Actor Patrick Stewart dies at 86 after battle with dementia

Sir Patrick Stewart died Wednesday at the age of 86.

The actor died at his home in Los Angeles. Posts on his Facebook and Instagram accounts stated that he had been dealing with a "brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia."

Stewart is best known to American audiences for two major franchises. He portrayed Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation and its later series, Picard. He also played Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series. These characters often grappled with themes of honor, morality, and courage.

His path to Hollywood was not always smooth. Stewart grew up in Yorkshire, England, where he described his father as alcoholic and abusive. He found refuge in school and eventually in Shakespeare. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and made his Broadway debut in 1970 with A Midsummer Night's Dream. In a 2023 interview, he recalled the feeling of being on stage. "To stand in the middle of an empty stage in an empty theater and feel that I was at home was everything," he said. "But it took a while for me to get there."

The move to television came while he was lecturing on Shakespeare at UCLA. Producers for a new Star Trek series asked him to audition for the lead role. Fellow actor Ian McKellen, whom Stewart had worked with on stage, advised him to stay on Broadway. "Don't do this, Patrick," McKellen told him. "You're a very good stage actor. That's where you ought to be. Don't do it."

Stewart took the role anyway. His agent had told him the show would likely be canceled after its first season. Stewart viewed it as a temporary gig. "Do six months' work. Make some money for the first time in your life and get well known. Get a suntan, and go home," he recalled his agent saying. "And I thought, 'Yeah, that does not sound too bad. I could live with that.'"

Star Trek: The Next Generation became a major hit instead. It ran for seven seasons from 1987 to 1994. Fans connected with Picard's calm leadership and his preference for Earl Grey tea. The role limited his opportunities in theater. Stewart performed in only a few leading Shakespeare roles during this period. He channeled his energy into other projects, including an award-winning one-man adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. In that production, he played more than 40 characters.

By the start of the 21st century, Stewart had returned to the stage. He also provided voices for several animated films. In 2000, he began his run as Professor X in the X-Men movies. He will appear as the character one final time in the upcoming film Avengers: Doomsday.

Stewart also returned to the Star Trek universe in 2020. A new series, Picard, began streaming on Paramount+. Writer Michael Chabon pitched the show to Stewart. Chabon said that he was thrilled to write lines for the actor. "I would've been happy just shaking Patrick Stewart's hand and telling him how much I loved him on Star Trek," Chabon said. "But to be able to actually write words that he will speak and act is, it's incredible."

The new series focused on Picard's struggle with the psychological impact of leaving Starfleet. Stewart is scheduled to appear in Avengers: Doomsday. The film is set for release in the near future.