Patrick Stewart has died at 86. A statement shared on his social media accounts on Thursday said he died at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, after a brief journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, in the care of his wife Sunny.
Stewart rose from a working-class childhood in Mirfield, Yorkshire, to the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he performed in more than 60 productions. He was knighted in 2010 for his services to drama.
He became known around the world in 1987 as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, a role he played across seven seasons, four feature films, and the later series “Star Trek: Picard”. He reached a second generation of filmgoers as Professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” films, a part he first played in 2000 and returned to for more than two decades.
Tributes came in quickly. William Shatner, who led the original “Star Trek” series, called him “a friend, a colleague, and a magnificent actor”. Marvel remembered him as “a singular talent, a generous collaborator, and a true gentleman”.
Stewart kept working into his 80s, and was set to appear as Professor X again in the forthcoming “Avengers: Doomsday”.
Source: Reuters
