The actor known for the order “Make it so” began his working life writing other people’s obituaries for a Yorkshire newspaper.
Marina Sirtis, who played Deanna Troi opposite Sir Patrick Stewart in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” posted a tearful video to Instagram after Stewart, 86, died Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, at his home in Los Angeles.
“I know I should have posted last night but I couldn’t speak. He’s gone. My friend. My captain. My fellow football fan. It’s too much. It’s just too much,” Sirtis said in the video.
She then addressed Stewart’s family directly before turning to the work they shared. “It was an honour to work with you Patrick. In fact it was more than an honour it was a privilege of my life to work with him,” she added.
Surrounded by Live Music and Prayer
Stewart died after a brief battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, according to his spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak.
The death was announced publicly on Thursday, Oct. 29, a day after Stewart died at home. His family posted an extended statement to his official Instagram account, writing that he died in the loving care of his wife, Sunny Ozell, and that his last days were surrounded by live music, prayer, tears and laughter. “We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace,” the family said.
Ozell, his daughter, Sophia, and his son, Daniel, survive him. The family asked that memorial contributions go to the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.
Hesitant About Science Fiction
Stewart was 47 when the role that made him a household name arrived, and he came to it warily, hesitant about working in science fiction and reluctant to sign extensive television and multi-film contracts. He played Capt. Jean-Luc Picard for seven seasons of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” from 1987 to 1994.
He returned to the character again and again, most prominently in the spinoff “Star Trek: Picard,” which ran from 2020 to 2023.
A second generation of moviegoers knew him as Professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” films, including “Logan.” His final screen role is Xavier in “Avengers: Doomsday,” due in theaters Dec. 18. Marvel Studios paid tribute, as did Huddersfield Town, the football club he supported all his life.
The Teacher Who Handed Him Shakespeare
Stewart was born July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, the son of a weaver and a postman, in a home with no indoor bathroom. An English teacher gave him the complete works of Shakespeare, an escape from the violence at home.
His father excelled in the military and never adjusted to civilian life, Stewart said, and that unhappiness came out in weekend drinking and sometimes violence that left the household chaotic.
He left formal education at 15 and supported himself as a newspaper reporter and obituary writer, then quit in under a year to act. Grants took him to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and he made his first professional stage appearance in 1959. Alopecia, which runs in his family, had taken his hair by the time he was out of his teens.
Stewart joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and stayed 16 years, until 1982, appearing in more than 60 productions. He made his Broadway debut in 1970 as Snout in Peter Brook’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
He came back in 1991 with his own solo adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” a hit that brought him back for the holiday season in 1992, 1994 and 2001 and won him the Drama Desk Award for outstanding solo performance. His other Broadway credits include “The Tempest,” “The Ride Down Mt. Morgan,” “The Caretaker,” “Macbeth” and “A Life in the Theatre.” He was nominated for a Tony once, for “Macbeth.” His last Broadway run paired him with Ian McKellen in repertory, in “Waiting for Godot” and “No Man’s Land.”
Stewart was knighted in 2010. He married Brooklyn singer Sunny Ozell, 38 years his junior, in 2013, with McKellen officiating, and the couple spent their time at a home in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
The family statement also listed his knighthood, a chancellorship and his love of motor sport, along with his advocacy for human rights, refugees, domestic violence survivors, mental health care for veterans and animals, among them the pit bulls he fostered.
In a 2017 interview, Stewart said not a day passed without his thinking about his own mortality, with so many actors of his generation gone. That same year he described the price of hereditary osteoarthritis: eight injections in his hands, four into each knuckle.
Malcolm McDowell, the “A Clockwork Orange” star who met Stewart at the Royal Shakespeare Company, mourned him on Instagram, writing that a wide audience did not appreciate his friend’s talent until he came to the United States. “He was wonderful as Picard, which always slightly amused him,” McDowell posted.
Protein Clumps in Nerve Cells
Abnormal protein clumps build up in nerve cells in Lewy body dementia, causing inflammation and neurodegeneration in both cortical and sub-cortical regions of the brain. Early symptoms are often cognitive — confusion, memory problems and difficulty making decisions. Many cases bring vivid visual hallucinations and delusions. Parkinson’s-like tremor and rigidity usually follow. The disease is more common in men and typically appears after the age of 50. Robin Williams was among the well-known figures who had it.