Patrick Swayze

About Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze (1952–2009) was an American actor, dancer, and singer who achieved global cultural recognition, placing him at a historical importance rank of #904 in MIT’s Pantheon project. His influence stems primarily from his starring roles in major blockbuster films of the late 20th century, particularly Dirty Dancing (1987) and Ghost (1990), cementing his status as a major figure in contemporary cinema and popular culture.

In the context of modern internet attention, Swayze shows a significant over-indexing relative to his historical ranking. In 2025, his Wikipedia pages garnered an annualized 2.7 million views. This level of attention represents an Attention Gap of +9x, meaning he receives nine times the annual pageviews predicted for a figure of his established historical importance (#904). For contrast, the vastly more historically significant Johannes Gutenberg (#94) received only 515,000 views in the same year, illustrating a notable disconnect between lasting historical influence and current digital traffic.

While his attention remains high, the momentum suggests a slight contraction; his 2025 momentum comparing Q1 to Q3 shows a -2% change, alongside a -20.4% year-over-year change in views, indicating that while he is still highly viewed, the peak digital curiosity surrounding his legacy may be gradually subsiding.