Death in Los Angeles
Patrick Stewart died Wednesday at age 86 at his home in Los Angeles. His longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, told the Hollywood Reporter that he died after a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy body dementia. He died while in the loving care of his wife Sunny. His survivors include his wife, Sunny, his son Daniel, and his daughter Sophie. Marvel Studios described him as a singular talent and a true gentleman. Huddersfield Town FC, the English Football League club he supported, called him a titan of his craft. The club said he was a Terrier in every sense and was fiercely proud of his Yorkshire roots.
Acting career and upcoming appearances
Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation for seven seasons. He also appeared in feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis. He returned to the franchise in the series Star Trek: Picard, which ran from 2020 to 2023. As Professor Charles Xavier, he appeared in seven X-Men films playing opposite Ian McKellen and will reprise the role in the film Avengers: Doomsday this December. He worked with director Bryan Singer on the 2000 film X-Men. His filmography includes the comedy Jeffrey, the thriller Conspiracy Theory, the horror film Green Room, and voice roles in Ted and Gnomeo & Juliet.
| Award Category | Recognition |
|---|---|
| Laurence Olivier Awards | 3 |
| Grammy Awards | 1 |
| Emmy Award Nominations | 4 |
| Tony Award Nominations | 1 |
Fellow Star Trek actor William Shatner wrote on social media that Picard stood for the best of humanity and that he felt filled with affection and admiration for Stewart and his work. George Takei also posted on Bluesky that Stewart inspired a next generation of star-gazers who looked longingly ahead to a brighter future for all humanity. He maintained a close friendship with Ian McKellen, appearing with him in Waiting for Godot and No Man’s Land.
Stewart was a mainstay of the Royal Shakespeare Company for 16 years. He earned three Laurence Olivier awards for his work in theater, including awards for Antony and Cleopatra in 1979 and Hamlet in 2008. He also received a Grammy in 1996 for the spoken word album Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf. He received nominations for a Tony Award and four Emmy Awards. He played roles such as Macbeth, Othello, Prospero, Shylock, and Mark Antony. He also published a memoir titled Making It So in 2023. His first appearance on Broadway was in 1971 in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Peter Brook.
Early life in Yorkshire
Born on 13 July 1940 in Mirfield, Stewart grew up in a small house without running hot water. His father, Alfred, was a semiskilled laborer and military veteran who suffered from alcoholism and domestic violence following his service in the Second World War. Patrick described his childhood as barely tolerable in a 2009 interview with the Guardian. His mother, Gladys, was a textile factory weaver who encouraged her three children to act. He first performed in a local church production of Cinderella. At age 12, an English teacher assigned him the role of Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. He left school at 15 and worked as a local reporter and obituary writer for the Dewsbury Reporter before attending the Bristol Old Vic Theater School in 1957. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966.
His father’s mental health suffered following his experience during the evacuation of Dunkirk. "My father was a very imposing figure," Stewart said, noting that people said birds stopped singing when he marched into a field. He found refuge in acting because the stage provided an escape from the life he lived at home. He also provided voices for The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, and Ted. He most recently voiced Sir Ritchfield in the animated film The Sheep Detectives.
