The British actor died at his home in Los Angeles on 28 October after what his spokesperson called 'a brief and poignant journey' with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia.
Patrick Stewart, the British stage and screen actor best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' and Professor Charles Xavier in the 'X-Men' films, has died at the age of 86. A statement released on Thursday 29 October said he died the previous day at his home in Los Angeles, in the care of his wife Sunny, following 'a brief and poignant journey' with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. His longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, confirmed the news to the Hollywood Reporter.
Born on 13 July 1940 in Mirfield, in Yorkshire, Stewart left school at 15, worked as a local reporter and furniture salesman, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966. His stage roles ranged from Claudius to Macbeth, and he often performed a one-man version of 'A Christmas Carol'. He also appeared alongside his friend Ian McKellen in West End and Broadway productions of Harold Pinter's 'No Man's Land' and Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot'. He won a Grammy and two Laurence Olivier awards and was nominated for a Tony and four Emmys.
Cast at 47 as Picard, he became a global star over seven seasons of 'The Next Generation', reprised the role in four feature films and in the series 'Star Trek: Picard' from 2020 to 2023, and played Xavier across seven films. Reports say he is due to appear again as Xavier in 'Avengers: Doomsday' this December. His other credits included 'Jeffrey', 'Conspiracy Theory', 'Green Room' and voice work in 'Ted'; in 2023 he published his memoir 'Making It So'. The statement said his 'sonorous voice and singular talent' would remain synonymous with indelible performances in every genre.
