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.