Sir Patrick Stewart, 1940-2026
Avery Bullock (American Dad!). Susie Swanson (Family Guy). Charles Xavier (X-Man). Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation). It shows his range.
Sir Patrick Stewart has passed away at the age of 86, following a short period of illness with Alzheimer's and Lewy Body Dementia. An iconic actor, a passionate voice, and a man who lived to the fullest, Sir Patrick graced our lives in so many ways.
He started with the Bristol Old Vic Company in 1959, a few months short of his 19th birthday, playing a minor role in a performance of Cyrano de Bergerac. By the mid-1960's, and via Manchester's Library Theatre, Stewart would become part of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he would continue to return to throughout the next 60+ years. He appeared in more than 60 productions with them.
Stage was his passion, but Television was bound to make its mark. One solitary appearance on Coronation Street in 1967 and on Civilisation in 1969 gave him a taste, and in the latter half of the 1970's he starred primarily in Shakespeare adaptations, around other projects. His first films were Hedda and Hennessy (both 1975) before a series of roles in the 1980's.
The Yorkshireman was born in an era that produced many icons. An early friend of his was Brian Blessed, and he would become lifelong friends with Sir Ian McKellen later. It was McKellen who warned him not to abandon the stage when Sta Trek came knocking in 1986.
No one in Sir Patrick Stewart's camp were convinced the reboot of the classic Sci-Fi show would last, despite signing a 6-year contract. He wasn't the biggest of names in America, certainly not within television, but the producers believed in him. His audition for Captain Jean-Luc Picard saw him don a toupee - scrapped before the pilot - and he carried his own when he was hired. It didn't start too well, however.
His casting was reported by the Los Angeles Times as "an unknown British Shakespearean actor", and he came totally unprepared for the long schedules, nor the following the show carried with it from the original series. As he grew into the role and settled into life in America, his uptight demeanor relaxed and, while his approach of always being fully prepared rubbed off on the rest of the cast, their relaxed attitude to the work had an effect on him. You can see that in the numerous bloopers in the later series, and his great friendship with the cast.
Stewart never left stage work, and his elevated success gave him great freedom and greater choice. He wrote himself a one-man version of A Christmas Carol, where he played over 40 characters. He also played just Scrooge in a TV film version in 1999. His love of the stage was highlighted by the fact he wanted to play every lead Shakespeare role, including Othello. This became a reality in 1997 when, after being told this was an idea in poor taste, he took the stage as the lead in Washington in a "photo-negative" version with the Shakespeare Theatre Company, to great acclaim.
He carried Jean-Luc with him until the end, including in the series Picard (2020-2023), but in 2000, he would take up his next most iconic role. Marvel Studios approached him for the role of Charles Xavier, or Professor X, in X-Men, and he would sit in that chair for seven X-Men films, and two Marvel Universe films (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, 2022 and Avengers: Doomsday, 2026), the second of which will be the last time he graces the Cinema screen.
As the 21st Century rolled on, Sir Patrick Stewart embraced his fame, and reveled in it. Eccentric cameos in shows like American Dad! as the the outrageously hedonistic head of the CIA Avery Bullock and Family Guy on many occasions, including the inner voice of baby Susie Swanson. His voice is unmissable. One of my favourite films, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, has Stewart voice Lord Yupa in the English dub. and one of his last voice role was as Sir Ritchford, the oldest member of the herd in The Sheep Detectives (2026).
He even gave his own eulogy in 2015 on Just For Laughs - probably a much better one than this one!
Away from the spotlight, Sir Patrick Stewart married three times. He had two children with his first wife Sheila Falconer. After divorcing in 1990, he would have a short marriage to one of the producers on Star Trek, Wendy Neuss, for three years between 2000 and 2003, before meeting Sunny Ozell in 2008 and marrying her in 2013. Sir Ian McKellen was their celebrant.
Sir Patrick advocated for Women's rights, assisted suicide, equality and people's right to their beliefs. He was the president Huddersfield Town's Academy - his boyhood football club - and was frequently seen in the pit lanes at F1 races, and at a variety of Motorsport events.
A career that stretched over seven decades, Sir Patrick Stewart will leave a mark on the world very few others have or ever will. His voice still resonates with everyone, his love of life, his laughter and his elegant delivery of some of the simplest lines made him the man we all know, love and will miss.
"Sir Patrick Stewart was more than just an actor. He was the greatest actor... ever." - Sir Patrick Stewart, giving a eulogy for Sir Patrick Stewart, 2015, Just for Laughs
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