Patrick Stewart, Star Trek's Captain Picard and X-Men's Professor X, Dies at 86
Sir Patrick Stewart, the Shakespearean actor who commanded the Enterprise as Jean-Luc Picard and led the X-Men as Professor Charles Xavier, died Wednesday at his Los Angeles home. He was 86.
Sir Patrick Stewart, the English actor who brought a Shakespearean weight to two of popular culture's most beloved leaders, has died at 86. Stewart died Wednesday, October 28, at his home in Los Angeles, his spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak confirmed. His death followed what his representatives described as a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia - diagnoses that had not previously been disclosed.
Stewart was born on July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, Yorkshire, and spent sixteen years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, from 1966 to 1982, before Hollywood made him a star. As Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation - a role he returned to in Star Trek: Picard - he became the moral center of the Star Trek universe. A second generation of fans knew him as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films. He was knighted in 2010 for services to drama.
Tributes led by Sir Ian McKellen, his longtime stage partner and X-Men co-star, called Stewart a beloved actor; the BBC's obituary remembered an actor who moved effortlessly between Star Trek and Shakespeare. Stewart is survived by his wife, Sunny Ozell, and his children Daniel and Sophie. His final screen performance - a return as Xavier in Avengers: Doomsday - is still to reach audiences in December.
