British actor Patrick Stewart, who found global fame as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, has died at his Los Angeles home. He was 86.
The Yorkshire-born performer passed away on Wednesday following a short battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, his family announced on social media.
“His sonorous voice and singular talent will forever be synonymous with indelible performances in every genre,” the statement read.
From Shakespeare to starships
Stewart built a distinguished theatre career with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre in London before Hollywood came calling in his mid-40s.
The role of Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which debuted in 1987, transformed him into a household name. He was 47 when he first sat in the captain’s chair of the Enterprise, taking over the franchise from William Shatner’s iconic Captain Kirk.
The Los Angeles Times initially dismissed him as an “unknown British Shakespearean actor” when he moved to America. Stewart later called suggestions he was “slumming it” by working in US television offensive.
He once described his Shakespearean training as “nothing but a preparation for sitting in the captain’s chair of the Enterprise.”
A mentor to mutants
Stewart took on another career-defining role in 2000 when he played Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men superhero team. He portrayed the character across multiple films for more than 25 years.
Marvel Studios said on Thursday he “brought a gravitas and profundity to the role, earning fans across the globe.”
Hugh Jackman (56), who played Wolverine alongside Stewart, remembered him as “one of the greats of stage and screen” and “a tremendous friend and man.”
Stewart’s final film appearance as Professor Xavier will be in Avengers: Doomsday, scheduled for release in December.
Tributes pour in
Fellow Star Trek actor William Shatner posted that Stewart “brought intelligence, grace and a deep sense of humanity to everything he did.”
Ian McKellen (87), Stewart’s X-Men co-star and close friend, called him a man who “wore his heart on his sleeve.”
McKellen recalled meeting Stewart in London when he received the Star Trek offer and warning him he might get lost in Hollywood.
“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did,” McKellen said.
Stewart’s death marks the second loss from the Star Trek universe this week, following Walter Koenig’s passing. Koenig played Chekov in the original series.
A life beyond the screen
The Royal Shakespeare Company described Stewart as “a colossus of both stage and screen and one of the finest classical Shakespearean actors of his generation.”
Stewart won two Olivier awards and a Grammy for his spoken word narration of Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf. He received four Emmy nominations but never won.
Born on 13 July 1940 in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, Stewart left school at 15 and trained at Bristol Old Vic Drama School from 1957. He made his professional debut two years later.
His father, who returned from World War II possibly suffering from PTSD, regularly beat Stewart’s mother. The experience led Stewart to later work with Refuge, a charity that helps victims of domestic abuse.
The Queen knighted Stewart in 2010. He married three times: to Sheila Falconer, with whom he had two children; briefly to Star Trek producer Wendy Neuss; and finally to American singer Sunny Ozell, who was 38 years his junior.
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