Whoopi says Swayze the reason she won Oscar

‘View’ co-host says actor convinced director to cast her in ‘Ghost’

Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

Actor Patrick Swayze, who co-starred with Whoopi Goldberg in "Ghost," is being treated for pancreatic cancer.

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updated 12:39 p.m. ET March 6, 2008

NEW YORK - Whoopi Goldberg says her friend Patrick Swayze — who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer — is the reason why she won an Oscar for "Ghost."

"When I won my Academy Award, the only person I really thanked was Patrick," Goldberg recalled Thursday on ABC daytime talk show "The View."

Goldberg, who starred alongside Swayze in the 1990 film, earned a best supporting actress trophy for her portrayal of psychic Oda Mae Brown, who helps slain businessman Sam Wheat (Swayze) communicate with his grieving fiancee and solve the mystery of his murder.

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The 52-year-old actress-comedian said Swayze persuaded director Jerry Zucker to cast her in the film amid "some resistance." According to Goldberg, Swayze said, "I'm not making this movie unless you put Whoopi Goldberg in there."

Swayze, 55, has been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, his representative Annett Wolf said Wednesday.

In a statement released by Wolf, Swayze's physician Dr. George Fisher said he was "optimistic" about the "Dirty Dancing" actor's prognosis for battling the disease: "Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far."

Goldberg said she hadn't spoken to Swayze about his health.

"We want you to feel better — we'll talk soon, I hope," she said.