Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Swayze co-starred together in the hit movie “Ghost,” and Goldberg has spoken many times about her affection for Swayze. Whoopi once said that Patrick was the one who pushed for her to play the role of the kooky psychic Ida Mae Brown in the film. When she heard about Swayze’s battle with pancreatic cancer, Whoopi reached out to her old friend. Recently, she spoke about Patrick’s “good spirits” in an interview, saying that the actor has thrown himself into work and isn’t remotely ready to give up his fight.

Whoopi Goldberg tells Usmagazine.com her cancer-stricken Ghost costar Patrick Swayze is “doing the best he can.”

“He’s kicking butt,” she told Us Monday at the 1st Annual Blossom Ball in NYC. “And, you know, he’s sick. And he, like the rest of us, doesn’t know when it’s going to happen – because it will happen, that he is going to go – but he doesn’t know when or where.”

“His attitude is, why wait for it to happen?” she went on. “So he’s busy as hell.”

Since he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer more than a year ago, the 56-year-old actor — who denied reports in March that he is nearing “the end” — has thrown himself into work.

He’s writing a memoir and filmed the first season of A&E’s crime drama, The Beast, which concludes its season April 23. It remains to be seen whether the show will be picked up.

“As has been the case from day one, it is all about Patrick — in a lot of ways,” A&E President Bob DeBitetto recently told the Associated Press. “It is about his condition, and when and whether he would be up for another grueling production schedule.”

[From Us Magazine]

Whoopi is right about one thing – life is short, and you never know when it’s going to be taken away from you. Patrick definitely has the right attitude and seems to be staying positive. That kind of mind set is so important to the recovery. He has a lot of friends wishing him well who seem confident that he will beat this. I know there are millions of fans who are hoping he pulls through – and I’m one of them. Nobody puts baby in a corner!

Photos of Whoopi Goldberg at the Elton John Oscar Party, Feb. 2009. Photos of Patrick Swayze on the set of his TV show, “The Beast,” in 2008. More recently, Patrick has looked very ill, but we chose not to publish photos of him in that condition. It’s not cool that the paparazzi keep hounding him. Photo credits: Fame.