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Lisa Niemi

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Lisa Niemi
Niemi in 1990
Born
Lisa Anne Haapaniemi

(1956-05-26) May 26, 1956 (age 68)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Other namesLisa Niemi Swayze
EducationHouston Ballet Dance Company
Occupations
  • Writer
  • dancer
  • choreographer
  • actress
  • director
Years active1975–present
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1975; died 2009)​
Albert DePrisco
​
​
(m. 2014)​
RelativesDon Swayze (brother-in-law)

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.

Early life

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Lisa Anne Haapaniemi was born in Houston, Texas, the only daughter of six children born to Finnish American family of Edmond Melvin Haapaniemi, a Red Cross worker, and Edna Karin Haapaniemi (née Hyttinen), a registered nurse.[1] Niemi has said her father and her mother's professions were her inspiration and encouragement.[2][3] She graduated from the Houston Ballet Dance Company in 1974.[4] She shortened her surname from Haapaniemi (meaning in English "Aspen Cape") to Niemi ("Cape") in 1977 for her theatre stage name.[5]

Career

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

Films

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Lisa Niemi Swayze wrote, directed and starred in the 2003 film One Last Dance alongside her husband.[6][7] 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."[8]

She co-starred in Steel Dawn (1987)[9] with Swayze and co-starred in Beat Angel (2004). Niemi also appeared in Letters from a Killer, Next of Kin, Younger and Younger, Live! From Death Row, She's Having a Baby and Slam Dance. Niemi directed Dance, a 1990 film. [10]

Television

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Niemi co-starred as Carla Frost in 23 episodes of the TV series Super Force from 1990 to 1991.[11][12][13] 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

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On September 29, 2009, Niemi Swayze released a memoir, 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.[14][15] On January 2, 2012, Niemi Swayze released another memoir, Worth Fighting For, which also became a New York Times Best Seller.

Personal life

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At age 14, at the Houston Ballet Dance Company, Niemi met the owner and director's son, Patrick Swayze; the two eventually got married when she was 19 years old. Niemi and Swayze were married on June 12, 1975,[16][17] 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 to pursue their dance careers until the late 1970s, when they relocated to Los Angeles, California. In addition to dancing and filmmaking, they ran a construction business and raised horses together.[18][19] The Swayzes had no children.[20]

In 1985, Lisa Swayze began living on a 5-acre (20,000 m2) homestead near the Angeles National Forest, along with a "menagerie of dogs, prized Arabian horses and rodeo cattle".[16] She also had a 20,000-acre (81 km2) ranch in New Mexico.[21]

She is a licensed pilot and flew Swayze to his cancer treatments prior to his death.[16] While filming One Last Dance in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Niemi was made an honorary citizen of the city.[22] 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.[23]

On December 28, 2013, it was announced that she was engaged to Albert DePrisco, a jeweler.[24] On May 25, 2014, the couple were married. [25]

Bibliography

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  • Swayze, Patrick; Niemi Swayze, Lisa: The Time of My Life. Atria Books, 2010. ISBN 9781439158616
  • Niemi Swayze, Lisa: Worth Fighting For: Love, Loss, and Moving Forward. Atria Books, 2012. ISBN 1439196354

References

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  1. ^ "Lisa Niemi Swayze Bio". Lisa Niemi Swayze official site. 14 November 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  2. ^ "Lisa Niemi: 'I Miss Patrick So Much'". People. September 20, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  3. ^ Topelius, Paula (2014-05-25). "Patrick Swayzen leski naimisiin". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  4. ^ "Patrick Swayze dies of cancer at 57" Archived 2012-10-06 at the Wayback Machine. CNN. September 14, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  5. ^ Swayze, Patrick; Niemi, Lisa (2009). The Time of My Life. ISBN 9781439158586.
  6. ^ Robertson, Campbell (August 25, 2005). "Residents of Florida..." New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  7. ^ "One Last Dance". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-02-13. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  8. ^ Mitovich, Matt (August 26, 2005). "Patrick Swayze and His Wife Do a Dance". TV Guide. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  9. ^ Goodman, Walter (2008). "Steel Dawn". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  10. ^ "Dance". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  11. ^ Stanley, Alessandra. "Super Force". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  12. ^ Sauter, Michael (December 3, 2003). "Super Force". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  13. ^ Schindehette, Susan (August 6, 1990). "Ghost with the Most". People Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  14. ^ "Lisa Niemi: Healing From the Loss of Patrick Swayze". WebMD. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  15. ^ "Patrick Swayze's Wife, Lisa Niemi: 'Lucky to Have Had Him'". ABC News. November 3, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  16. ^ a b c Tauber, Michelle (March 24, 2008). "article". People. Archived from the original on 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  17. ^ Blas, Lorena (March 6, 2008). "Patrick Swayze Battling a Deadly Form of Cancer". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  18. ^ "Fighting Together" Archived 2009-06-01 at the Wayback Machine. People. March 24, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  19. ^ "Patrick Swayze's widow urges more research funds for pancreatic cancer". CNN. February 17, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  20. ^ "Patrick Swayze Battling Pancreatic Cancer". Baltimore Sun. March 5, 2008. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  21. ^ Wong, Marisa (March 28, 2007). "Dirty Dancing..." People Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  22. ^ King, Randall (March 10, 2001). "Swayze crazy about 'Peg". Canoe.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved 2009-07-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. ^ "Official Bio of Lisa Niemi Swayze". 14 November 2011.
  24. ^ Jordan, Julie (December 28, 2013). "Patrick Swayze's widow, Lisa Niemi, is engaged". People Magazine. Retrieved 2013-12-28.
  25. ^ Messer, Lesley (May 25, 2014). "Patrick Swayze's widow, Lisa Niemi, is married". ABC News. Retrieved 2014-05-26.
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