Patrick Stewart, star of Star Trek and X-Men, dies aged 86
Patrick Stewart, the British actor who moved from the Shakespearean stage to global fame as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men, has died aged 86. He passed away on Wednesday, October 28, at his home in Los Angeles.
His longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, said he died after “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia”. She described him as surrounded by family and friends, with live music, prayer, tears and laughter, and recalled the peaceful look on his face.
A statement on his Instagram account praised his “sonorous voice” and the dignity and humanity he brought to every role. It also noted his work for human rights, survivors of domestic violence, refugees, veterans’ mental health and animal welfare, and called him a Knight, Chancellor and lifelong Huddersfield fan.
Before Star Trek, Stewart had spent about two decades with the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in more than two dozen productions. Those included Astrov in Uncle Vanya, Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and the title role in Titus Andronicus.
In 1987, aged 47 and largely unknown in America, he was cast in Star Trek: The Next Generation after producer Robert Justman saw him reading Shakespeare at a UCLA lecture. Creator Gene Roddenberry doubted a bald Englishman could lead the show, but Stewart won him over.
Stewart signed a six-year contract expecting the series to be cancelled quickly. It was slow to win over fans, but the season-three finale, Best of Both Worlds, in 1990, ended on the franchise’s first cliffhanger, with Picard assimilated by the Borg, and the show soared.
Other episodes, including Yesterday’s Enterprise and The Inner Light, became regarded as classics of science fiction television. The series ran for seven seasons until 1994, earning an Emmy nomination for outstanding drama series, and Stewart’s firm, steady Picard became the moral centre of the crew.
Four films followed: Generations, First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis, the last seeing him face a young Tom Hardy as a clone of Picard. He later returned to the role in the television series Star Trek: Picard, which ran from 2020 until 2023.
Fearing typecasting, Stewart hesitated before accepting the part of Professor Xavier in X-Men in 2000. The film helped launch a new era of superhero cinema, and he starred opposite his close friend Ian McKellen, who played the villain Magneto.
He played Xavier in several more films, including X2, The Last Stand, Days of Future Past and Logan, and appeared in cameos elsewhere in the franchise. He is due to reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday, which is released in December, again alongside McKellen.
He kept a light touch with his fame, voicing characters in The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad. He played a snooty waiter in L.A. Story, King Richard in Robin Hood: Men in Tights and hosted Saturday Night Live in 1994.
Stewart never left the stage behind, playing roles from Claudius to Macbeth and regularly performing a one-man version of A Christmas Carol. With McKellen he starred in West End and Broadway productions of No Man’s Land and Waiting for Godot. His last voice role was Sir Ritchfield in Sheep Detectives.