Sir Patrick Stewart, Star of Star Trek and X-Men, Dies at 86

Sir Patrick Stewart, the British stage and screen actor who became a defining figure of science fiction as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, has died at age 86. His family announced on Thursday, October 29, that he died the previous day at his home in Los Angeles, in the care of his wife, Sunny, after what the statement called “a brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, per Just Jared and Bloody Disgusting.

A Career Across Stage, Television and Film

Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, in 1940, Stewart worked for more than 60 years across theatre, television and film, including 16 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, according to the Press Association. He earned four Emmy nominations and two Olivier Awards for best supporting actor, the first for Antony and Cleopatra in 1979 and the second for Hamlet in 2009, per the same report. Wide Open Country adds that he won a Grammy in 1996 for a children’s spoken word album.

Before his breakthrough in genre roles, Stewart was known to audiences for 1970s television work including I, Claudius and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, per Far Out. He was later knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, CBS News reported at the time.

Picard and Professor X

Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation and in the feature films Generations, First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis, then returned to the role in the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Picard, according to Bloody Disgusting. As Charles Xavier, he appeared in nine live-action X-Men films, Wide Open Country reports, including Logan.

He is also set to appear in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday, which opens December 18. SciFiNow describes it as his final on-screen performance.

Tributes

Marvel Studios said on X that Stewart gave Xavier “extraordinary grace, intelligence, and humanity,” and called him a generous collaborator and “a true gentleman,” per TV Insider. Jonathan Frakes, who played William Riker alongside Stewart and directed several Star Trek films, shared the family’s announcement on Instagram with a message wishing his friend rest in peace, TV Insider reports.

The family’s statement also highlighted Stewart’s work on behalf of human rights, survivors of domestic violence, refugees, veterans’ mental health services and animal welfare, and described him as a Knight, Chancellor, motor sport enthusiast and lifelong Huddersfield football fan, per Just Jared.

Survivors and Memorial Contributions

Stewart is survived by his wife, singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell, and two children from his first marriage, according to Laughing Place. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that memorial contributions go to the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, per Just Jared.

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