Star Trek and X-Men star Sir Patrick Stewart has died at age 86.
The actor’s Instagram page announced his passing today (29 October), revealing that he’d passed away on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles following a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia.
“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,” the statement said.
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“He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter, and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all.”
Born in Mirfield, West Riding of Yorkshire on 13 July 1940, Stewart became a TV icon with his role as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, which ran for seven years, later reprising the role in four feature films, including Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: First Contact.
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His other well-known role was that of Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film franchise, starting with 2000’s X-Men. He also had an expansive stage career, appearing in numerous stage productions after first joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966.
Throughout his decades-long career, he won a Grammy and two Olivier awards for his stage work, as well as nominations for three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards and three Screen Actors Guild awards.
Stewart reprised his X-Men role for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, alongside Ian McKellen’s Magneto.
Marvel Studios
Following the announcement of his passing, Marvel paid tribute to the star on X, calling him “a singular talent, a generous collaborator, and a true gentleman”.
“All of us at Marvel Studios are deeply saddened by the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart. Sir Patrick brought Professor Charles Xavier to life with extraordinary grace, intelligence, and humanity, defining the character for generations of fans, from X-Men to Logan to Avengers: Doomsday,” they continued.
“Our hearts go out to his wife Sunny, his children, his friends, and the countless fans around the world whose lives he touched with his art.”
Meanwhile, fellow X-Men star Hugh Jackman called him a “tremendous friend and man” on Instagram, adding: “I learned so much from him. I will miss you, Patrick Stewart, all of my days.”
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Several of Stewart’s Star Trek colleagues have posted tributes. William Shatner, who played Captain James T Kirk in the original series of Star Trek, wrote on Instagram, alongside a picture of the pair embracing: “What a heartbreaking week it has been. Sir Patrick Stewart was a friend, a colleague, and a magnificent actor. From the stage to the bridge of the Enterprise, he brought intelligence, grace, and a deep sense of humanity to everything he did. Captain Picard stood for the best of us, and so did the man who played him. I was filled with affection and admiration for him and his work. My heart goes out to Sunny and his family. He will be deeply missed.”
George Takei, who also starred in Star Trek: The Original Series, said: “Fans across the world mourn the passing of a true and irreplaceable legend. As Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart took the starship Enterprise to places it had never gone before, and he inspired a whole next generation of star-gazers who looked longingly ahead to a brighter future for all humanity. Our hearts are heavy, indeed. Rest in the heavens, Captain.”
Wil Wheaton, who co-starred with Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation, simply posted a broken heart emoji, followed by: “Godspeed, Captain.”
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Ian McKellen, Stewart’s close friend and who also officiated Stewart’s wedding to his wife Sunny, as well as co-starring with him in the X-Men films and several theatre productions, paid tribute, saying: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions. My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in Star Trek. ‘But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?’. Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (X-Men of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin. But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.
“His farewell performance in Avengers: Doomsday is yet to be seen.”