Patrick Stewart Dies at 86: Star Trek and X-Men Star Remembered by McKellen, Shatner and Jackman

Sir Patrick Stewart died on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86, and his death was announced on Thursday, 29 October, in a statement shared on his social media accounts.

The statement said he died in the loving care of his wife, Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. Neither diagnosis had previously been made public, and the family asked that memorial contributions be made to Alzheimer’s research and caregiver resources in lieu of flowers.

McKellen: a man to rely on, to admire, to love

Sir Ian McKellen, Stewart’s close friend since their early days with the Royal Shakespeare Company, paid one of the fullest tributes. He wrote that Stewart was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, a county he loved to the end, and that he wore his heart on his sleeve.

“He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love,” McKellen wrote. He also noted that Stewart’s farewell performance in Avengers: Doomsday, due in December 2026, is yet to be seen.

Shatner, Frakes and Burton remember their captain

William Shatner, the original Captain James T. Kirk, called Stewart a friend, a colleague and a magnificent actor. He wrote that Captain Picard stood for the best of us, and so did the man who played him, adding that his heart went out to Sunny and his family.

Jonathan Frakes, who played Commander William Riker alongside Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation, said there was no one on the planet he had acted with or directed more often than his late friend. LeVar Burton, who played Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge, told USA TODAY that Stewart was family, adding that of all the dames and knights he had known, Stewart was deep down the silliest.

Jackman and Janssen lead the X-Men tributes

Hugh Jackman, who starred as Wolverine alongside Stewart’s Professor Charles Xavier, wrote that they had lost one of the greats of stage and screen. “I will miss you, Patrick Stewart, all of my days,” Jackman wrote, calling Stewart a tremendous friend and man.

Famke Janssen, who played Jean Grey in the X-Men films, said Stewart was a legend and one of the greats. The USA Today tribute round-up also records Marvel Studios saying it was deeply saddened, and praising the grace, intelligence and humanity Stewart brought to Professor Xavier.

From Mirfield to the Royal Shakespeare Company

Stewart was born on 13 July 1940 in Mirfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. A schoolteacher introduced him to Shakespeare when he was 12, and he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, building a stage career that later included Antony and Cleopatra, The Merchant of Venice and Hamlet.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 for his services to drama. The Reuters report on Stewart’s death notes that he became an actor at 18 and gained acclaim on stage beginning in the 1960s, long before mainstream screen fame arrived.

Two roles that defined generations of fans

At 47, Stewart was cast as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran from 1987 to 1994. He played Picard in 176 episodes over seven seasons, in four feature films, and again in the streaming series Star Trek: Picard from 2020 to 2023.

In 2000, he took on a second defining role as Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men, returning to the character in several sequels and in Logan. The two roles, a starship captain and a mutant mentor, made him a familiar figure to audiences who had never seen him on a Shakespearean stage.

Stewart is survived by his wife, musician Sunny Ozell, whom he married in 2013, and by his two children from his first marriage. Like other recent celebrity stories on the site, including the Citizen Kim biography interview coverage, this is a story where the public record and the family’s own statement matter more than speculation, and no funeral arrangements were announced in the statement reviewed for this article.