Sir Patrick Stewart, acclaimed actor known for Star Trek and X-Men, dies at 86

Sir Patrick Stewart, the British actor who earned a knighthood in 2010 for his contributions to drama, died at his Los Angeles residence, his family said. The announcement noted that he passed away in the care of his wife Sunny after a short battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

Stewart began his career at 18 and rose to prominence with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s. He achieved worldwide recognition when he was cast at age 47 as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," a role he reprised in multiple series and films, including the 2020 streaming series "Star Trek: Picard." He also portrayed Professor Charles Xavier in the "X-Men" film franchise, beginning with the 2000 debut.

"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," Stewart told the Guardian in 2022.

"I said, ‘Look, I know this isn’t science fiction, but it’s fantasy, and I’ve done that.’ But they persuaded me that it wouldn’t be like Star Trek, so I did it. And yet again I was proved wrong," he said in a later interview.

Marvel Studios released a statement on Oct. 30 expressing its respect for Stewart, describing him as a talented collaborator and gentleman.

Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, in 1940, Stewart credited a schoolteacher’s introduction to Shakespeare as a turning point that offered him a “safe space” amid a difficult childhood. He was married three times and had two children; his third marriage, in 2013, was to American musician Sunny Ozell.