Patrick Stewart, Star Trek’s Captain Picard and X-Men’s Professor X, has died at 86 after what his family called a brief journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Story Highlights
- Patrick Stewart died Wednesday, October 28, at his Los Angeles home, with his wife Sunny at his side, according to a statement shared on his social media.
- The statement said he died after “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia.”
- He played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in nine X-Men films.
- Before Hollywood, he spent 16 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company and won three Olivier Awards, Britain’s top theater prize.
- His family said his last weeks were spent “in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter.”
A Family Statement Shares the News
Stewart’s family announced his death in a post on his social media accounts. The statement announced his passing “with great sorrow” and said he died at his home in Los Angeles, “in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny.” His spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, confirmed the news to reporters.
The family said his last weeks were full of love. “He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter,” the post said. Stewart married Sunny Ozell in 2013. He also leaves a daughter, Sophia, and a son, Daniel.
Alzheimer’s disease slowly damages memory and thinking. Lewy body dementia is a related brain disease in which protein clumps build up in nerve cells, which can affect memory, movement and alertness. The family did not share more medical details. Memory changes can have many causes, some of them treatable, so anyone who notices them in a loved one should talk with a doctor.
From Shakespeare to the Starship Enterprise
Stewart was born July 13, 1940, and grew up in Yorkshire, in northern England. He first joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and stayed a core member until 1982, acting in more than 60 of its plays. His family’s statement traced his path from “his home in Yorkshire” to that famous stage.
American audiences came to know him in 1987 as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The show ran seven seasons and led to four films. He returned to the role in Star Trek: Picard, which began in 2020 and ran three seasons. In 2000 he first played Professor Charles Xavier, the wise teacher of young mutants, in X-Men, a part he played in nine films. He also kept working on stage, and his Broadway Macbeth earned him a Tony nomination. He was knighted, which is why the British called him Sir Patrick.
Stars Remember a Captain and a Friend
Tributes came quickly from the people who worked beside him. “Sir Patrick Stewart was a friend, a colleague, and a magnificent actor,” wrote William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the first Star Trek. Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine next to Stewart’s Professor X, called him “one of the greats of stage and screen.”
George Takei, Sulu in the original Star Trek, called Stewart a “true and irreplaceable legend” and closed with, “Rest in the heavens, Captain.” Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, called him “a legendary actor” and “a good friend.”
A Life of Service Off Screen
Away from the cameras, Stewart backed causes close to his heart. Among them was mental health care for military veterans. He also spoke up for survivors of domestic violence, for refugees around the world, for human rights and for animal welfare. His fans can find him in decades of plays, films and television, from the captain’s chair of the Enterprise to the head of Professor Xavier’s school.
Sources:
cbsnews.com, bbc.com, us.cnn.com, apnews.com, itv.com, rsc.org.uk
