Lisa Niemi Swayze (born May 26, 1956) is an American writer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and director. She is the widow of actor and dancer

Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze (; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for playing distinctive lead roles, particularly romantic, tough, and comedic characters. He was also known for his media image and ...

Early life

Lisa Anne Haapaniemi was born in Houston, Texas, the only daughter of six children born to Edmond, a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

worker, and Karin Haapaniemi, a registered nurse. Niemi has said her father and her mother's professions were her inspiration and encouragement. She is of

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

ancestry. She graduated from the Houston Ballet Dance Company in 1974. She shortened her surname from Haapaniemi to Niemi in 1977 for her theatre stage name. The Finnish family name translates to "Aspen peninsula".

Career

In the 1970s, Niemi and her husband pursued dance careers in New York City.

Films

Lisa Niemi Swayze wrote, directed and starred in the 2003 film '' One Last Dance'' alongside her husband. ''One Last Dance'' was based on ''Without a Word'', a successful play written 18 years before which had won six Drama Critics Awards. Niemi said, "It was basically based on our experiences as concert dancers in New York, and it affected people a lot." She co-starred in '' Steel Dawn'' (1987) with Swayze and co-starred in ''Beat Angel'' (2004). Niemi also appeared in ''

Letters from a Killer ''Letters from a Killer'' is a 1998 British-American crime drama mystery film starring Patrick Swayze as a man who is falsely convicted of the murder of his wife. During his time in jail, he finds comfort from four women with whom he corresponds. ...

'', '' Next of Kin'', ''

Younger and Younger ''Younger And Younger'' is a 1993 American comedy film co-written and directed by Percy Adlon and starring Donald Sutherland, Brendan Fraser and Lolita Davidovich. Synopsis Jonathan Younger owns a self-storage facility, and runs it with his wife ...

'', ''Live! From Death Row'', '' She's Having a Baby'' and '' Slam Dance''. Niemi directed ''Dance'', a 1990 film.

Television

Niemi co-starred as Carla Frost in 23 episodes of the TV series '' Super Force'' from 1990 to 1991. She once again directed her husband, this time in an episode of his TV series '' The Beast''. The episode, titled "No Turning Back", aired on April 9, 2009. It was his last performance before his death.

Books

On September 29, 2009, Niemi Swayze released a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

, ''The Time of My Life'', which became a New York Times Best Seller. The book was co-written by Patrick Swayze, and it was finished shortly before his death. On January 2, 2012, Niemi Swayze released another memoir, ''Worth Fighting For'', which also became a New York Times Best Seller.

Personal life

At age 14, at the Houston Ballet Dance Company, Niemi met the owner and director's son,

; the two eventually got married when she was 19 years old. Niemi and Swayze were married on June 12, 1975, and remained married until Swayze's death from pancreatic cancer on September 14, 2009. Shortly after they wed, the couple moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to pursue their dance careers until the late 1970s, when they relocated to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In addition to dancing and filmmaking, they ran a construction business and raised horses together. The Swayzes had no children. In 1985, Lisa Swayze began living on a

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...

near the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabriel Mounta ...

, along with a "menagerie of dogs, prized Arabian horses and rodeo cattle". She also had a ranch in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. She is a licensed

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and flew Swayze to his

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

treatments prior to his death. While filming ''One Last Dance'' in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, Niemi was made an honorary citizen of the city. After her husband's death, she became the Chief Ambassador of Hope for Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. In July 2011, she was made a Dame of the Royal Order of Francis I of the Two Sicilies. On December 28, 2013, it was announced that she was engaged to Albert DePrisco, a jeweler. On May 25, 2014, the couple were married.

Bibliography

* Swayze, Patrick; Niemi Swayze, Lisa: ''The Time of My Life''. Atria Books, 2010. * Niemi Swayze, Lisa: ''Worth Fighting For: Love, Loss, and Moving Forward''. Atria Books, 2012.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Niemi, Lisa 1956 births Living people Actresses from Houston American choreographers American female dancers American dancers American film actresses Screenwriters from Texas American television actresses American people of Finnish descent American women film directors American women screenwriters Film directors from Texas 21st-century American women