Patrick Stewart’s Career Spanned Stage and Screen
Patrick Stewart, the British actor known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, has died at 86, according to a statement posted on his official social media account. The statement said he died Wednesday at his Los Angeles home after living with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Stewart’s six-decade career began in theatre and extended to film and television. A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he performed roles including Macbeth and Claudius. He also appeared on the West End and Broadway stages, performing Waiting for Godot and No Man’s Land alongside his longtime friend and X-Men co-star Ian McKellen.
His television role as Picard brought him a broad audience. He later portrayed Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films. Following the announcement of his death, colleagues including Hugh Jackman, Jonathan Frakes, William Shatner and George Takei posted tributes to him.
Raised in a working-class household in Mirfield, Yorkshire, Stewart joined an amateur drama group at 12 and later received a scholarship to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He spoke publicly about domestic violence in his childhood and became a patron of Refuge, an organization supporting people experiencing abuse.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Stewart shared recordings of Shakespeare’s sonnets online. He said the project began at the suggestion of his wife, singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell, whom he married in 2013.
Stewart also worked as a voice actor. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane was among those who acknowledged that part of his career after the announcement.
Stewart is survived by Ozell and his two children, Sophia and Daniel. His family requested donations to Alzheimer’s research and caregiver-support organizations in lieu of flowers. The statement said he had been surrounded by family and friends at the end of his life.