Patrick Stewart, Star Trek and X-Men Star, Dies at 86

In news that will be felt in many corners of the pop culture universe, Patrick Stewart’s family has announced that the great actor of stage, film, and television has died.

In a post to Stewart’s Instagram account they wrote: “We announce with great sorrow the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart yesterday at his home in Los Angeles, in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease an Lew Body Dementia.”

Stewart was 86 years old.

Born in England in 1940, Stewart was an acclaimed Shakespearean actor long before he found the roles for which he became internationally famous. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and was knighted for his outstanding work as an actor in 2010 by Queen Elizabeth. At that time, he said he owed “literally everything” to an English teacher named Cecil Dormand who had encouraged him to become a performer. ("Although many people in my life have had great influence on me, without this man none of it would have happened,” he added.)

Over the years, he appeared on stage in England in America in productions ranging from The Tempest to A Christmas Carol, from Antony and Cleopatra to Macbeth. But his career was shifted forever when he took the roles of Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the Star Trek sequel series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. A strikingly different captain from William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, Stewart brought strength, wisdom, and subtlety to the role of Picard.

Stewart played Picard on seven seasons of The Next Generation, then in four big-screen movies, and finally in the recent Paramount+ streaming series Star Trek: Picard.

Shortly after The Next Generation ended its run in syndication, Stewart took on another iconic pop-culture role: Professor Charles Xavier, leader of the Marvel superhero team the X-Men. Stewart played “Professor X” numerous times, from 2000’s X-Men up until shortly before his death; he will appear in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday as Xavier later this fall.

In addition to those two signature roles, Stewart also appeared in films like David Lynch’s Dune, L.A. Story, The Pagemaster, Conspiracy Theory, and in television series like American Dad! and I, Claudius. He could bring great gravity to a role with his distinctive, distinguished voice, but he also had a sense of humor about himself and his regal persona; he also played the Poop Emoji in 2017’s The Emoji Movie.

Stewart’s family concluded their online tribute to him this way:

His professional accomplishments were humbly matched by his philanthropy and activism on behalf of human rights, survivors of domestic violence, global refugees, veterans’ mental health services, and animal welfare, particularly his cherished foster pitties. He was a Knight, Chancellor, motor sport enthusiast, and lifelong Huddersfield Football fan. He will be remembered for his dignity, compassion and humanity he brought to every role - in art and life.”