Patrick Stewart, Shakespearean actor turned ‘Star Trek’ and ‘X-Men’ star, dies

Patrick Stewart photographed in London in 2008. Stewart first found acclaim as a Shakespearean actor before making an unlikely career pivot to TV that would bring him his greatest fame. | STEVE FORREST / THE NEW YORK TIMES

Oct 30, 2026

Patrick Stewart, who rose from poverty in England to become an accomplished Shakespearean stage actor and then achieved global stardom as the erudite Captain Jean-Luc Picard in TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the telepathic professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” movies, has died at the age of 86.

Stewart, knighted in 2010 by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to drama, died at his home in Los Angeles, according to a statement on his X account.

“We announce with great sorrow the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart yesterday 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,” it said.

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