‘Star Trek’ Icon Who Commanded The Enterprise Dead At 86

Sir Patrick Stewart, the British actor best known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise, has died at the age of 86.

Stewart died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles following what his longtime spokesperson described as “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.”

His death comes just days after the passing of Walter Koenig, who played Chekov in the original “Star Trek” series.

“He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all,” Stewart’s spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.

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Stewart’s career spanned more than six decades, but his greatest fame arrived in his 40s when he was cast as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in 1987.

At the time, Stewart was a respected Shakespearean actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company but was largely unknown to American audiences. Even “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry initially opposed casting him.

Stewart played Picard for seven seasons, delivering the captain’s familiar commands to the USS Enterprise crew: “Engage” and “Make it so.”

The series won 18 Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award before spawning four feature films: “Star Trek Generations,” “First Contact,” “Insurrection,” and “Nemesis.” Stewart later returned to the role in “Star Trek: Picard,” which ran for three seasons beginning in 2020.

Stewart also portrayed Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films alongside close friend Sir Ian McKellen’s Magneto. Beginning with 2000’s “X-Men,” Stewart appeared across multiple films, including “X2,” “Days of Future Past,” “Logan,” and the forthcoming “Avengers: Doomsday.”

Long before his television and film success, Stewart had established himself on the British stage.

Born on July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, Stewart grew up in poverty and later revealed that his childhood was scarred by domestic violence committed by his father, a World War II veteran.

“I knew exactly when to insert a small body between the fist and her face,” Stewart wrote years later. “A skill no child should ever have to learn.” His experiences fueled decades of advocacy for victims of domestic violence and greater awareness of post-traumatic stress among military veterans.

Stewart attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre School on a scholarship before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, where he performed alongside future stars including Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Glenda Jackson.

His stage career earned Olivier Awards for “Antony and Cleopatra” and “Hamlet,” and his Broadway credits included “A Christmas Carol,” “Macbeth,” and “Waiting for Godot.”

Stewart also took on numerous comic roles.

He appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” “The Simpsons,” and “Sesame Street,” and voiced CIA director Avery Bullock on “American Dad!” He also embraced self-parody in Ricky Gervais’ “Extras” and appeared in Mel Brooks’ “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.”

Stewart received numerous honors throughout his career, including an appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 before Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 2010.

His 2023 memoir, “Making It So,” reflected on both his extraordinary career and his personal regrets, including two failed marriages that he described as among the greatest disappointments of his life.

He is survived by his wife, singer Sunny Ozell, whom he married in 2013 in a ceremony officiated by his longtime friend Ian McKellen, as well as his son Daniel and daughter Sophie.

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