Patrick Stewart Dies at 86: 'Star Trek' Captain and 'X-Men' Professor Remembered

Sir Patrick Stewart, the classically trained actor who brought Shakespearean weight to two of popular culture's most beloved figures, has died at 86. Stewart died on Wednesday, October 28, at his home in Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press, which carried the announcement in its top stories on Friday. A statement posted to his Instagram account the following day said he died after what it called a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, in the care of his wife, Sunny Ozell.

Born on July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, Stewart built his craft with the Royal Shakespeare Company before worldwide fame arrived in 1987 with Star Trek: The Next Generation, where his Captain Jean-Luc Picard led the starship Enterprise for seven seasons and four films. A generation of filmgoers knew him as Professor Charles Xavier, the moral center of the X-Men films, a role he returned to across two decades. Tributes led by Sir Ian McKellen, his longtime friend and X-Men co-star, were reported by the BBC as news of his death spread.

Stewart's final screen performance as Xavier is still ahead for audiences: he appears in Avengers: Doomsday, which arrives on December 18. His 2023 memoir, Making It So, looked back on a career that spanned more than six decades, from Yorkshire repertory stages to the captain's chair.