Patrick Stewart Dies at 86: The Shakespearean Actor Who Thought Star Trek Would Flop and Became an Icon

Patrick Stewart, the classically trained actor who became the face of Jean-Luc Picard, has died at 86. Born in Yorkshire, England, in 1940, Stewart joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and spent decades earning acclaim on stage before television came calling. He reportedly accepted the Star Trek: The Next Generation offer believing the show would fail so he could return to theater. It ran seven seasons instead and turned him into a household name.

That breakout led to eight X-Men films as Professor Charles Xavier and, later, a three-season return in Star Trek: Picard, which concluded in April 2023. His final scene as Picard featured him reading a passage from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a fitting bookend for a career that moved between classical theater and blockbuster sci-fi. He will also appear posthumously in Avengers: Doomsday.

Stewart once reflected that Picard came closer and closer to him, to Patrick, without him ever intending it. That blur between performer and character is exactly why his work resonated across generations of Trek and X-Men fans. Which Patrick Stewart role meant the most to you? Tell us in the comments.