard, Bodhi forces Johnny onto the plane, at gunpoint. Once airborne and over their intended jump point, Bodhi and Roach put on parachutes, and jump from the plane with Bodhi saying to Johnny "adiós amigo", leaving Johnny to take the blame again. Despite no other parachutes being available, Johnny jumps from the plane with Bodhi's gun, managing to intercept him before he lands, using his parachute so they can both land safely. Upon impact, Johnny's knee is injured once again, allowing Bodhi to escape Johnny's grasp. Bodhi meets with Rosie and releases Tyler. Roach dies of his wounds and Bodhi and Rosie leave with the money.

With his hair longer and still surfing, Johnny eventually meets Bodhi again nine months later at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia where a record storm is producing lethal waves. This is an event Bodhi had talked about experiencing, calling it the "50 Year Storm" because it comes only twice a century. After a brutal fight in the surf, Johnny manages to handcuff Bodhi to his own wrist. Bodhi begs Johnny to release him so he can ride the once-in-a-lifetime wave. Knowing he will not come back alive, Johnny releases him and says to Bodhi "vaya con Dios" and watches, with the authorities, as Bodhi apparently meets his end. Johnny then walks away, throwing his FBI badge into the ocean.

Cast[link]

• Patrick Swayze as Bodhi
• Keanu Reeves as FBI Agent Johnny Utah
• Gary Busey as FBI Agent Angelo Pappas
• Lori Petty as Tyler Endicott
• John C. McGinley as FBI Director Ben Harp
• James LeGros as Roach
• John Philbin as Nathanial
• Bojesse Christopher as Grommet
• Lee Tergesen as Rosie
• Julian Reyes as FBI Agent Alvarez
• Daniel Beer as FBI Agent Babbit
• Vincent Klyn as Lupton "Warchild" Pittman
• Chris Pedersen as Bunker
• Dave Olson as Archbold
• Anthony Kiedis as Tone
• Christopher Pettiet as 15
• Sydney Walsh as Miss Deer
• Peter Phelps as Australian surfer
• Tom Sizemore as DEA Agent Dietz (uncredited)

Production[link]

Originally, Matthew Broderick and Charlie Sheen were to star in Point Break with Ridley Scott directing.^[1] After acquiring the screenplay, the producers of Point Break began looking for a director. At the time, executive producer James Cameron was married to director Kathryn Bigelow, who had just completed Blue Steel and was looking for her next project.^[1]

Point Break was originally called Johnny Utah when Keanu Reeves was cast in the title role.^[1] The studio felt that this title said very little about surfing and by the time Patrick Swayze was cast, the film had been renamed Riders on the Storm after the song by The Doors. However, Jim Morrison's lyrics had nothing to do with the film and so that title was also rejected. It was not until halfway through filming that Point Break became the film's title because of its relevance to surfing.^[1]

Reeves liked the name of his character as it reminded him of star athletes like Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana.^[2] He described his character as a "total control freak and the ocean beats him up and challenges him. After a while everything becomes a game...He becomes as amoral as any criminal. He loses the difference between right and wrong."^[1] Swayze felt that Bodhi was a lot like him and that they both shared "that wild-man edge."^[1]

Two months before filming, Lori Petty, Reeves, and Swayze trained with former world class professional surfer Dennis Jarvis on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.^[1] Jarvis remembers, "Patrick said he'd been on a board a couple of times, Keanu definitely hadn't surfed before, and Lori had never been in the ocean in her life."^[3] Shooting the surfing sequences proved to be challenging for both actors with Swayze cracking four of his ribs. For many of the surfing scenes he refused to use a stunt double as he never had one for fight scenes or car chases. He also did the skydiving scenes himself and the film's aerial jump instructor Jim Wallace found that the actor was a natural and took to it right away.^[1] The actor ended up making 55 jumps for the film.^[4] Swayze actually based aspects of his character after one of his stunt doubles, Darrick Doerner, a top big wave surfer.^[5] After learning to surf for the film, Reeves took a liking to it and surfs as a hobby to this day.^[6]

Reception[link]

Box office[link]

Point Break was released on July 12, 1991 in 1,615 theaters, grossing $8.5 million on its opening weekend, behind Terminator 2: Judgement Day's (directed by Bigelow's then husband, James Cameron) second weekend and the openings of the re-issue of 101 Dalmatians and Boyz n the Hood. With a budget of $24 million, the film went on to make $43.2 million in North America and $40.3 million internationally for a worldwide total of $83.5 million.^[7]

Critical response[link]

The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote "Bigelow is an interesting director for this material. She is interested in the ways her characters live dangerously for philosophical reasons. They aren't men of action, but men of thought who choose action as a way of expressing their beliefs."^[8] In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin praised Reeves' performance: "A lot of the snap comes, surprisingly, from Mr. Reeves, who displays considerable discipline and range. He moves easily between the buttoned-down demeanor that suits a police procedural story and the loose-jointed manner of his comic roles."^[9] Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "C+" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote "Point Break makes those of us who don't spend our lives searching for the ultimate physical rush feel like second-class citizens. The film turns reckless athletic valor into a new form of aristocracy."^[10] In his review for The Washington Post, Hal Hinson wrote "A lot of what Bigelow puts up on the screen bypasses the brain altogether, plugging directly into our viscera, our gut. The surfing scenes in particular are majestically powerful, even awe-inspiring. Bigelow's picture is a feast for the eyes, but we watch movies with more than our eyes. She seduces us, then asks us to be bimbos."^[11] Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers wrote, "Bigelow can't keep the film from drowning in a sea of surf-speak. But without her, Point Break would be no more than an excuse to ogle pretty boys in wet suits."^[12] USA Today gave the film two out of four stars and Mike Clark wrote "Its purely visceral material (surf sounds, skydiving stunt work, a tough indoor shootout midway through) are first-rate. As for the tangibles that matter even more (script, acting, directorial control, credible relationships between characters), Break defies belief. Dramatically, it rivals the lowest surf yet this year."^[13] Time magazine's Richard Corliss wrote, "So how do you rate a stunningly made film whose plot buys so blithely into macho mysticism that it threatens to turn into an endless bummer? Looks 10, Brains 3."^[14]

In 2006, a special edition was released on DVD. Entertainment Weekly gave it a "B" rating and wrote, "The making-of docs (at their best discussing Swayze's extracurricular skydiving—that really is him doing the Adios, amigo fall) will leave you hanging."^[15]

Accolades[link]

At the 1992 MTV Movie Awards, Point Break was nominated for three awards including "Most Desirable Male" (Keanu Reeves), "Most Desirable Male" (Patrick Swayze), and "Best Action Sequence" for the second jump from the plane. In it, Agent Utah jumps out of a plane without a parachute to catch Bodhi and rescue Tyler. Utah catches up with Bodhi and holds a gun to his head. However, Bodhi refuses to pull the rip cord and Utah must decide between dropping his gun (so he can hold on and pull the rip cord) or letting the two fall to the ground.

Legacy[link]

The film has inspired a piece of cult theater, Point Break Live!, in which the role of Johnny Utah is played by an audience member chosen by popular acclamation after a brief audition. The new "Keanu" reads all of his (or her) lines from cue-cards for the duration of the show, "to capture the rawness of a Keanu Reeves performance even from those who generally think themselves incapable of acting."^[16]

Point Break was listed in the VH1 series I Love the 90s on the episode "1991". Many celebrities, including Dominic Monaghan, Maroon 5, Mo Rocca, Michael Ian Black, Hal Sparks, and Jackass's Chris Pontius, commented about the movie and why it deserved to be included in the episode.

Many consider the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious to be a complete copy of Point Break swapping surfing for illegal street car racing.^[17]

The scene in which Utah jumps after Bodhi without a parachute was ranked seventh in Empire magazine's Top 10 Crazy Action Sequences. The scene was also tested by the Discovery Channel series MythBusters. It was determined that Utah and Bodhi would not have been able to free-fall for 90 seconds (as in the film), nor would they have been able to hold a conversation in mid-air. However, it was determined that, by streamlining his body, Utah could have conceivably caught up with Bodhi after jumping from the plane.^[18] Entertainment Weekly ranked Point Break as having one of the "10 Best Surfing Scenes" in cinema.^[19]

Point Break was also parodied and paid tribute to in Hot Fuzz, where it served as the basis for numerous comedic scenes and inspiration for the two lead characters (a pair of cops).

Remake[link]

A remake of Point Break is being developed at Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros. Kurt Wimmer will write the screenplay and will coproduce with Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove, Michael DeLuca, John Baldecchi, and Chris Taylor.^[20]

Soundtrack[link]

• Ratt – "Nobody Rides For Free"
• Concrete Blonde – "I Want You"
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience – "If 6 Was 9"
• School of Fish – "Rose Colored Glasses"
• Public Image Ltd. – "Criminal"
• Shark Island – "My City"
• Love – "7 and 7 Is"
• Loudhouse – "Smoke on the Water"
• Westworld – "So Long Cowboy"
• Little Caesar – "Down to the Wire"
• L.A. Guns – "Over the Edge"
• Liquid Jesus – "7 and 7 Is"
• Wire Train – "I Will Not Fall"
• Ice-T – "Original Gangster"
• Mark Isham – "Foot Chase"
• Sheryl Crow – "Hundreds of Tears"

Score album[link]

On February 7, 2008, a score release for Point Break was released by La-La Land Records, featuring composer Mark Isham's score. This edition was limited to 2,000 units and features 65 minutes of score with liner notes by Dan Goldwasser that incorporate comments from both Bigelow and Isham. It is now out of print.^[21]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Point Break

• [1] Point Break Fansite at pointbreakmovie.com
• Point Break at the Internet Movie Database
• Point Break at AllRovi
• Point Break at Box Office Mojo
• Point Break at Rotten Tomatoes

Keanu Reeves
Reeves at The Lake House London premiere, September 2006
Born	Keanu Charles Reeves (1964-09-02) September 2, 1964 (age 47) Beirut, Lebanon
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1985–present
Parents	Patricia Bond Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr.

Keanu Charles Reeves ( /keɪ�?ɑ�?nu�?/ kay-AH-noo; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian film actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his role in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure as well as Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix. He has worked under major directors, such as Stephen Frears (in the 1988 period drama Dangerous Liaisons); Gus Van Sant (in the 1991 independent film My Own Private Idaho); and Bernardo Bertolucci (in the 1993 film Little Buddha). Referring to his 1991 film releases, The New York Times’ critic, Janet Maslin, praised Reeves’ versatility, saying that he “displays considerable discipline and range. He moves easily between the buttoned-down demeanor that suits a police procedural story and the loose-jointed manner of his comic roles.”^[1] A repeated theme in roles he has portrayed is that of saving the world, including the characters of Ted Logan, Buddha, Neo, Johnny Mnemonic, John Constantine and Klaatu.

In addition to his film roles, Reeves has also performed in theatre. His performance in the title role in a Manitoba Theatre Centre production of Hamlet was praised by Roger Lewis, the Sunday Times, who declared Reeves " … one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he is Hamlet."^{[citation needed]} On January 31, 2005, Reeves received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Early life[link]

Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of Patricia Bond (née Taylor), a costume designer/performer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr., a geologist. His mother was English and his father was a Hawaiian-born American of English, Irish, Portuguese, Hawaiian, and Chinese descent.^[2][3][4] Reeves's mother was working in Beirut when she met his father. Reeves' father worked as an unskilled laborer and earned his GED while imprisoned in Hawaii for selling heroin at Hilo International Airport.^[5] He abandoned his wife and family when Reeves was three years old, and Reeves does not currently have any relationship with him.^[5]

Reeves moved around the world frequently as a child and he lived with various stepfathers. After his parents divorced in 1966, his mother became a costume designer and moved the family to Sydney, Australia^[6] and then to New York City. There she met and married Paul Aaron, a Broadway and Hollywood director. The couple moved to Toronto; they divorced in 1971. Reeves' mother married Robert Miller, a rock promoter, in 1976; the couple divorced in 1980. She subsequently married her fourth husband, Jack Bond, a hairdresser, a marriage that broke up in 1994. Grandparents and nannies babysat Reeves and his sisters, and Reeves grew up primarily in Toronto. Within a span of five years, he attended four different high schools, including the Etobicoke School of the Arts, from which he was later expelled. Reeves stated he was expelled "I was just a little too rambunctious and shot my mouth off once too often. I was not generally the most well-oiled machine in the school." ^[7]

Reeves excelled more in hockey than in academics, as his educational development was challenged by dyslexia. He was a successful goalie at one of his high schools (De La Salle College "Oaklands"). While Reeves dreamed of becoming an Olympic hockey player for Canada, an injury ended his hopes for a hockey career. After leaving De La Salle College, he attended an anarchistic free school (Avondale Alternative), which allowed him to obtain an education while working as an actor; he later dropped out, never obtaining his high school diploma.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2011, on the BBC program The One Show, he spoke of his English ancestry, via his mother, mentioning his happy watching of The Two Ronnies comedy show amongst others when younger, and how his mother imparted English manners that he still has today.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

1980s[link]

Reeves began his acting career at the age of nine, appearing in a theatre production of Damn Yankees. At 15, he played Mercutio in a stage production of Romeo and Juliet at the Leah Posluns Theatre. Reeves made his screen acting debut in a CBC Television comedy series entitled Hangin' In. Throughout the early 1980s, he appeared in commercials (including one for Coca-Cola), short films including the NFB drama One Step Away^[8] and stage work such as Brad Fraser's cult hit Wolfboy in Toronto. In 1984, he was a correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation TV youth program Going Great.^[9]

Reeves' first studio movie appearance was in the Rob Lowe ice hockey film Youngblood, in which he played a Québécois goalie. Shortly after the movie's release, Reeves drove to Los Angeles in his 1969 Volvo. His ex-stepfather Paul Aaron, a stage and television director, had convinced Erwin Stoff to be Reeves' manager and agent before he even arrived in Los Angeles. Stoff has remained Reeves' manager, and has co-produced many of his films. After a few minor roles, Reeves received a more sizable role in the 1986 drama film River's Edge, which depicted how a murder affected a group of teens. Following this film's critical success, he spent the late 1980s appearing in a number of movies aimed at teenage audiences, including Permanent Record, and the unexpectedly successful 1989 comedy, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, which, along with its 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, typecast Reeves as a spaced-out teen. Much of his portrayal in the press and much of the response to his acting in the early 1990s still mentioned his portrayal of the airheaded Ted.

1990s[link]

Reeves' interacting with the press at the Berlin Film Festival

During the early 1990s, Reeves started to break out of his teen-film period. He appeared in high-budget action films like Point Break, for which he won MTV's "Most Desirable Male" award in 1992. He was also involved in various lower-budget independent films, including the well-received 1991 film, My Own Private Idaho with his close friend, the late River Phoenix. In 1994, Reeves' career reached a new high as a result of his starring role in the action film Speed. His casting in the film was controversial since, except for Point Break, he was primarily known for comedies and indie dramas. He had never been the sole headliner on a film. The summer action film had a fairly large budget and was helmed by novice cinematographer-turned-director Jan de Bont. The unexpected international success of the film made Reeves and co-star Sandra Bullock into A-List stars.

Reeves' career choices after Speed were eclectic: despite his successes, Reeves continued to accept supporting roles and appear in experimental films. He scored a hit with a romantic lead role in A Walk in the Clouds. He made news by refusing to take part in Speed 2: Cruise Control and choosing to play the title role in a 1995 Manitoba Theatre Centre production of Hamlet in Winnipeg, Manitoba.^[10] Roger Lewis, the Sunday Times critic, wrote, "He quite embodied the innocence, the splendid fury, the animal grace of the leaps and bounds, the emotional violence, that form the Prince of Denmark... He is one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he is Hamlet."^[11]

Reeves promoting The Day the Earth Stood Still in Mexico in 2008.

Reeves' other choices after A Walk in the Clouds, however, failed with critics and audiences. Big-budget films such as the sci-fi action film Johnny Mnemonic and the action-thriller Chain Reaction were critically panned and failed at the box office, while indie films like Feeling Minnesota were also critical failures. Reeves started to climb out of his career low after starring in the horror/drama The Devil's Advocate alongside Al Pacino and Charlize Theron. Reeves deferred his salary for The Devil's Advocate so that Pacino would be cast, as he would do later for the less successful The Replacements, guaranteeing the casting of Gene Hackman. The Devil's Advocate did well at the box office, received good reviews, and proved that Reeves could play a grown-up with a career, although many critics felt that his poor performance detracted from an otherwise enjoyable movie. The 1999 science fiction-action hit The Matrix, a film in which Reeves had a starring role, was a box office success and attracted positive reviews.^{[citation needed]}

2000s[link]

In between the first Matrix film and its sequels, Reeves received positive reviews for his portrayal of an abusive husband in The Gift. Aside from The Gift, Reeves appeared in several films that received mostly negative reviews and unimpressive box office grosses, including The Watcher, Sweet November and The Replacements. However, the two Matrix sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Something's Gotta Give, and the 2005 horror-action film, Constantine, proved to be box office successes and brought Reeves back into the public spotlight.

His appearance in the 2006 film, A Scanner Darkly, based on the dystopian science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick, received favorable reviews, but The Lake House, his romantic outing with Sandra Bullock, did not do well at the box office. He went on to play the lead character in two 2008 films, Street Kings and The Day the Earth Stood Still. In February 2009 The Private Life of Pippa Lee was presented at Berlinale.^{[citation needed]}

2010s[link]

Reeves started filming the surrealist romantic comedy Henry's Crime in December 2009, with filming wrapped up in early 2010. After this he started working as producer and star on the science-fiction space drama Passengers, written by Jon Spaihts.^[12]

In January 2009, it was revealed that Reeves will star in the live-action film adaptation of the anime series Cowboy Bebop,^[13][14] slated for release in 2011. Other upcoming projects include the samurai film 47 Ronin, Chef – story by Reeves and written by Steven Knight, and a modern retelling of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, scripted by Justin Haythe and titled Jekyll. Nicolas Winding Refn was in negotiations to direct but was eventually replaced by Dennis Iliadis and produced by Universal Pictures.^[15]

In April 2011, Reeves confirmed that a third installment of the Bill & Ted movie series was underway.^[16]

Personal life and other interests[link]

Reeves' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

For nearly a decade following his initial rise to stardom, Reeves preferred to live in rental houses and hotels. He was a long-term resident of the Chateau Marmont. Reeves bought his first house in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles around 2003. He also has an apartment on Central Park West in New York City.^{[citation needed]}

He is a U.S. citizen through his American father, and also holds Canadian citizenship by naturalization; he grew up as a Canadian and identifies as such.^{[citation needed]} Due to April 2003 changes in the law, he is entitled to British citizenship through his English mother.

Reeves has never married.^[17] In December 1999, his girlfriend, Jennifer Syme, gave birth to a stillborn daughter, Ava Archer Syme-Reeves. Syme died in 2001, a sole driver involved in an automobile wreck, while partying in Los Angeles.^[18]

Reeves was sued unsuccessfully in 2008 in Los Angeles Superior Court for $711,974^[19] by paparazzo Alison Silva for allegedly hitting and injuring him with his Porsche after visiting a relative at a Los Angeles medical facility.^[20][21] The paparazzo's lawsuit took a year and a half to make it to trial, during which time Silva continued to attack Reeves and demand payment. At the trial, all 12 jurors rejected the suit needing only an hour of deliberation to reach their verdict. With the lawsuit rejected, Reeves was cleared of all the charges.^[22]

Reeves is an atheist. ^[23][24]

In 2010, photos of a sad-looking Keanu Reeves eating a sandwich while alone led to the spread of the "Keanu is Sad/Sad Keanu" Internet meme and the declaration of June 15 as "Unofficial Cheer-up Keanu Day" by a Facebook fanpage.^[25]

Music[link]

Reeves played bass guitar in the grunge band Dogstar during the 1990s. In the 2000s, he performed with the band Becky.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• "Keanu Reeves Articles & Interviews Archive, 1987 – 2010". http://www.whoaisnotme.net/articles/articles.htm. Retrieved January 9, 2010. 
• Papp, Adrienne (April 18, 2008). "Tempest in Tibet". LA2DAY. http://la2day.com/talk/tempest_in_tibet. Retrieved May 13, 2008. 
• "Pondering the mysterious Keanu Reeves". CNN. November 5, 2003. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080430121543/http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/05/sprj.caf03.film.keanureeves.ap/. Retrieved May 10, 2008. 
• "Seven magazine interview with Keanu Reeves". Seven magazine. http://www.se7enmagazine.org/film/film_27.htm. Retrieved May 10, 2008. 
• Bystedt, Karen Hardy (September 1988). The New Breed: Actors Coming of Age. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-0774-9. 
• Chin, Ong Song (May 15, 2003). "A Man of Many Faces". Straits Times (Singapore). 
• Fleming, Michael (April 2006). "Playboy Interview: Keanu Reeves". Playboy: 49–52, 140–141. 
• Howell, Peter (May 4, 2003). "Reeves Reloaded". Toronto Star. 
• Makela, Bob (August 5, 2000). "Keanu Reeves: All the right moves". USA Weekend. http://www.usaweekend.com/00_issues/000806/000806keanu.html. Retrieved May 10, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
• Roman, Shari (February 1, 1988). "Keanu Reeves – Hawaiian Punk". Details. 
• Shnayerson, Michael (August 1995). "The Wild One". Vanity Fair. 

External links[link]

• Keanu Reeves at the Internet Movie Database
• Keanu Reeves at People.com

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Keanu Reeves

Patrick Swayze
Swayze greeting fans after Guys and Dolls in 2006
Born	Patrick Wayne Swayze (1952-08-18)August 18, 1952 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Died	September 14, 2009(2009-09-14) (aged 57)[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Pancreatic cancer
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor, dancer, singer-songwriter
Years active	1978–2009
Spouse	Lisa Niemi (m. 1975–2009, his death)
Relatives	Don Swayze (brother)

Patrick Wayne Swayze ( /�?sweɪzi�?/; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009)^[1] was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1991. His film and TV career spanned 30 years.

Diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer in January 2008, Swayze told Barbara Walters a year later that he was "kicking it".^[2] However, he died from the disease on September 14, 2009.^[3] His last role was the lead in an ill-fated A&E TV series, The Beast, which premiered on January 15, 2009. Due to a prolonged decline in health, Swayze was unable to promote the series. On June 15, 2009, Entertainment Tonight announced the show's cancellation.^[4]

Early life[link]

Patrick Swayze was born on August 18, 1952, in Houston, Texas, the second child of Patsy Yvonne Helen (née Karnes; born 1927), a choreographer, dance instructor, and dancer, and Jesse Wayne Swayze (1925–1982), an engineering draftsman.^[5][6][7] He had two younger brothers, actor Don Swayze (born 1958) and Sean Kyle (born 1962), and two sisters, Vickie Lynn (1949–1994) and Bambi.^[5][8] He was a sixth cousin once removed of news commentator John Cameron Swayze, and a relative of noted Texas Revolution soldier Henry Karnes.^[9] Swayze was raised Roman Catholic.^[10]

Until the age of twenty, Swayze lived in the Oak Forest neighborhood of Houston, where he attended St. Rose of Lima Catholic School,^[11] Oak Forest Elementary School,^[12] Black Middle School,^[12][13] and Waltrip High School.^[12] During this time, he also pursued multiple artistic and athletic skills, such as ice skating, classical ballet, and acting in school plays. He played football for his high school and was hoping to receive a football scholarship for college until a knee injury ended his career. He studied gymnastics at nearby San Jacinto College for two years.^{[citation needed]}

In 1972, he moved to New York City to complete his formal dance training at the Harkness Ballet and Joffrey ballet schools.

Career[link]

Swayze's first professional appearance was as a dancer for Disney on Parade. He then starred as a replacement playing the role of Danny Zuko in the long-running Broadway production of Grease^[14] before his debut film role as "Ace" in Skatetown, U.S.A.. He appeared as Pvt. Sturgis in the M*A*S*H episode "Blood Brothers"^[15] and had a brief stint in 1982 on a short lived TV series The Renegades^[16] playing a gang leader named Bandit. Swayze became known to the film industry after appearing in The Outsiders as the older brother of C. Thomas Howell and Rob Lowe. Swayze, Howell, and Howell's friend Darren Dalton reunited in Red Dawn the next year, and Lowe and Swayze reunited in Youngblood. He was considered a member of the Brat Pack.^[17] His first major success was in the 1985 television miniseries North and South, which was set during the American Civil War.^[18]

Swayze and Paula Abdul at the 1990 Grammy Awards

Swayze's breakthrough role came with his performance as dance instructor Johnny Castle in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, alongside his Red Dawn co-star, Jennifer Grey. Dirty Dancing, a coming of age story, was a low-budget film that was intended to be shown in theaters for one weekend only and then go straight to video, but it became a surprise hit and achieved massive international success. It was the first film to sell one million copies on video, and as of 2009, it earned over $214 million worldwide and spawned several alternative versions, ranging from a television series to stage productions to a computer game. Swayze received a Golden Globe Award nomination for the role and also sang one of the songs on the soundtrack, "She's Like the Wind", which he had originally co-written with Stacy Widelitz for the film Grandview, U.S.A. The song became a top ten hit and has been covered by other artists.

After Dirty Dancing, Swayze found himself typecast and appeared in several flops, of which Road House was the most successful. His biggest hit came in 1990, when he starred in Ghost, with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg.^[19] In 1991, he starred alongside Youngblood cast mate Keanu Reeves in another major action hit, Point Break, and was also chosen by People magazine as that year's "Sexiest Man Alive".

Swayze was seriously injured in 1998 while filming HBO's Letters from a Killer near Ione, California when he fell from a horse and hit a tree. Both of his legs were broken and he suffered four detached tendons in his shoulder. Filming was suspended for two months, but the film aired in 1999. Swayze recovered from his injuries, but he had trouble resuming his career until 2000, when he co-starred in Waking Up in Reno, with Billy Bob Thornton and Charlize Theron, and in Forever Lulu, with Melanie Griffith.

In 2001, he appeared in the cult classic Donnie Darko, where he played a famous motivational speaker revealed to be a closet pedophile, and in 2004, he played Allan Quartermain in King Solomon's Mines. He also had a cameo appearance in the Dirty Dancing sequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights as an unnamed dance instructor.

Swayze made his West End theatre début in the musical Guys and Dolls as Nathan Detroit on July 27, 2006,^[20][21][22] alongside Neil Jerzak, and remained in the role until November 25, 2006. His previous appearances on the Broadway stage had included productions of Goodtime Charley (1975)^[23] and Chicago.

Swayze also provided the voice for Cash the country music band dog in The Fox and the Hound 2 and in 2007 starred in the film Christmas in Wonderland. Swayze played an aging rock star in Powder Blue, co-starring his younger brother Don in their first film together. Swayze starred in the A&E FBI drama The Beast,^[24] filmed in Chicago, as FBI Agent Charles Barker.^[25]

Personal life[link]

Swayze and his wife, Lisa Niemi, arrive at the 1989 Academy Awards ceremony

Swayze was married to Lisa Niemi from June 12, 1975, until his death. The couple first met in 1970 when Swayze was 18 years old. Niemi, 14 years old at the time, was taking dance lessons from Swayze's mother. Swayze and Niemi had no children.^[26] In a 2008 interview, Swayze stated that Niemi was the inspiration for his 1987 hit song, "She's Like the Wind".^[27]

As a reaction to his father's death at age 57 from a heart attack in 1982, Swayze began to drink heavily.^[28] In 1989, Swayze said, "I've always felt there was something different in there (my personality), but I was scared to look for fear I wouldn't find anything. That's the reason I got into Buddhism, took est training, was into therapy, into Scientology, into Transcendental Meditation. I was trying to support that side of myself. But, you know, in Texas there isn't much support for that part of you."^[29] His sister Vicky committed suicide by drug overdose in 1994,^[28] leading him to seek treatment for alcoholism. After initial recovery, he temporarily withdrew from show business, retreating to his ranches in California and Las Vegas, New Mexico, to breed Arabian horses. His best-known horse was Tammen, a chestnut Arabian stallion.^[30]

Swayze, who was a certified pilot with an instrument rating, made the news on June 1, 2000, while flying with his dogs in his twin-engine Cessna from Van Nuys, California to Las Vegas. His plane developed a pressurization problem, causing Swayze to make a precautionary landing on a dirt road in a housing complex in Prescott Valley. The plane's right wing struck a light pole, but Swayze was unharmed. He locked the cockpit, left the aircraft in the subdivision, and obtained a ride—with his dogs—from a passing vehicle, allegedly in order to telephone the authorities. According to the police report, witnesses said that Swayze appeared to be extremely intoxicated and asked for help to remove evidence—an open bottle of wine and a 30-pack of beer—from the crash site.^[31] He made himself unavailable to police for several hours. It was later determined that the alcohol in question was not in the cabin, but stored in external storage compartments inaccessible in flight and that the probable cause of the accident was Swayze's physical impairment due to the cumulative effects of carbon monoxide from engine exhaust by-products, carbon monoxide from heavy tobacco use, and the loss of an undetermined amount of cabin pressurization.^[32]

Illness and death[link]

Wikinews has related news: American actor Patrick Swayze dies at age 57

In late January 2008, Swayze was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer (specifically, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm). He traveled to the Stanford University Medical Center for chemotherapy and treatment with the experimental drug Vatalanib, the latter of which doctors hoped would cut off the blood supply to the tumor.^[33] On March 5, 2008, a Reuters article reported that Swayze "has a very limited amount of disease, and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far."^[34] Swayze's doctor confirmed that the actor was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but insisted he was not as close to death as reports suggest. Despite repeated tabloid claims that his death was imminent, Swayze continued to actively pursue his career.^[35]

In early May 2008, it was widely reported in a number of tabloids that Swayze had undergone surgery to remove part of his stomach after the spread of the cancer and that he had rewritten his will, transferring his property to his wife.^[36][37] In a statement made on May 28, Swayze said that he continued to respond well to treatment at Stanford University Medical Center. In late May 2008, he was seen at a Los Angeles Lakers basketball game, his first public appearance since his diagnosis.^[38] In 2008 Swayze was treated with Cyberknife radiotherapy cancer treatment.^[39]

In late July 2008, six months after reportedly being given just weeks to live by medical experts, a healthy-appearing^[40] Swayze was asked by reporter in Los Angeles airport about this health. He replied, "I'm cooking. I'm a miracle dude. I don't know why".^[41]

Swayze appeared on the ABC, NBC, and CBS simulcast of Stand Up to Cancer in September 2008, to appeal to the general public for donations for the initiative. Swayze said to a standing ovation "I dream that the word 'cure' will no longer be followed by the words 'it's impossible'. Together, we can make a world where cancer no longer means living with fear, without hope, or worse".^[42] After the show ended, Swayze remained on-stage and talked to other cancer patients; executive producer Laura Ziskin said, "He said a beautiful thing: 'I'm just an individual living with cancer'. That's how he wants to be thought of. He's in a fight, but he's a fighter".^[42][43] In late 2008, Swayze denied claims made by tabloids that the cancer had spread to his liver.^[44] Swayze told Barbara Walters in January 2009 that he wanted the media to report that he was "kicking it".^[2]

When Barbara Walters asked him if he was using any holistic or alternative methods of treatment besides the chemotherapy, Swayze admitted to using some Chinese herbs, but not much. He then voiced his opposition to the unsupported claims made by proponents of alternative therapies, as noted by ABC News journalist Joseph Brownstein:

Because of the grim prognosis, many patients turn to alternative therapies without scientific evidence behind them. Swayze did not.

"That's one thing I'm not gonna do, is chase, is chase staying alive. I'm not, you know, you'll spend so much time chasing staying alive you won't live, you know? I wanna live. If anybody had that cure out there like so many people swear to me they do, you'd be two things: you'd be very rich, and you'd be very famous. Otherwise, shut up," he told Barbara Walters in an interview that aired in January [2009].^[45]

His last role was the lead in an A&E TV series, The Beast, which premiered on January 15, 2009. Owing to a prolonged decline in health, Swayze was unable to promote the series, and on June 15, 2009, Entertainment Tonight reported that the show had been cancelled.^[4] In an interview with Barbara Walters which aired in January 2009, Swayze admitted that he had a "tiny little mass" in his liver. On January 9, 2009, Swayze was hospitalized with pneumonia. The pneumonia was said to be a complication of chemotherapy treatments for Swayze's cancer.^[46] On January 16, he was released from the hospital to rest at home with his wife.^[47] On April 19, 2009, doctors informed Swayze that the cancer had again metastasized to his liver.^[48] Swayze stated that his chain smoking probably "had something to do with" the development of his disease. Photos taken of a gaunt Swayze in the months before his death showed him continuing to smoke.^[49][50]

Swayze died with family at his side on September 14, 2009, at age 57, 20 months after being diagnosed.^[51][52] Swayze's publicist, Annett Wolf, confirmed to CNN that he had died of pancreatic cancer.^[53] He was cremated and his ashes scattered over his New Mexico ranch. He is survived by his wife Lisa Niemi, along with his mother, both brothers and one sister.

Cultural impact[link]

Swayze's name has become a commonly used term in hip hop songs.^[54] Lyrics will use the phrase "...and I'm Swayze," meaning that the speaker has become "like a ghost", meaning he disappeared or is otherwise gone. This is a reference to the title character of Swayze's 1990 film Ghost. It is known to have begun in the early 1990s, by prominent rappers such as EPMD, Black Sheep, CL Smooth, and more recently by such rappers as The Notorious B.I.G. in 2Pac's song Runnin' (Dying to Live), Method Man, Aesop Rock, and in Mistah F.A.B.'s Ghost Ride It. The expression has become such a hip hop staple that it was even used in the Saturday Night Live hip hop parody, Lazy Sunday.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Houston portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Patrick Swayze

• Patrick Swayze at the Internet Movie Database
• Patrick Swayze at the Internet Broadway Database
• Remembering Patrick Swayze - slideshow by LIFE magazine
• Patrick Swayze at Find a Grave

Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.^[1][2] He currently composed the score of the TV series Once Upon a Time.

Life and career[link]

Isham was born in New York City, New York, the son of Patricia (née Hammond), a violinist, and Howard Fuller Isham, a professor of humanities.^[3]

Isham is a Scientologist.^[4][5] He is married to Donna Isham.^[5]

Discography[link]

As sideman[link]

With Art Lande

• Rubisa Patrol (ECM, 1976)
• Desert Marauders (ECM 1978)

With David Torn

• Cloud About Mercury (ECM, 1986)

Studio albums and compilations[link]

• 1983 Vapor Drawings
• 1985 Film Music
• 1987 We Begin (with Art Lande)
• 1988 Castalia
• 1989 Tibet - a soundtrack
• 1990 Mark Isham
• 1991 Songs My Children Taught Me (music only, from the first four Rabbit Ears titles, see below)
• 1995 Blue Sun
• 1998 Mark Isham: A Windham Hill Retrospective
• 1999 Miles Remembered: The Silent Way Project

Rabbit Ears Storybook Classics[link]

• 1987 The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Narrated by Jeremy Irons)
• 1988 The Emperor and the Nightingale (Narrated by Glenn Close)
• 1989 Thumbelina (Narrated by Kelly McGillis)
• 1990 The Emperor's New Clothes (Narrated by John Gielgud)
• 1992 The Boy Who Drew Cats (Narrated by William Hurt)
• 1994 The Firebird (Narrated by Susan Sarandon)

Other[link]

• 2000 Hymn of Asia: L. Ron Hubbard (Instrument Orchestration and Choral Arrangements)
• 2006 Theme to the United States Army's Army Strong campaign^[6]
• 2007 Human the Death Dance by Sage Francis (Production on "Good Fashion" and "Water Line")

Contributions to soundtracks[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Mark Isham at the Internet Movie Database