Remembering Sir Patrick Stewart

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He died at his Los Angeles home at the age of 86. He leaves behind his wife Sunny Ozell and his two children Daniel and Sophie Stewart, the BBC reported.

In his memoir, he wrote about his role as Jean-Luc Picard on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

“Like me, Jean-Luc has lived an unusual life that has taken him far beyond the bounds of normal human experience. But he is also someone who has remained true to his earthbound roots, for they are what gave him his identity. In the end, he feels the call of home, as do I.”

Friends from the stage and screen are paying tribute to the man who was a cornerstone of several fandoms, from “Star Trek” to Marvel to even Shakespeare.

His close friend and “X-Men” co-star, Sir Ian McKellen, posted a heartfelt tribute to Stewart, saying that, “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.”

Hugh Jackman, who also appeared with Stewart in the “X-Men” franchise, wrote, “We lost one of the greats of stage and screen today.”

Jackman and Stewart had shared the Guinness World Record for the longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero for their roles as Wolverine and Charles Xavier respectively. At the time of the award in 2019, they had played the characters for 16 years and 228 days. Stewart lost the title but regained it in 2022 when he portrayed Professor X in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” raising the bar to 21 years and 296 days. The record is currently held by Wesley Snipes thanks to a cameo as Blade in “Deadpool and Wolverine” with 25 years and 340 days.

The other captain of the Enterprise, William Shatner, posted, “What a heartbreaking week it has been” after the death of not only Stewart but also “Star Trek” original series actor Walter Koenig earlier in the week.

“From the stage to the bridge of the Enterprise, he brought intelligence, grace, and a deep sense of humanity to everything he did. Captain Picard stood for the best of us, and so did the man who played him. I was filled with affection and admiration for him and his work,” Shatner wrote.

George Takei wrote “He inspired a whole next generation of star-gazers who looked longingly ahead to a brighter future for all humanity.”

Prime Video posted what it called “a final salute to the captain of the Enterprise,” with a clip from the show “Picard.”

The streaming service also wrote in a separate post, “A well deserved bow. Thank you for everything, Patrick Stewart.”

Other tributes: