Patrick Stewart, 'Star Trek' Captain and 'X-Men' Professor, Dies at 86
Sir Patrick Stewart died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles at 86, his family announced Thursday - a Shakespearean actor who became Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Professor Charles Xavier, with an illness his family disclosed only at the end.
Sir Patrick Stewart, the classically trained actor who brought Shakespearean weight to two of popular culture's best-known leaders - Captain Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier of the X-Men films - has died at 86. Stewart died Wednesday, October 28, at his home in Los Angeles, in the care of his wife, Sunny Ozell, following "a brief and poignant journey" with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, his spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak said. The death was announced Thursday; neither diagnosis had been publicly disclosed before the family's statement.
Stewart was born on July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, Yorkshire, and spent more than 15 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, from 1966 to 1982, before American television changed his career. As Picard, he commanded the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1987 to 1994 and returned to the role two decades later in Star Trek: Picard. As Xavier, the telepathic founder of the X-Men, he anchored the film franchise from 2000 onward. He was knighted in 2010 for his contributions to drama.
Tributes arrived through Friday from across the two worlds he bridged, including Hugh Jackman, his X-Men co-star, and Jonathan Frakes, his Next Generation first officer, the Associated Press reported. Stewart's final screen appearance is still ahead of audiences: he returns as Professor Xavier in Avengers: Doomsday, due in December. He is survived by his wife, Sunny Ozell, and his children, Daniel and Sophie.
