Patrick Stewart, Star Trek Star and Elder Statesman of Modern Sci-Fi, Dead at 86

Patrick Stewart, the legendary actor known for his theater work and roles such as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, has died. He was 86 years old.

Born on July 13th, 1940 in West Riding of Yorkshire, England, Stewart began his career as a theater actor, making his first professional stage appearance in 1959 and joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966. He acted in a number of large-scale productions on both sides of the pond, including Peter Brooks’ celebrated 1971 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which led to his first Broadway appearance.

By the mid ‘70s, Stewart began appearing in television and films, and by the mid ‘80s, he had landed roles in historical dramas like I, Claudius and Fall of Eagles (where he played Vladimir Lenin) and movies like David Lynch’s Dune. Still, the stage was his home and, for the most part, he preferred it that way. In 1980, he famously asked Doctor Who actor Lalla Ward: “Why do you do all this television? Why don’t you do proper stuff like theater?” When Ward explained that she actually loved the process and found the content interesting, Stewart replied: “But science fiction, I mean, why would you want to do science fiction? Oh, I wouldn’t want to do that sort of stuff.”

Nevertheless, when a job offer came from Star Trek pioneer Robert H. Justman, Stewart accepted… though, on different terms than some may think. He was reportedly unaware of the cultural phenomenon of Star Trek at the time of his casting, and was assured by his management and other advisors that he’d make some money, gain some exposure, and then the show would bomb, get canceled, and he could return to the stage shortly thereafter… but Stewart’s advisors couldn’t have been more wrong.

Going for seven seasons and earning him a handful of prestigious awards, Stewart’s portrayal of Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation cemented the actor as a household face and name… and the experience changed his life. After the show’s run had wrapped and multiple films had been produced, Stewart remarked: “Without intending to, Picard came closer and closer and closer to me, to Patrick. After a while, there was no place that I could identify where Jean-Luc left off and Patrick Stewart began.”

After the success of Star Trek, Stewart became a mainstay of major films. In 1999, he appeared as Scrooge in TNT’s production of A Christmas Carol, and in 2000 he landed another role in an iconic franchise: X-Men’s Professor Charles Xavier. He has previously portrayed Professor X in eight films (including 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), further embedding himself in the canon of popular culture, and will reprise the role one last time in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

In 2020, Stewart returned as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard, which ran for three seasons, concluding in April 2023. The series explored Picard’s life at an advanced age, dealing with themes of loss, trauma, and time, even building on experiences from Stewart’s own life. To this end, Stewart’s performance was celebrated. “It’s a stellar showcase for the actor,” Consequence’s Clint Worthington wrote in his review of the series. “Whenever Picard crackles with the energy of its forebears, it’s when Stewart’s on screen.”

In the final episode of the series, Picard reads a passage from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. “I had been looking at quite a lot of Shakespeare because it’s been, along with Star Trek, the most important creative force in my life,” Stewart told Vanity Fair in 2023. “I had been remembering my most recent experiences, particularly, and it was then that ‘There is a tide in the affairs of men’ suddenly hit me as being very pertinent to what we were shooting.”

The scene is simple — the crew of the Enterprise is celebrating, and they ask for “one, final toast,” to which Stewart’s Picard offers the Shakespeare stanza:

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

In response, Jonathan Frakes’ Will Riker says: “We’re grateful to have ridden the tide with you.” Which is how a lot of us probably feel right now.