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Patrick Stewart, the British stage actor who became a global screen star as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and Professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” films, has died at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86.
Stewart died Wednesday after what an official statement on his social media accounts called a “brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. Lewy body dementia is a progressive brain disorder linked to abnormal protein deposits in the brain.
“His sonorous voice and singular talent will forever be synonymous with indelible performances in every genre,” the statement said. It added that he “explored the human condition in all its poetic complexity,” bringing hope both to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and to “science fiction’s most iconic final frontier aboard the Starship Enterprise.”
Born July 13, 1940, in the West Yorkshire town of Mirfield, Stewart built his early career in British theater. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and stayed until 1982, and he also worked with the National Theatre in London and on British television.
He was 47 when he was cast as Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” the first live-action television spinoff of the science fiction series that began in the late 1960s. He effectively stepped into the role of captain previously held by William Shatner’s Kirk, and the part became his route to fame and wealth. Picard was known for a handful of catchphrases, including “Make it so!” Stewart borrowed the line for the title of his 2023 memoir, “Making It So.”
His move to the United States in 1987 was not universally welcomed. The Los Angeles Times dismissed him as an “unknown British Shakespearean actor,” and Stewart later said he was offended by suggestions that he was “slumming it” in American television. He once described his Shakespearean grounding as “nothing but a preparation for sitting in the captain’s chair of the Enterprise.”
Stewart had doubts about taking the Picard role, which eased when he assumed the show would fail after a single season. “It changed my life,” he said of being wrong.
Stewart added to his screen fame in 2000 when he made his debut as Xavier, the founder and mentor of the mutant superhero team in the “X-Men” series. Marvel Studios said Thursday that he “brought a gravitas and profundity to the role” for more than 25 years, “helping to transform Super Hero storytelling forever.”
Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine opposite Stewart, called him “one of the greats of stage and screen” and “a tremendous friend and man.”
From 2020 to 2023, Stewart returned to the franchise that made him famous in the television series “Star Trek: Picard.” He was nominated for four Emmys but never won one. He is due to make his final on-screen film appearance as Xavier in “Avengers: Doomsday,” set for release in December.
Even at the height of his Hollywood success, Stewart returned between film projects to the stage, where he won two Olivier awards. He also won a Grammy for spoken word for his narration of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf.”
His devotion to Shakespeare ran deep. “Having spent so much of my life with Shakespeare’s world, passions and ideas in my head and in my mouth, he feels like a friend, someone who just went out of the room to get another bottle of wine,” Stewart said.
Stewart was the third of three brothers in a working-class family. He grew up in the shadow of domestic violence, something that emerged only much later. His father, back from World War II and perhaps suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, would often beat Stewart’s mother. Stewart later worked with Refuge, a charity that specializes in helping those affected by domestic abuse.
He left school at 15, encouraged by his English teacher Cecil Dormand, who introduced him to Shakespeare and gave him his first role in a play with adults. Stewart began studying at Bristol Old Vic Drama School in 1957 and made his professional acting debut two years later. Prematurely balding, he missed out on many young romantic leads but quickly found his place in theater life.
He was knighted in 2010. Stewart married three times: first to Sheila Falconer, with whom he had two children, including the actor Daniel Stewart; then briefly to “Star Trek” producer Wendy Neuss; and most recently to American singer Sunny Ozell, who is 38 years his junior.
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