The irreplaceable Patrick Stewart, the Shakespearean actor who most famously portrayed Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men, has died at the age of 86.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Stewart’s longtime spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak confirmed that he died on Wednesday (Oct. 28) in Los Angeles following “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.”
In a post shared on Instagram, the official account for Stewart asked for donations to be made to the John Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources in lieu of flowers.
Before he made his debut as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role he played for 176 episodes, Stewart had a storied career in various stage productions across the United Kingdom, including multiple shows at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. He also appeared in various movies, including John Boorman’s medieval fantasy epic Excalibur in 1981 and David Lynch’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune in 1984.
Following his debut as Picard, he reprised the role in various other TV shows, including Star Trek: Picard, and multiple films. Outside of Star Trek, he also brought the X-Men character Professor Charles Xavier to life in the 2000 film X-Men, which he reprised in seven further movies. He’s set to appear posthumously in Avengers: Doomsday. Other memorable roles include Avery Bullock in American Dad!, the terrifying neo-Nazi Darcy in Green Room, and most recently, The Sheep Detectives.
RIP.
