Patrick Stewart, the acclaimed British actor who became a science-fiction icon as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, has died. Stewart died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles following what his longtime spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak described as “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.” In announcing his death, Stewart’s family asked that people donate in his memory to the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources. Long before commanding the U.S.S.
Enterprise, Stewart spent years performing Shakespeare and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. But Star Trek: The Next Generation, which debuted in 1987, transformed him into an internationally recognized star. Stewart played Picard across seven seasons of the series, four feature films and, decades later, Star Trek: Picard.
He also found another generation of fans as Professor X, appearing throughout the X-Men film franchise alongside longtime friend Ian McKellen. Beyond those defining roles, Stewart’s credits ranged from Excalibur and David Lynch’s Dune to Logan, The Lion in Winter, Blunt Talk and American Dad!. Stewart is in Marvel’s upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, returning to the franchise as Professor X.
The film is scheduled to hit theaters on December 18.
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