LOS ANGELES: Actor Patrick Swayze, whose turn as a smoldering dance instructor in Dirty Dancing made him one of the iconic film stars of the 1980s, died on Monday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

Swayze, an actor and dancer who cemented his status as sex symbol opposite Demi Moore in the 1990 romance Ghost, died at his home.

Swayze became one of Hollywood's top stars with 1987's Dirty Dancing, which defied Hollywood expectations to become one of the most-watched movies of all time.