Patrick Swayze was raised by a violent and aggressive mom

Not all mothers can be caring and understanding. Some of them choose an authoritarian style of upbringing, which gives children a lot of complexes and leaves a lot of mental trauma. While parents sincerely believe they are doing the right thing, it can have adverse consequences for children as adults. It is unlikely that a tough and oppressive mother will make her child happier.

I am Patrick Swayze

The actor was wildly popular, but his real story is shown in the film I Am Patrick Swayze, directed by his widow Lisa Niemi.

The couple met in early youth when 14-year-old Lisa began taking dance lessons from choreographer Patsy Swayze, Patrick’s mother.

“The first time Buddy and I (as Lisa called her husband) danced at a school show,” Niemi recounts. “I looked into his eyes, and everything around me seemed to come to life and shine.”

They married in 1975 and remained together until the actor’s death, despite the ups and downs in their relationship, as Swayze struggled with alcohol addiction for a long time until he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The son of a tough and authoritarian mother

“Patsy wanted the best for her son, but she was a dictator and abused children,” says Lisa Niemi. “She is a prime example of what happens in families where such treatment has been the norm for generations. Patsy could be very aggressive, which is understandable, because she was raised in the same way. “

“She did not regret her son even on his 18th birthday. Patsy threw her fists at him, but her father intervened, pulled her away from Buddy and pushed her against the wall. “ – Lisa recalls. Nevertheless, she assures that Patsy never hit Patrick again after that incident on his birthday.

Reconciliation with mother

In recent years, the mother and son have improved their relationship, and they communicated normally until the actor’s death in 2009. Patsy survived the stellar son by four years and died at the age of 86.

“I think she would have said something like,“ Well, you know, sometimes I could be strict, because I’m a teacher, ”Niemi said in an interview with the publication. People… “She was a difficult woman, but Patrick still loved and respected her.”

Lisa Niemi was not the only witness to what her husband went through.

“Patrick always said that my mother was very harsh with him, but I think she just wanted to motivate and spur him on,” says actor’s younger brother Don Swayze in the documentary “He Was Everything to My Mother.”

“Dirty Dancing”

During the filming of the cult “Dirty Dancing”, the actor’s partner Jennifer Gray at first did not want to work with him, as she had previously encountered Swayze on the set of the film “Red Dawn”, and then they did not get along at all.

“He thought Jennifer was a whiner,” said Linda Gottlieb, producer of Dirty Dancing. – She was a sincere and naive girl. If we needed eight takes, Jennifer did them differently each time. Patrick was a professional; he repeated the same thing over and over. She was upset and cried, and he laughed at her tears. “

In the end, they worked together and managed to create the most real love chemistry on the screen, and the film went down in Hollywood history forever and became a classic.