Whoopi Goldberg has released a statement following the death of Ghost co-star and friend Patrick Swayze. Sadly, the beloved Hollywood actor, whose good looks and sympathetic performances in films like Dirty Dancing, made him a romantic idol, died Monday evening after a nearly two year battle with pancreatic cancer.

“Patrick was a really good man, a funny man and one to whom I owe much that I can’t ever repay,” Whoopi’s statement reads. “I believe in ‘Ghost’s’ message, so he’ll always be near.”

Goldberg and Swayze, along with Demi Moore, starred in the 1990 blockbuster Ghost. Goldberg won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her as sharp-tongued medium Oda Mae Brown.

In February, Swayze wrote an op-ed piece in the Washington Post titled, “I’m Battling Cancer. How About Some Help, Congress?” in which he urged senators and representatives to vote for the maximum funding for the National Institutes of Health to fight cancer as part of the economic stimulus package.In an interview with ABC’s Barbara Walters in early 2009, Swayze acknowledged that his time might be running out.

“I’d say five years is pretty wishful thinking. Two years seems likely if you’re going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure, which means I’d better get a fire under it.”