Patrick Stewart, ‘Star Trek’ Captain Picard and ‘X-Men’ actor, dies at 86

Stewart died in Los Angeles after battling Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

British actor Patrick Stewart arrives for the Los Angeles premiere of the final season of "Star Trek: Picard" at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, on February 9, 2023 [File: AFP]

Patrick Stewart, the acclaimed British actor who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek” and Professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” films, has died. He was 86.

Stewart died on Wednesday in Los Angeles following “a brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak said in a statement on Thursday.

Although best known for his film and television roles, Stewart spent much of his career onstage, performing Shakespeare and other classics.

His career included performances as Claudius and Macbeth, a one-man adaptation of “A Christmas Carol”, and West End and Broadway productions of Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land” and Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” alongside longtime friend Ian McKellen.

Stewart earned some of the best reviews of his career for his 2007 portrayal of Macbeth, including his only Tony Award nomination. The Times of London described his Macbeth performance as “an enthralling creation of frailty, appetite, egotism and grim humour”.

“Nearly 50 years I’ve waited,” Stewart told the Associated Press news agency in 2008. “I learned it when I was 14. I memorized all the soliloquies just because I thought they were great. And they stuck, so I didn’t have to learn those bits of the play, which is a blessing, because learning lines has now become the one curse of this job.”

From working-class Yorkshire to Shakespeare

Raised in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, a working-class corner of northern England, the future 24th-century commander of a starship grew up without a bathroom in his house.

He joined an amateur drama group at 12 and, as a teenager, memorised Shakespeare for fun. A scholarship to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School helped launch his acting career.

Stewart, who developed alopecia at a young age, had been bald since he was 19.

His childhood was also marked by domestic violence. His father, a former regimental sergeant major in the British Army, was prone to outbursts of “repeated violence against my mother,” as Stewart wrote in a newspaper piece. “Violence is always a choice a man makes and he alone is responsible for it.”

Stewart later became a patron of Refuge, a charity supporting survivors of domestic abuse.

British actor Patrick Stewart places his hands in cement during his hand and footprints ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, on January 13, 2020 [File: AFP]

From Shakespeare to Captain Picard

Stewart spent 14 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing everyone from Mark Antony and Henry IV to Shylock and Oberon.

“People who were not in the company would say to me, ‘Give it a break. Why don’t you go somewhere else?’ And I would say, ‘To do what?'” he told the AP. “Telly?”

He eventually left and appeared in the 1981 film “Excalibur”. In 1987, shortly after performing in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, he was offered a role in a science fiction series.

“I found myself in Hollywood shooting a syndicated science fiction series, which I was assured would fail,” he said.

But “Star Trek: The Next Generation” ran for seven seasons and 178 episodes. Stewart became known worldwide as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, whose command, “Make it so”, became one of the show’s best-known lines.

Stewart also played Professor Charles Xavier, the leader of the X-Men, beginning with the 2000 film “X-Men”. He returned to the role in several sequels, including 2017’s “Logan”, alongside Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

Stewart died just days after Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original “Star Trek” series, which aired from 1966 to 1969.

Queen Elizabeth II knighted Stewart in June 2010. He also served as an ambassador for the International Rescue Committee.

Patrick Stewart, who played Professor X in the X-Men films, poses during a press conference for the film “Logan” in Taipei, Taiwan, on February 28, 2017 [File: AFP]

斯图尔特在洛杉矶去世，此前他一直在与阿尔茨海默病和路易体痴呆症作斗争。

2023年2月9日，英国演员帕特里克·斯图尔特抵达加利福尼亚州好莱坞的TCL中国剧院，出席《星际迷航：皮卡德》最终季的洛杉矶首映礼。[图片来源：法新社]

曾出演《星际迷航》中让-​​卢克·皮卡德舰长和《X战警》系列电影中查尔斯·泽维尔教授的英国著名演员帕特里克·斯图尔特去世，享年86岁。

发言人凯莉·布什·诺瓦克周四在一份声明中表示，斯图尔特于周三在洛杉矶去世，此前他经历了一段“短暂而令人心酸的”与阿尔茨海默病和路易体痴呆症抗争的旅程。

尽管斯图尔特最出名的是他的电影和电视角色，但他职业生涯的大部分时间都在舞台上度过，表演莎士比亚和其他经典剧目。

他的演艺生涯包括扮演克劳狄斯和麦克白，独角戏改编的《圣诞颂歌》，以及与老朋友伊恩·麦克莱恩一起在伦敦西区和百老汇出演哈罗德·品特的《无人之地》和塞缪尔·贝克特的《等待戈多》。

斯图尔特凭借2007年饰演的麦克白一角，赢得了他职业生涯中一些最佳评价，并获得了他唯一一次托尼奖提名。《泰晤士报》评价他的麦克白表演“将脆弱、贪婪、自负和黑色幽默完美融合，令人着迷”。

“我等了将近50年，”斯图尔特在2008年接受美联社采访时说。“我14岁的时候就学会了。我把所有的独白都背了下来，因为我觉得它们很棒。而且它们一直都记得很清楚，所以我不用再去学剧本的其他部分了，这真是太好了，因为现在背台词已经成了这份工作的唯一烦恼。”

从约克郡工人阶级到莎士比亚

这位未来 24 世纪星舰指挥官在英格兰北部工人阶级聚居的西约克郡米尔菲尔德长大，他小时候家里甚至没有浴室。

他12岁时加入了一个业余戏剧团体，十几岁时就出于兴趣背诵莎士比亚的作品。布里斯托老维克戏剧学院的奖学金帮助他开启了演艺生涯。

斯图尔特从小就患有脱发症，19 岁起就一直是秃头。

他的童年也饱受家庭暴力的困扰。他的父亲曾是英国陆军的一名军士长，经常“对我母亲施暴”，正如斯图尔特在一篇报纸文章中所写。“暴力永远是一个人的选择，他必须为此承担全部责任。”

斯图尔特后来成为 Refuge 的赞助人，这是一个支持家庭虐待幸存者的慈善机构。

2020年1月13日，英国演员帕特里克·斯图尔特在加利福尼亚州好莱坞的TCL中国剧院举行手印和脚印仪式，并将双手放入水泥中。[图片：法新社]

从莎士比亚到皮卡德舰长

斯图尔特在皇家莎士比亚剧团工作了 14 年，扮演过从马克·安东尼和亨利四世到夏洛克和奥伯龙等各种角色。

“公司外的人会跟我说，‘休息一下吧，你为什么不去别的地方呢？’我会说，‘去哪儿？’”他告诉美联社。“去电视圈吗？”

他最终离开了剧组，并出演了1981年的电影《亚瑟王》。1987年，在出演《谁害怕弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫？》后不久，他受邀出演一部科幻剧集。

他说：“我发现自己身处好莱坞，正在拍摄一部联合播出的科幻剧集，而我之前被告知这部剧集一定会失败。”

但《星际迷航：下一代》一共播出了七季，178集。斯图尔特因饰演让-卢克·皮卡德舰长而闻名于世，他的命令“就这么办”也成为了该剧最著名的台词之一。

斯图尔特还饰演了X战警的领袖查尔斯·泽维尔教授，该角色始于2000年的电影《X战警》。他随后在多部续集中回归出演该角色，包括2017年的《金刚狼3：殊死一战》，与饰演金刚狼的休·杰克曼共同出演。

斯图尔特去世几天后，沃尔特·科尼格也去世了，他在1966年至1969年播出的原版《星际迷航》系列中饰演少尉帕维尔·切科夫。

2010年6月，伊丽莎白二世女王授予斯图尔特爵士头衔。他还曾担任国际救援委员会的大使。

2017年2月28日，在台湾台北举行的电影《金刚狼3：殊死一战》（Logan）新闻发布会上，饰演X战警系列电影中X教授的帕特里克·斯图尔特摆姿势拍照。[图片：法新社]