Star Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart dies aged 86

The veteran actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, who starred in X-Men and Star Trek has died at his home in Los Angeles, aged 86. His death followed a “brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia”, it has been announced on his social media. His spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, said in a post on Instagram: “He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all.” “We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace,” the post continued. Stewart is survived by his wife Sunny Ozell and his children from a previous marriage, Daniel Stewart and Sophie Stewart as well as grandchildren. He was married three times. From Shakespeare to Marvel Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, in 1940, Stewart was the son of an Army sergeant-major, who he later revealed subjected his mother to repeated bouts of violence. At the age of 12, he enrolled in an eight-day drama course and got the acting bug. In his mid-20s, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing alongside the likes of House Of Cards actor Ian Richardson and Gandhi star Sir Ben Kingsley. The Shakespearean actor shot to fame when he originated the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987. The sci-fi TV series ran for seven years, with films Star Trek Generations in 1994 and Star Trek: First Contact in 1996. Stewart later said the success of the show handicapped him because directors did not want to cast the captain of the Starship Enterprise in their films. He took on his biggest movie role as Marvel superhero Professor Charles Xavier in all the first three X-men blockbusters, which began in 2000. He would come back to the series in 2014’s X-Men: Days Of Future Past, 2017’s Logan, 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and 2024’s Deadpool and Wolverine. He recently featured in a trailer for the Avengers: Doomsday film, set to be released in December, reprising his role of Xavier. Stewart also landed roles in TV dramas such as I, Claudius, Smiley’s People and Fall of Eagles, in which he played the Russian revolutionary Lenin. He also briefly appeared in Coronation Street in the 1960s. He became an OBE in 2001, won an Olivier for his portrayal of Claudius in the David Tennant Hamlet on stage and TV, and was knighted in 2009. Tributes paid to ‘grace, intelligence, and humanity’ Fellow actor Sir Ian McKellen, a close friend of Stewart who officiated at his 2013 wedding, and co-starred with him in X-Men and on stage, wrote a tribute on social media calling him “the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic”. “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end,” he wrote. “You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. “He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.” McKellen also paid tribute to Stewart’s “adored” wife Sunny Ozell, who “has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin”. Marvel Studios posted a tribute on X shortly after the announcement, saying: “All of us at Marvel Studios are deeply saddened by the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart. Sir Patrick brought Professor Charles Xavier to life with extraordinary grace, intelligence, and humanity, defining the character for generations of fans, from X-Men to Logan to Avengers: Doomsday. “He was a singular talent, a generous collaborator, and a true gentleman. Our hearts go out to his wife Sunny, his children, his friends, and the countless fans around the world whose lives he touched with his art.” His Star Trek co-star William Shatner posted: “What a heartbreaking week it has been. Sir Patrick Stewart was a friend, a colleague, and a magnificent actor. From the stage to the bridge of the Enterprise, he brought intelligence, grace, and a deep sense of humanity to everything he did. “Captain Picard stood for the best of us, and so did the man who played him. I was filled with affection and admiration for him and his work.” “My heart goes out to Sunny and his family. He will be deeply missed.” Fellow X-men actor Hugh Jackman paid tribute to Stewart on Instagram, saying: “We lost one of the greats of stage and screen today.” “I learned so much from him. I will miss you, Patrick Stewart, all of my days.” Sir Patrick Stewart: the best of humanity By Ben Sutherland Sir Patrick Stewart once summed up much of his career in a single quote: “The fact is all of those years in Royal Shakespeare Company – playing all those kings, emperors, princes and tragic heroes – were nothing but preparation for sitting in the captain’s chair of the Enterprise.” In Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek franchise, he took on a role that turned him from a well-regarded theatrical and TV actor into a global superstar. He had never expected it. He knew little about Star Trek: The Next Generation – an early example of a franchise reboot – fully believing it would be cancelled early on. As a result he signed for seven seasons, thinking he would only have to do one or two, take the good money and return to the stage. He could not have been more wrong. The show was a huge success – and a huge part of the reason was himself. In Picard, Stewart embodied a calm nobility that exemplified the very best hopes of the audience at home. This was the time the Berlin Wall had fallen and the End of History had been declared. A better future really did seem possible, and it seemed to be happening everywhere – even in a fictional future. This is why it was so important Stewart played Picard the way he did: wise, authorititive and kind – a notable to his predecessor in the chair of the Enterprise, William Shatner’s James T Kirk – but also vulnerable and not immune from flashes of anger. He also displayed immense comic timing when the occasion demanded, and his ability to portray what he was thinking without saying a word has been demonstrated in the millions of memes of him that flood the internet to this day, stroking his chin or silently holding his head in his hands. You’ve probably WhatsApped one yourself. The cut-glass English accent he adopted for the role was slightly at odds with the character’s French origins, but that hardly mattered. The voice was an essential part of what made Stewart so great – arguably it was his greatest tool – rich, authorititive and resonant. It was genuinely thrilling to listen to, and secured him a host of voice acting roles, as diverse as Pharoah in Old Testament Biblical epic The Prince of Egypt and the Poo emoji in The Emoji Movie. It is notable, though, that however far his voice may have drifted from its roots in the West Yorkshire town of Mirfield, his love of the region never wavered – he maintained that one of his proudest achievements was nothing to do with acting, but it was becoming the chancellor of the University of Huddersfield in 2004. Playing Picard was intensely demanding, however. Stewart once reflected: “Looking back now it still frightens me a little bit to think that so much of my life was totally devoted to Star Trek and almost nothing else.” The show eventually concluded in 1994 after seven series. Through the 1990s, Stewart relished the chance to return to theatre, starring as Prospero in The Tempest and a white Othello in a “photo negative” version of the play in which the rest of the characters were Black. But in 2000 he returned to silver screen sci-fi, this time as Charles Xavier, the leader of the band of super-powered mutants known as the X-Men. He relished the role, not least because he got the chance to spar with his lifelong friend and fellow theatrical knight, Sir Ian McKellan, who played his fictional nemesis Magneto. In the source material, the dynamic between the two – Xavier as a man who wants a society in which mutants are integrated with a suspicious humanity, Magneto as someone who wants them to rise up against their oppressors – was consciously written as a parallel of the contrasting approaches to the civil rights movement taken by Dr Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Stewart – iconically bald – not only already looked the part, but captured its meaning and subtext across multiple movies, culminating in the 2017 film Logan in which he gave one of his incontestably greatest performances. He once said of Xavier: “Unity, common cause, wellbeing of society and debate were paramount to belief of this fictional character.” His two best-known roles were those that required him to portray figures who were the best of humanity. But the same could be said about the man himself. Activist record In recent years he was a vocal supporter of assisted dying and joined the UK’s Dignity in Dying Campaign, telling MSPs in 2022: “Dying people should not be forced to take drastic measures travelling to another country to take their own life. They should have the choice to die at home on their own terms.” In 2018, he called for medicinal cannabis to be legalised as he gave his support to a young boy hoping to receive the treatment for epilepsy. He was also a supporter of the Remain campaign during the Brexit referendum and continued to call for a “people’s vote” on Brexit after the 2016 vote.