Patrick Stewart, Captain Picard in Star Trek and Professor X in X-Men, dies at 86

The announcement

Sir Patrick Stewart died on Wednesday, 28 October, at his home in Los Angeles, aged 86. His longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, announced the death on Thursday, 29 October, saying he had died after a short illness involving Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. The statement said he was in the loving care of his wife, Sunny, and the same message was posted on the actor's Instagram account. The closing lines of the statement read as follows.

“We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.”

From Mirfield to the stage

Stewart grew up in Mirfield, a town of about 9,000 people in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in northern England. His father, an army sergeant, later became an itinerant labourer, and his mother worked in a textile mill. The family shared a small house without a bathroom, and Stewart grew up with an older brother. A female English teacher introduced him to Shakespeare and encouraged him toward the stage, and he later trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He spent decades with the Royal Shakespeare Company and later the Royal National Theatre, and the New York Times counts him as a veteran of some 60 productions with the RSC. His early screen work was mostly supporting parts, including Excalibur and David Lynch's Dune.

Star Trek and X-Men

Stewart was a little-known face in America when he was given command of the USS Enterprise in the late 1980s. Robert Justman, a producer on Star Trek: The Next Generation, came across him at a UCLA conference where he read Shakespeare, and Justman called him in for an audition. Creator Gene Roddenberry opposed the idea, doubting that a bald Briton could front the new series. After a contentious casting process, Stewart won Roddenberry's trust and signed a long-term contract to play Captain Jean-Luc Picard, although he expected the show to last only one season. The series debuted in September 1987, two months after his 47th birthday, and at first struggled to win over Star Trek fans. Stewart later took on Professor X in the X-Men films when he was pushing 60, the second role for which he is best known.

Reflections on the role

In later interviews, Stewart said he had no idea how large an effect his decision to take the Star Trek role would have on his life. His friend and fellow actor Ian McKellen had advised him against giving up a promising theatre career for television work. His memoir, Making It So, covers his life on the British stage and aboard the Enterprise. Stewart was born in England in 1940, and his career spanned six decades across the stage, screen and television.