LOS ANGELES — Sir Patrick Stewart, the Royal Shakespeare Company veteran who became a global star as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and Professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” films, died Wednesday, Oct. 28, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86.
A statement posted to his social media accounts and released by longtime spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak said Stewart died in the care of his wife, Sunny, “following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia.”
In lieu of flowers, the family asked that memorial contributions go to the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund in Baltimore and to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s caregiver resources. The request puts a Maryland institution at the center of the actor’s farewell in a state where the disease weighs heavily on families.
More than 127,200 Marylanders are living with Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Maryland Chapter, and 258,000 caregivers provide an estimated 292 million hours of unpaid care each year, valued at $7 billion. When the association first released county-level estimates in 2023, Maryland had the highest prevalence of any state, and Prince George’s County ranked fourth in the nation, with just over 16% of residents 65 and older estimated to have the disease. The Chronicle has reported on the strain on Maryland caregivers and doctors for years.
From Mirfield to the Enterprise
Stewart was born July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, the youngest child of Alfred and Gladys Stewart. He grew up poor in a household marked by his father’s violence toward his mother, a childhood he discussed openly as an adult, according to Rolling Stone. He credited an English teacher, Cecil Dormand, with introducing him to Shakespeare.
Before acting took over, Stewart briefly worked as a reporter and obituary writer for his local newspaper. He left after about a year when his editor made him choose between journalism and the stage.
He began acting professionally in 1959 and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, remaining with the company until 1982. That classical pedigree made him an unlikely choice to command a starship when “Star Trek: The Next Generation” premiered in 1987. Co-star Brent Spiner, who played the android Data, once hung a sign over Stewart’s dressing room jokingly warning of an “Unknown British Shakespearean Actor,” The Hollywood Reporter recalled.
Picard, the measured, diplomatic captain of the Enterprise, became one of television’s most admired characters. Stewart played him across seven seasons and four feature films, ending with “Star Trek: Nemesis” in 2002, then returned to the role nearly two decades later in “Star Trek: Picard,” which reunited much of the original cast in its final season.
Professor X and a final bow
In 2000, Stewart took on a second franchise role as Professor Charles Xavier, the telepathic mentor of the X-Men, opposite Sir Ian McKellen’s Magneto. The two bonded sharing adjoining trailers on that first set, and McKellen later officiated Stewart’s 2013 wedding to singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell.
Stewart’s last on-screen performance will come in Marvel’s upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday,” his ninth time playing Xavier. Marvel Studios said it was deeply saddened by his death.
He was knighted in 2010 for services to drama and published a memoir, “Making It So,” in 2023.
His family’s statement described him as surrounded in his final days by “live music, prayer, tears, laughter” and highlighted work beyond the screen: advocacy for human rights, survivors of domestic violence, refugees, veterans’ mental health services and animal welfare, including the pit bulls he fostered.
Lewy body dementia, one of the conditions named in the statement, is a progressive brain disease that often appears alongside Alzheimer’s and can affect memory, movement and behavior. Marylanders looking for help with either can reach the Alzheimer’s Association’s free 24/7 Helpline at 800-272-3900.
