MAKE IT SO, ONE LAST TIME: Sir Patrick Stewart Dies at 86

From Shakespeare's stage to the bridge of the Enterprise as Captain Jean-Luc Picard — and as Professor X in X-Men — Stewart defined two of the biggest franchises ever. He died at his Los Angeles home after a brief journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia.

LOS ANGELES — Sir Patrick Stewart has died at the age of 86. A statement shared on his social media on Thursday said he died Wednesday, Oct. 28, at his home in Los Angeles, in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia.

Stewart rose from poverty in Mirfield, Yorkshire, where he was born on July 13, 1940. He won a scholarship to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and spent much of the 1960s with the Royal Shakespeare Company, building a reputation as one of Britain's great classical stage actors before television made him a global star.

That stardom arrived as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran from 1987 to 1994. As the erudite, diplomatic captain of the Enterprise, Stewart gave science fiction one of its most enduring moral centers — a leader who quoted Shakespeare, argued for principle over force, and made a starship bridge feel like a debating chamber.

He returned to the role decades later in Star Trek: Picard, which ran from 2020 to 2023, closing the circle on a character he had played on and off for more than thirty years.

In parallel, Stewart became Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, the telepathic mentor at the heart of the mutant saga — a second franchise-defining role, played with the same calm authority he brought to Picard.

He was knighted in 2010 by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to drama, an honor that recognized a career spanning the stage, the screen, and two of the biggest universes in popular culture.

Tributes poured in from across Hollywood after the announcement, including from Hugh Jackman, who starred alongside Stewart in the X-Men franchise and remembered him as both a mentor and a friend.

Stewart is survived by his wife, musician Sunny Ozell, and his two children, Daniel and Sophie, from his first marriage. He once said he could not imagine ever officially retiring — and he never did.

Reporting: Reuters