Patrick Stewart, Who Made Captain Picard an Icon, Dies at 86

Sir Patrick Stewart died on Wednesday, October 28, at his home in Los Angeles, according to a statement from his representatives. He was 86. The statement said he had been living with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, and that he was surrounded by his wife, Sunny, along with family and friends.

For most of the world, Stewart will always be Jean-Luc Picard, the measured, book-loving captain of the Enterprise-D. He was not an obvious choice for the role. A producer developing Star Trek: The Next Generation reportedly saw him lecture on Shakespeare at UCLA and thought he could lead a starship crew. Gene Roddenberry was not sold at first, but Stewart's audition changed his mind. The show ran from 1987 to 1994, and Picard became a model of calm, principled leadership that viewers carried with them for decades.

Stewart's career did not stop when the Enterprise was decommissioned. In 2000 he played Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men, opposite Ian McKellen's Magneto, and he returned to the role in six more films. His final appearance as Xavier is set for Avengers: Doomsday, which is due in theaters in December. He also brought his voice to animated shows, video games, and comedy sketches, and during the COVID-19 lockdowns he posted daily readings of Shakespeare sonnets that many people found a comfort.

Stewart spent most of his life on stage, from Shakespeare with the Royal Shakespeare Company to Broadway. He was also open about the abuse he suffered as a child and spent years supporting domestic violence prevention and PTSD awareness among veterans. Tributes from fellow actors and fans have poured in since the news broke, and many of them focus on the same thing: he treated the people around him with decency, whether they were co-stars, crew members, or fans who stopped him on the street.