And now Patrick Swayze has been given another second chance, and this one is perhaps even more remarkable. When he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Patrick Swayze was supposedly given five weeks to live. That was back in March, and not only has Swayze not died, but he’s also managed to star in a TV show in the meantime as well.

So Patrick Swayze has hit the promotional circuit, giving a bracingly upbeat interview to the New York Times where he revealed how proud he is of his continued recovery while admitting that chemotherapy is ‘hell on wheels’. It must be working, though, because Swayze is doing a fairly good impression of a man on the mend. Maybe our dream of seeing Red Dawn 2: Zombie Commies get made wasn’t so stupid after all.

Everyone likes a story about a man who beats the odds - Rocky, Winston Churchill, that chap who eats all the hotdogs – and that’s why there’s such a huge swell of goodwill for Patrick Swayze at the moment.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that Patrick Swayze had been struck down by such a vicious strain of pancreatic cancer that he was only given five weeks to live. As expected, all kinds of tributes bordering on obituary were paid to Patrick Swayze, but it seems they might have been a little bit premature.

Because in July, months after he was supposed to be dead, Patrick Swayze seemed to have the cancer licked. And now, almost four months after that, not only is Patrick Swayze even better still, but he’s been feeling well enough to star in a TV series.

The show will no doubt be horrible, given that a) It’s called The Beast, b) it’s on A&E and c) it’s got Patrick Swayze in it, but the fact alone that Patrick Swayze even has the drive to make it is nothing short of spectacular. And Patrick Swayze’s just as pleased about that as anyone else, as he told The New York Times:

“How do you nurture a positive attitude when all the statistics say you’re a dead man? You go to work… I do find myself, at the end of the day, riding home sort of catching myself with a smile on my face. I’m proud of what I’m doing… It’s a battle zone I go through. Chemo, no matter how you cut it, is hell on wheels.”

We’ve said it before, but it’s phenomenal that Patrick Swayze can pull 12-hour days working on a TV show while battling chemotherapy.

Some have said that Swayze’s recovery is down to God refusing to accept that he’s completed all of his objectives on Earth – which is rubbish, because until he was diagnosed with cancer Patrick Swayze’s objectives on Earth seemed to involve making really crummy films – but regardless, it’s hard not to be impressed.

The 83-year-old has reportedly been told he has weeks to live following chemotherapy treatment for lung cancer and, when confronted with the news, he told doctors he wanted to die at home.

Just as he has proven time and time again through his long life, Paul Newman is nothing less than a man’s man – dictating where death is allowed to get its slimy mitts on him.

While we did all hope that Newman would crack a pool cue over cancer’s back, it would appear that the insidious little bastard of a disease has managed to one-up Butch Cassidy.

While we hope to God, Allah, Buddah, Xenu and everyone else in-between that the reports are as inaccurate as the ones saying Bernie Mac was healthy, recent images of Newman have left us with little hope, showing the legend looking weak and frail – a shell of the man we at hecklerspray have a real love for.

The love we spread around for the marinade king isn’t the kind you would normally get on hearing a legend – and be in no doubt that Paul Newman is anything but a legend – is on their way out, or has recently died. No, hecklerspray has constantly sung the praises of one of the greatest actors the world has ever seen.

We reckoned he was involved in one of the best scenes with one of the top ten movie assassins.

We pointed out his involvement in one of the top ten sports movies of all time.

And we obviously included his turn as a part of one of the top ten movie heists of all time.

Never let it be said we had anything other than utter admiration for the man.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, a friend of the family said:

“He didn’t want to die in the hospital. Joanne and his daughters are beside themselves with grief.”

The source heartbreakingly went on:

“The sudden move angered his children. It’s especially hard for them to come to grips with what’s going on. The word they’ve been given is that he has only a few weeks to live.”

It’s not often we’re lost for words but – well, we pretty much are now. Paul has apparently spent the last few weeks making sure his business and personal affairs are in order, as well as giving away his prized Ferarri to a friend. Not hecklerspray, unfortunately, but we’re not going to complain. Much.

It really has been something of a shitty few days for entertainment news – Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes both suddenly passing away over the weekend, and now the apparent impending death of one of the true greats of cinema. And you wonder why we’re so pissed off all the time.

We are hoping that the reports are fabricated, but if not: make your final marinades Paul – you will be missed. We have used the word a few times already in this post, but here we go again: the man is a legend.

And he makes chicken taste gooooood.