Sir Patrick Stewart, star of Star Trek and X-Men, dies aged 86
The British stage, film and TV actor died in Los Angeles on 28 October 2026. His roles as Captain Picard and Professor Xavier made him a global star.
Author: Editorial teamPublished: 2 min read
Sir Patrick Stewart, the British actor known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, has died aged 86. He died on Wednesday 28 October 2026 at his home in Los Angeles.
Statement from the family
The news was announced in a statement published on Thursday on the actor's social media profile and via his spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak. According to the statement, Stewart died beside his wife, Sunny, after a short battle with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. Relatives and friends were with him in his final moments, along with live music.
From the stage to the Enterprise
Stewart was born on 13 July 1940 in Mirfield, Yorkshire. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and made his stage debut in 1959. In 1966 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, with which he worked for 27 years.
Before becoming a screen star he had a rich stage career, but he was little known in the United States. According to the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita, the producer of Star Trek: The Next Generation saw him at a UCLA lecture, where he was reading passages of Shakespeare. The series debuted in September 1987. Stewart himself recalled that almost nobody initially believed it would succeed.
Later roles
Stewart's second iconic role was Professor Xavier in the X-Men films, where he appeared alongside, among others, his friend Ian McKellen, who played Magneto. He returned to the character in later productions. In January 2020 he also returned to the world of Star Trek in the series Star Trek: Picard.
He never abandoned the theatre. In 2006 he was nominated for an Emmy for a guest role in the HBO comedy Extras, and in 2010 again for playing King Claudius in Hamlet, staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2010 Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for services to drama.
In the statement, the family stressed that Stewart will be remembered as a man of dignity, empathy and humanity, which he showed both in his roles and in his private life.
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Photos
- Cover: „theatre, movie theater, curtain, windows wallpaper, strip”, author: geralt, licence Pixabay Content License; cropped or resized.
- Photo 1: „fantasy, ufo, city, science fiction, spaceship”, author: KELLEPICS, licence Pixabay Content License; cropped or resized.
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