Sir Patrick Stewart, star of Star Trek and X-Men, dies aged 86

Sir Patrick Stewart, the Yorkshire-born actor who became Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men, and one of the great Shakespeareans of his generation, has died. He was 86.

A statement on his official Instagram account said he died on Wednesday 28 October at his home in Los Angeles, “in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny”, after a short illness with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

The family’s statement

The statement described “a son of Mirfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire” who travelled from the Royal Shakespeare Company to the world’s biggest screens, and said he would be remembered “for the dignity, compassion and humanity he brought to every role – in his art and life.” It also remembered him as a motorsport enthusiast and a lifelong Huddersfield Town fan.

Instead of flowers, the family has asked for donations to the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.

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From Mirfield to the Royal Shakespeare Company

Patrick Stewart grew up in a working-class family in Mirfield and left school at 15. Theatre became his way out. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s and went on to appear in more than 60 of its productions, winning an Olivier Award for Antony and Cleopatra and another for his Claudius in Hamlet. His one-man A Christmas Carol, in which he played more than 40 characters, became a stage legend in its own right.

Later in his career he formed one of the theatre’s great double acts with his close friend Sir Ian McKellen, playing Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot together in the West End and on Broadway.

Captain Picard and Professor X

Global fame arrived when he was in his late forties. In 1987 he was cast as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role he played for seven series and four films, and returned to decades later in Star Trek: Picard. “Make it so” and “Engage!” became catchphrases for generations of fans.

In 2000 he became Professor Charles Xavier, the calm, wise leader of the X-Men, opposite McKellen’s Magneto. He played the role across the series, including a deeply moving final turn in Logan in 2017.

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Tributes pour in

Within hours of the news, tributes began to arrive from the worlds he shaped. Marvel Studios said he brought Professor Xavier to life “with extraordinary grace, intelligence, and humanity”. Closer to home, his beloved Huddersfield Town paid tribute to a lifelong supporter, calling him “a titan of his craft and a legend and hero to millions worldwide”.

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He kept working to the end. During lockdown he read a Shakespeare sonnet a day to millions online, and this spring he released a recording of all 154 sonnets, his final major project. He was knighted in 2010, served as Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, and married the singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell in 2013.

Sir Patrick Stewart, born 13 July 1940; died 28 October 2026.

Sources: Sir Patrick Stewart’s official Instagram, WhatsOnStage, Marvel Studios, Huddersfield Town.

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