Patrick Swayze Hospitalized for Pneumonia

Actor Patrick Swayze was hospitalized on Friday. Swayze informed a representative at the Critics Association that he had checked into a Los Angeles-area hospital on Friday morning, after being diagnosed with pneumonia.

Swayze has been back in the headlines for the last year, after taking a bit of a break from big Hollywood blockbusters such as Ghost and Dirty Dancing. In a recent interview with Barbara Walters, Swayze opened up about his fight with pancreatic cancer, in which he confided he is now in the fourth stage. He spoke about the "hell" he is going through, but also of his hopes for a better future, and for the slim but possible chance that he will survive. He noted that he doesn't believe it is likely he will survive for the next five years.

Beloved comic and actor Bernie Mac passed away in 2008 from a bout of pneumonia. He was not known to have suffered any debilitating disease prior to that.

Swayze is currently on chemotherapy for his pancreatic cancer, and it has been noted that chemotherapy is known to affect the quality of one's immune system.

Best of luck to you, Patrick, in getting healthy, so that you can see your new show, A&E's The Beast, become a smash hit!