Captain Picard Has Left the Bridge: Patrick Stewart Dead at 86
The Shakespeare-trained legend behind Jean-Luc Picard and Professor X died at his Los Angeles home after a brief battle with Alzheimer's and Lewy body dementia.
Sir Patrick Stewart, the man who made Captain Jean-Luc Picard the moral center of Star Trek and gave Professor Charles Xavier his calm authority in the X-Men films, has died. He was 86.
Stewart died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, according to Variety and Deadline. A statement from his representative, reported by Deadline, said he passed "in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia." The Associated Press also reported his death.
Before Hollywood came calling, Stewart was a Royal Shakespeare Company mainstay for two decades. Then came Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, seven seasons and four feature films as Picard, and later the Paramount+ revival Picard. In 2000 he stepped into the wheelchair as Professor X opposite his close friend Ian McKellen's Magneto, a pairing that ran across the franchise. Per Variety, he reprised the role for Avengers: Doomsday.
He never stopped working the stage either. Stewart won an Olivier Award for playing Claudius in Hamlet, starred in a Macbeth critics called one of the best ever, and teamed up with McKellen again for Waiting for Godot and No Man's Land on Broadway. He was knighted in 2010.
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The statement shared on his Instagram also pointed to his work off-screen, including advocacy for survivors of domestic violence, refugees, veterans' mental health and animal welfare, especially his foster pit bulls.
Stewart is survived by his wife, Sunny Ozell, and his children, Sophie and Daniel Stewart, Variety reports.
Make it so, Sir Patrick. Rest in peace.
Sources: Variety, Deadline, Associated Press
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