Actor Patrick Swayze has died at the age of 57 after struggling with pancreatic cancer for almost two years, his publicist says.

"Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," said a statement released Monday evening by his publicist, Annett Wolf.

Swayze first announced his condition last spring but continued working as he underwent chemotherapy.

The one-time alcoholic actor gained fame in 1987 with his performance in Dirty Dancing and established himself in 1990 when he co-starred in Ghost alongside Demi Moore.

The three-time Golden Globe nominee was optimistic about his condition when he was first diagnosed with cancer. In one of his last interviews Swayze had expressed regret over media reports that had been exaggerating his condition.

Swayze was also known for being a heavy smoker. In a January interview Patrick said one of the reasons that he would still continue to smoke was to lessen his daily battles.

"It's just I've been dealing with one thing as it comes at time, you know ... in the ... order that it's trying to kill me. Will stopping smoking now stop anything, change anything? No. But, when it looks like I may live longer than five minutes, I'll drop cigarettes like a hot potato," he told ABC on January 6, 2009.

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