[Ammi]

Swayze made his feature film debut as the leather-clad leader of a roller-disco gang in 1979’s Skatetown, USA. The role he really wanted, however, was John Travolta’s in Urban Cowboy, the film his mother and wife were choreographing in his hometown. “As soon as [Skatetown] wrapped, I flew down to Houston to join Lisa. One night we ended up hanging out with John and teaching him a few steps, which frustrated me even more,” Swayze writes. “Country dancing was in my DNA, and as much as I like John, I hated giving someone else tips on how to play a role I was born for. But really, what I hated was that he was so good at it.”