Actor Patrick Stewart died at his home on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, following a brief battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. He was 86 years old.

Stewart was a veteran of the British stage who infused his erudite manner and sophisticated elocution into every character he played. The actor is beloved by science fiction and comic book fans for his portrayals of Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek franchise and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men/Marvel universe.

Picard was at the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the second Star Trek TV series. Stewart’s Picard is an intellectual man who takes a calm logical approach to problem solving. For some, he became their preferred captain of the Enterprise. He would go on to play him again in Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis.

Stewart brought some of those character traits to Charles Xavier, aka Professor X. He played Xavier as a nurturing teacher who guided other mutants and sought to build positive relationships with regular humans. Stewart played the beloved X-Men leader in X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Logan. He portrayed Xavier for cameos in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Stewart was born on July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England. His father was a World War II veteran who was physically abusive to his mother, which Stewart later believed was due to post-traumatic stress disorder. As an adult, Stewart became an advocate for domestic abuse victims and for veterans.

His interest in acting began while he was working at a newspaper when he was in his teens. Stewart won a scholarship to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company when he was 26 years old. He spent much of the 1960s performing with the company and with the National Theatre.

Stewart had 160 film and TV credits to his name, starting with appearances in Theatre 625 and Coronation Street in 1967. He was in the Antony and Cleopatra TV movie, the I, Claudius miniseries, and several other TV and movie projects in England.

His US debut was as King Arthur in Excalibur, then he played the minstrel Gurney Halleck in Dune, and he was in Lifeforce. Star Trek: The Next Generation began in 1987 and ran for seven seasons through 1994. During that time, he was in L.A. Story, played King Richard in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and voiced Adventure in The Pagemaster.

In 2001, Queen Elizabeth II appointed him as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and then she knighted him in 2010.

Stewart earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for playing Captain Ahab in the Moby Dick miniseries. He voiced Seti in The Prince of Egypt, portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol TV movie, and voiced Avery Bullock in American Dad! from 2005 to 2026.

He was nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe for his portrayal of King Henry II in The Lion in Winter. Stewart appeared in Extras as a smarmy fake version of himself, getting another Emmy nod. He played King Claudius in Hamlet, earning his fourth Emmy nomination.

His later roles were in Green Room, he starred in the Blunt Talk TV show, and he played Bosley in Charlie’s Angels (2019). Stewart starred in the Star Trek: Picard series for three seasons from 2020 to 2023. His final completed project was to play Professor X one more time in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.