Sir Patrick Stewart, the English actor best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, has died aged 86. BBC News reported that he died at his home in Los Angeles.
- Full name: Sir Patrick Stewart
- Born: 13 July 1940, Mirfield, England
- Died: Los Angeles, California, aged 86
- Known for: Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Star Trek films, Star Trek: Picard); Professor X (X-Men films, Logan)
- Stage career: Member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1966
- Honours: Knighted in 2010; Emmy-nominated for Frasier and Extras
- Memoir: Making It So (2023)
Sir Patrick Stewart was an English actor whose career spanned more than six decades of stage, film and television. Born in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, he trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, building a reputation as a leading classical actor before reaching a global audience.
How did Patrick Stewart become famous?
Stewart gained international stardom as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He later reprised the role in the Star Trek films and in Star Trek: Picard. He also played Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films and in Logan, introducing him to a second generation of fans.
He earned Emmy nominations for guest roles in the sitcoms Frasier and Extras, showing a comic range that surprised audiences who knew him for serious roles.
Patrick Stewart’s influence on science and curiosity
Through Captain Picard, Stewart portrayed scientific inquiry as exploration guided by diplomacy, ethics and reason. He also supported public learning as Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield from 2004 to 2015.
Patrick Stewart’s advocacy
Stewart was a committed campaigner. He supported domestic abuse charities and human rights causes, and he was a patron of Dignity in Dying, publicly backing assisted dying law reform in the UK. He wrote about his life and career in his 2023 memoir, Making It So.
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