Farewell to Patrick Stewart, the Star Trek and X-Men actor was 86 years old

Patrick Stewart, the British actor who defined the character of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and later portrayed Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise, has died at the age of 86. His death occurred on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. His longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, confirmed the news, stating that Stewart passed away surrounded by the affection of family and friends. The announcement noted that he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. According to the statement released on his social media channels, Stewart died amidst live music, prayers, tears, and laughter, holding onto the deep emotion inspired by his lifelong dedication to his craft. Stewart was born on July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, in the industrial north of England’s Yorkshire region. He grew up in a working-class family marked by his father’s alcoholism and violence toward his mother. In his memoir, Making It So, Stewart described preparing for nights when his father returned home drunk and angry, sometimes striking his mother with open hands or closed fists, always aiming for her head. These experiences later fueled his advocacy for victims of domestic violence, supporting organizations such as Refuge. At fifteen, Stewart worked as a journalist for a local newspaper. When his editor forced him to choose between writing and acting, Stewart quit in protest and chose the stage. A scholarship allowed him to attend the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, launching a sixty-year career in performance. In 1966, Stewart joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he remained for fourteen years. During this period, he performed roles ranging from Mark Antony and Henry IV to Shylock and Oberon. He left the company to pursue more varied opportunities, including a role in the 1981 film Excalibur directed by John Boorman. Global recognition arrived in 1987 when he was cast as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the original series, initially resisted hiring a bald British actor for the command of the Enterprise. Stewart himself believed the series would last only one season. Instead, the show ran for seven seasons, producing 178 episodes and four feature films. The New York Times famously referred to him as an "unknown British Shakespearean actor" in a 1987 article announcing his casting, a description Stewart humorously referenced in interviews. Following the initial run of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stewart expanded his screen presence with films such as Conspiracy Theory and L.A. Story. He also maintained a robust career on Broadway, appearing in productions including The Tempest, The Caretaker, and A Life in the Theater. In 2000, he took on the role of Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men trilogy, acting alongside his friend Ian McKellen, who played Magneto. The two collaborated off-screen as well, performing together in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming. Stewart reprised the role of Xavier in subsequent films until the character’s death in the 2017 movie Logan. He appeared again in the 2022 film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In 2020, he returned to the Star Trek universe for the three-season series Star Trek: Picard, available in Italy on PrimeVideo. Throughout his career, Stewart received significant accolades for his theatrical work. He won two Laurence Olivier Awards, including one for his portrayal of Hamlet opposite David Tennant, and a Grammy award. He received four Emmy nominations and a Tony nomination for his 2008 performance in Macbeth. In June 2010, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for his contributions to drama. Despite his stern public image and baritone voice, Stewart was known for sharp irony. In 1992, he appeared on the cover of TV Guide alongside supermodel Cindy Crawford in a survey of the sexiest television personalities. He dismissed the episode in his memoir with the word "absurd." In recent years, he found a new audience through social media, posting photos of himself dressed as a lobster in a bathtub and becoming a subject of memes for a picture of him picking apples. When a British paper incorrectly labeled him gay, he responded on Twitter with a joke about being presumed dead online. Stewart was married three times. His third wife, whom he wed in 2013, is the American musician Sunny Ozell. They share two children, Daniel and Sophia. Beyond acting, he served as an ambassador for the International Rescue Committee, an organization aiding people affected by crises and conflicts. He also voiced the character Avery Bullock in the animated series American Dad!, along with appearances in The Simpsons and Family Guy. His final professional commitment included advocating for veterans and survivors of abuse. The statement from his representatives emphasized that his sonorous voice and unique talent remain synonymous with unforgettable performances across genres, having explored the human condition with poetic complexity while bringing hope to both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the science fiction final frontier.