To be honest, I don’t know. Both, I’m sure were works in progress. Dirty Dancing was released in 1987—but I don’t know how long it took them to actually film it, plan it, etc. Funding takes time—and that is something Patrick wouldn’t have been involved in. Many times by the time a movie comes out—two years can go by—even with studio films. Since Patrick didn’t write Dirty Dancing, but he did write Without A Word, I would say that both his performances were probably influenced by his years of dance experience, but I don’t think one project necessarily influenced the other.
I’m sure Without A Word was a lifetime of writing—even if not literally on paper. It is a very personal piece. Without A Word did though, as you know, influence One Last Dance. Much of it was the same—only it’s like they took the situations and they expanded them. But in Without A Word and One Last Dance they faced many of the same things—the aging process (the effect dancing has on the body as one grows older), the fear of rejection. In the play, Nicholas Gunn had to face his father—his father didn’t want him to dance; his father had pre-conceived ideas about what being a dancer meant. I thought Lisa did a great job with directing One Last Dance—she brought different elements to it that they couldn’t do on stage.
What was it like working on movies and the stage production with which Patrick was involved?
He’s a kind, caring, passionate, gentle soul. Humble is probably another word to describe him. Hollywood is full of egos—but there are a handful that are unique and remain true to their roots and beliefs.
Is there anything else you want to share about your contacts/work with Patrick that would be relevant to this Dirty Dancing research project?
I do have a funny story.
I used to do some work for Tommy Howell (fan mail/fan club/merchandizing type work).
I don’t think Patrick knew how big Dirty Dancing was going to be. He knew me from working on the play with him (Without A Word)—but he also knew I connected up with him through Tommy …
One day, I am at my neighbor’s apartment—and one of my roommates had a friend over in our backyard visiting with my other roommates …
The phone rings—and you can hear the friend yelling all through the courtyard, “Cheryl—get your butt back here!! You won’t believe who is on the phone for you.”
I go out into the courtyard—and her face is all flushed … She goes, “She had me answer the phone because they were doing something else …” I was like, “Well who’s on the phone for me?”
She starts screaming, “It’s Patrick Swayze. He’s holding for you—I can’t believe I just answered the phone to Patrick Swayze.”
I go in the house to take the call and my friend is still freaking out running up and down the courtyard screaming.
Anyway, during the short phone conversation, he (Patrick) said, “I asked Tommy what to do—all these girls are writing me letters now and wanting to buy my stuff … I’ve never been through this before … If they want to buy things, Tommy said I should talk to you—you would know about this kind of thing.”
He was oblivious to if he should start a fan club, sell his photos … He never thought Dirty Dancing would take off the way it did … I think he was shocked (and humbled) he was getting so much attention.”
I think that was my one and only phone call from him—but my friend talked about it for a month—she was still in shock.
If I think on it hard enough, even though it was—what, twenty-five years ago—I can still hear my friend yelling through the court yard!!!
Additional Demographic Information
Marital status: Single
Education: Post-grad in Psychology
Profession: Film Production, Book Publishing, Various Entertainment Related (was involved in casting—also worked in a division of publicity in the ’80s for Norman Lear)
Official Patrick Swayze International Fan Club member: No
CALLIE VAN KLEECK & DAVID VAN KLEECK
Age 57. Age 52.
Glendale, Arizona
*Callie and David have been married for 25 years.
May 2008 (e-mail interviews).
Callie has seen Dirty Dancing 16–50 times and David 2–15 times.
What year did you first see Dirty Dancing? How old were you?
Callie: 1987. Thirty-seven years old.
David: 1987. Thirty-two years old.
Why do you like Dirty Dancing so much?
Callie: There are many reasons I like the movie. Mostly the love story between two opposites, as in Romeo and Juliet. Typically, I don’t care for cliche plots, but this one was done well, and I identified with it due to my own love story with my husband, David.
David: I identified with Patrick’s character because “ALL” my relationships had me cast as the guy from the wrong side of life, including and especially my twenty-five year marriage to Callie! She is proper, strong, ethical and a Texas born self-sufficient woman, a very rare find indeed. Patrick’s character behaved much the same way I had all my life before God put Callie in my life, and she has saved me from myself.
Callie & David: We BOTH love good storytelling and happy endings where every major character gets what they deserve in the end.
How has Dirty Dancing impacted you personally?
Callie: What “Baby” did in handling the situations that put her family at risk, fortified my resolve that no matter what, I will ALWAYS do the “right thing,” regardless of the consequences.
David: Once again, as is usual in Patrick’s “character” performances, I recognized my “hot-headed” personality and my “victim” outlook in life, as in “the misunderstood, unfairly treated underdog.” Seeing that in myself, as others said they saw in me, forced me to take it to heart and change. The epiphany that I could REALLY change my outlook, started the ball rolling in a straight line towards “growing up.” And I had really motivating reasons to follow through: my wife deserved a mature man at her side, and I wanted to BE that man!
Callie & David: We knew it was going to be one of “Our Movies” from that day on, because we BOTH love GOOD romantic movies for our “Date Nights” at home.
In addition to Dirty Dancing, how many movies have you seen multiple times? And is Patrick in them?
Callie: At least a dozen or more!
David: More like fifty, I think.
Callie & David: In some cases, we’ve seen movies twice a year every year for almost twenty-five years now! In some cases, like Dirty Dancing, twice in a week! Patrick is in many of them! Red Dawn, Next of Kin, Road House, Ghost, Point Break, and Three Wishes.
Have you ever met Patrick or anyone else from the cast?
Callie & David: Unfortunately, no.
Will you continue to watch Dirty Dancing?
Callie & David: Absolutely!
What do you think about Dirty Dancing the movie being made into the stage production?
Callie: If it doesn’t lose any of the impact the movie has, it would be great—and, I hope, as successful.
David: The movie is so “branded” with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey as the stars that I believe stage play actors involved would have a tough time recreating the dynamics of that relationship, which helped drive the plot and give real substance to the movie.
Do you plan to see the stage production?
Callie: Possibly.
David: Probably take any family or friends, who are into the Performing Arts and would appreciate the story and message behind it.
Did both of you discover the movie at the same time—maybe even watching it together for the first time?
Callie: I watched it before David did.
David: Callie told me about it, so we agreed to watch it together.
Callie & David: After we watched it together for the first time, we’ve watched it together more than a dozen times!
Has this movie impacted your relationship at all?
Callie & David: It has served as the centerpiece of MANY of our “Date Nights” throughout our twenty-fi
ve years of marriage.
Is there one of you that is more into the movie than the other?
Callie & David: No, we both really enjoy watching the movie, and we usually watch it together.
Do you both enjoy the same things about the movie, or are there differences in what makes the movie enjoyable for you—i.e. especially the male point of view versus the female point of view?
Callie: I enjoy the music, dancing, romance and how well the actors brought the movie to life. From a female “perspective,” I feel most young girls dream of finding the kind of man Patrick portrayed, and experiencing that kind of love where you know your man believes in you.
David: I enjoy how much “Baby” (aka Frances) reminds me of Callie. She is quite independent, has an incredibly gentle nature and sincere concern for the well-being of others. From a “male point of view,” I think the movie is true to reality and portrays the male ego and a man’s need to “prove himself,” and improve himself.
Anything else that you would like to say about Dirty Dancing?
Callie & David: We were surprised to discover that Dirty Dancing is based on the real life experience of the writer. It is among Patrick Swayze’s better performances. Both Patrick and Jennifer made their characters believable. Their characters’ innocence and idealistic outlook on life was genuine in them both. That drew us into their plight more intensely. We actually felt their pain as they realized life as it truly is, and gained strength from the ordeal. It reminded us both of our own awakening to reality.
Are you saying that Patrick and Jennifer put their own innocence and idealistic outlook on life into the characters that they played?
David: No, not necessarily. I am saying that they made their characters very real and convincingly portrayed them as being innocent (in Baby’s character) or having been innocent (in Johnny’s character). I believe this made Baby’s “coming of age” and Johnny’s “standing his ground” transformations that much more emotionally impacting—BECAUSE they were believably consistent in their character portrayals. After all, who hasn’t been innocent or had that innocence tested or even shattered? Truth rings true no matter how it is conveyed: music, poetry, stories, movies, interviews, relationships …
Could I go a step further and ask, Do you think that in “real life,” Jennifer and Patrick are genuine people, so they were able to use that quality in their portrayal of Baby and Johnny?
David: I have not seen enough of Jennifer Grey’s movie characterizations to make a solid judgment call on her real life personality. But I will say that her performance in Dirty Dancing seemed to me to be garnered from within herself, as if she really empathized with the woman she was portraying who wrote the film from real life incidents in her own past.
However, in Patrick Swayze’s case, seeing as many movies as I have of his, I have noticed a common thread of decency and humanity in him (with the possible exception of Letters from a Killer). His characters are likable, real, ethical, compassionate, and convey an integrity that is palpable. The proof of this is in the length of his marriage to one woman and their obvious dedication to each other … For Patrick and Lisa’s marriage to be as good as it is for as long as they’ve been married takes a REAL man and a REAL woman who are very real with each other all the time. It’s hard enough to make a marriage work as an every day couple. Multiply that by a thousand if you are a “famous” couple.
Additional demographic information
Both Callie and David are college graduates. Callie is the CEO of Reliable Outsourcing, Inc. and David is the CEO of Performance Computer Specialists, Inc. Both joined the Official Patrick Swayze International Fan Club in 2008.
MALLORY LONGWORTH
Age 60. Lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
January 3, 2009 (in-person interview).
*I was referred to Mallory by Mr. H.M. “Buzz” Scanland, Jr., General Manager at Mountain Lake Hotel, as Mallory had gone there for Dirty Dancing Weekends twice and had been written up in Newsweek.
When did you first see Dirty Dancing? Did someone tell you about the movie or did you just happen to hear about it?
I saw the movie trailer, and I was in New York with my aunt and uncle … It made me want to see the movie … I saw it, and it just struck a chord. It was like—I’ve lived that—not the dancing part, but I worked in the Catskills, you know when I was in college—the serving part of it.
About when did you work in the Catskills?
Oh, it was my second year of college—so 1969, 1970.
And something just kept drawing me back to the movie. And after I’d seen it, I don’t know how many times, maybe fifty to sixty, I wanted the poster from the movie. So I asked the theater manager if I could have it, and she said no, but she gave me the name of the advertising agency that was providing it … So I got into contact with a man there … He said, “I’m going to send you the poster, and I want you to keep in touch with me.” I said, “I can’t stop seeing it. I just can’t stop …” He said, “Keep in touch with me …” Then I saw it one hundred times, and he said, “I have a surprise for you—I have contacted Newsweek magazine, and they are going to contact you.” And I said OK sure, yeah that’s going to happen. My son was nine years old. And we came home from somewhere that night, and the phone rang and this lady identified herself as being from Newsweek magazine. She said, “If it is all right, I will call you the next day for an interview,” which she did. Then she said, “I am going to send a photographer to you. I am not sure that there will be a picture in the article but we’ll see.” So the article came out the following week. (Article is: “Getting Down and Dirty” by Charles Leerhsen with Tessa Namuth, December 21, 1987.) And then the guy, Neal Rubin from the Detroit Free Press called me for a phone interview.
And this (Detroit Free Press article—“Movie makes her do the mambo-not the munch-o” by Neal Rubin) was in 1987?
1988. By this time I’ve seen the movie one hundred-fifty times, and I was talking to my ex-husband (my son’s father), and I said, “You know what, I didn’t start a war or do anything bad, and it’s a really stupid reason for being in Newsweek, but I’m going to be in Newsweek this week.” And he said, “For what?” And I said, “For seeing Dirty Dancing …” He said “OK.” I said, “Maybe it is my claim to fame.” So from the Newsweek article, I got a call from a teen from South Carolina or Virginia … Actually, her mother called me and asked me if it would be all right if I spoke to her daughter, and I said sure. So then they told me about the very first Dirty Dancing weekend at Mountain Lake.
That’s amazing.
So I went there, and I met them.
And Buzz was there also, right?
Yes, and he’s been just phenomenal.
That’s what everyone says that I talk to.
I actually went twice.
So that was in around ’88?
That’s twenty years ago, but the area was just so beautiful and everything that was in the movie.
What did you do while you were at Mountain Lake?
We went for the weekend—my best friend and I. You know they had showings of the movie of course and there was a dinner dance. The food was good. They had activities, you know.
I had heard that there was a life-size cardboard Patrick. I hear it is pretty battered (actually not usable anymore) now-a-days from all its use.
Of course, I had my picture taken with the cardboard Patrick.
Is there anything more that you can say about why you think the movie resonated with you so much?
It was the time—the timeframe. It was 1963 … which she says in the opening. I also come from a Jewish family, and you know Mountain Lake looked just like the Catskills.
And then it was a pure love story. And I am highly influenced by that.
Now, do you still watch Dirty Dancing?
Yes.
Do you think you always will?
Uh-huh. I don’t think there will be another movie like that for me … Although I love girlie movies like Nottingham
Hill.
Have you seen any other movies—other than Dirty Dancing—many, many times?
No.
So this is really a phenomenon specific to Dirty Dancing?
Yes … It’s funny whenever I’m sick and just not feeling well, I put the movie on, and it calms me enough—I know it sounds strange—so that I can sleep, so that I get better.
No. I don’t think it sounds strange. I understand what you are saying.
What do you think about the fact that Dirty Dancing is now playing as a stage musical production? And do you plan on seeing it?
It’s a stage production? I wasn’t aware of it.
Yes, it started out in Australia … Played in the UK—sold out before it even started. It’s been to Germany, recently in Toronto, and now it’s in Chicago—then it’s going to Boston, to LA, and they’re talking maybe Broadway.
It’s in Chicago? I’ll have to ask my friend to go.
I don’t know how much longer it will be in Chicago. Different people have obviously different views on it. Actually, Buzz told me he saw it and highly recommended it.
If Buzz recommended it, I’d go see it. I am going to call my friend as soon as we are done and see about it.
When Patrick was starring in Guys and Dolls (Nathan Detroit) in London, England, Dirty Dancing was playing across the street. When he was shooting The Beast (A&E) in Chicago, Dirty Dancing was also on stage there. He was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune on November 18, 2008 (“Swayze feels at home in Chicago,” by Robert K. Elder). Mr. Swayze was asked about how it was for him to be in Chicago while the stage version of Dirty Dancing was playing. Mr. Swayze said, “It’s surreal, but nothing new … But the other day, we were filming, and my character Barker is crossing the street when two cabs with ads for ‘Dirty Dancing’ go by!”13
That was very cute.
What do you think of the idea that some people talk about Dirty Dancing, the movie having a follow-up, a sequel? And I don’t mean Havana Nights.
I used to think maybe there was the possibility of a sequel with Patrick and Jennifer—with her going to college and being successful and meeting with him, and having it all come back to the dance … but I don’t think there will ever be another Dirty Dancing.
THE FANS' LOVE STORY: How The Movie 'DIRTY DANCING' Captured The Hearts Of Millions! Page 12