Sir Patrick Stewart, the British actor best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and as Professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” films, has died at 86.
Stewart died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and friends and cared for by his wife, Sunny, according to a statement shared on his Instagram account. The statement said he had been living with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
His longtime spokeswoman, Kelly Bush Novak, told Fox News Digital that Stewart died “in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny” and had been held in the embrace of family and friends, “surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter.”
She traced his path from his home in Yorkshire to the Royal Shakespeare Company and on to a career spanning six decades on Broadway, the big screen and television.
Stewart was a classically trained stage actor before science fiction made him famous. According to Fox News, a “Star Trek: The Next Generation” producer first spotted him while he was reading Shakespeare at a UCLA lecture. Stewart did not expect the series to last past its first season. Instead it ran for seven seasons and produced four feature films.
He went on to play Professor Xavier in nine films, beginning with “X-Men” in 2000, and returned to Picard in 2020 for three seasons of “Star Trek: Picard” on Paramount+.
Along the way, he largely avoided the typecasting he said he feared, with roles in “L.A. Story,” “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” “Extras” and Seth MacFarlane’s “American Dad!”
He earned Emmy nominations for “Moby Dick,” “A Lion in Winter,” “Extras” and “Hamlet,” and a Tony nomination for “Macbeth” on Broadway.
Tributes followed from across the industry. William Shatner, who starred in the original “Star Trek,” called him “a friend, a colleague, and a magnificent actor.”
Hugh Jackman, his “X-Men” co-star, wrote on X that he had learned so much from him, and George Takei said fans across the world were mourning “a true and irreplaceable legend.”
Bush Novak said Stewart’s career was matched by his work for human rights, survivors of domestic violence, refugees, veterans’ mental health services and animal welfare, particularly the pit bulls he fostered.
Stewart married Sunny Ozell in 2013. He is also survived by a daughter, Sophia, and a son, Daniel.
