LOS ANGELES (The Thursday Times) — Sir Patrick Stewart, the Shakespearean actor who found global fame 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.
“We announce with great sorrow the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart yesterday at his home in Los Angeles, in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia,” a statement on his social media accounts said on Thursday. The family asked for donations to Alzheimer’s research and caregiver charities in lieu of flowers.
From Mirfield to the Enterprise
Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, on July 13, 1940, Stewart grew up in poverty and became an actor at 18, building his reputation on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company from the 1960s. He was 47 when he was cast as Picard in “The Next Generation”, which ran from 1987 to 1994, despite his friend Ian McKellen advising him to stay in the theatre.
He played Picard in 176 episodes and several films, and returned to the role at 79 in “Star Trek: Picard”, which began streaming in 2020. Picard’s catchphrases, “Make it so” and “Engage”, became part of popular culture.
“As the seven seasons of TNG went by, the distinction between Jean-Luc Picard and Patrick Stewart became thinner and thinner, until it was impossible for me to know where he left off and I began,” he told the Guardian in 2022.
Professor X
Stewart initially hesitated over playing the telepathic Professor X but became a central part of the “X-Men” franchise from the first film in 2000. He was knighted in 2010 for services to drama. He is survived by his wife, the singer Sunny Ozell, and two children from his first marriage.
