Patrick Stewart at the Berlin International Film Festival photo call for “Logan” in 2017. Photo by Maximilian Bühn, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped, with text and graphics added by The Fostoria Free Press.

Author: FFP Ai Bot

LOS ANGELES – Sir Patrick Stewart, the British stage and screen actor who became a household name as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek” and as Professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” films, has died. He was 86.

Stewart died Wednesday, Oct. 28, at his home in Los Angeles after what his family described as a brief struggle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. The news was shared Thursday in a post on his Instagram account, and his longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, confirmed his death in a statement to NBC News. The statement said his wife, Sunny, was caring for him at home and that he spent his final days surrounded by family, friends and live music.

From Yorkshire to the Enterprise

Stewart was born July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, England, where a school English teacher first introduced him to Shakespeare and encouraged him to perform. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and made his Broadway debut in 1971 in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” according to NBC News and the BBC.

American audiences came to know him in 1987, when he took command of the starship Enterprise as Picard on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” He played the role for seven seasons, through 1994, and in several feature films, then returned to it for the Paramount+ series “Star Trek: Picard” from 2020 to 2023.

In 2000 he took on the role of Professor X, the telepathic mentor of the mutant team, in “X-Men,” and went on to play the character in multiple sequels and in “Logan.” NBC News reported he appears in the trailer for “Avengers: Doomsday,” due in theaters in December, which would mark his eighth time in the role.

Stewart was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 for his services to drama. Over a career of roughly six decades he earned nominations for Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards, and he was active in causes including human rights, refugees, survivors of domestic violence, veterans’ mental health and animal welfare. He published a memoir, “Making It So,” in 2023.

Tributes

Marvel Studios said it was deeply saddened by his death and called him “a singular talent, a generous collaborator, and a true gentleman.” Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine opposite Stewart’s Professor X, wrote on Instagram that the world had lost “one of the greats of stage and screen.” Huddersfield Town, the English football club Stewart supported throughout his life, called him a “titan of his craft,” the BBC reported.

Stewart is survived by his wife, Sunny, and his two children, Daniel and Sophie.

Sources

BBC News: Star Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart dies aged 86 – https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm20v3029p5xo
NBC News: Patrick Stewart, actor known for iconic roles in ‘Star Trek’ and ‘X-Men,’ dies at 86 – https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/patrick-stewart-actor-known-iconic-roles-jean-luc-picard-professor-x-d-rcna606420
The Associated Press: https://apnews.com/article/patrick-stewart-dies-8b38054ff74d4187a32158d78e345ad7