by Meredith Blake in the Contrarian (submitted by Mary Montgomery)
Because 2026 is determined to set a record as the worst year ever for beloved celebrity deaths, on Wednesday Sir Patrick Stewart, the British actor who shot to fame as the noble Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation, died “following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia,” according to a statement from his family.
Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: Picard (CBS)
Since the news of his death broke Thursday, the tributes and commemorations have been pouring in from Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike. What strikes me about Stewart, other than his decades-long friendship with Ian McKellen, is his utter lack of pretension. Though he was a Serious Actor who performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company for many years and won two Olivier Awards over a long career in the theater, he embraced the fact that he would always be best known for his role in a syndicated sci-fi TV series.
“It was the biggest thing that ever happened to me,” he said in 2023.
When Stewart was first approached about the series, he knew almost nothing about Star Trek, but accepted the gig mostly because he wanted to work in California. (A childhood in Yorkshire will do that to you.) Stewart couldn’t have anticipated that the role would turn him into a Hollywood star, an unlikely sex symbol, or a role model for bald men everywhere. Stewart brought Shakespearean gravitas to the character, turning Picard into a new kind of Star Trek hero — dignified and philosophical rather than arrogant or impulsive.
He was also adept at comedy, starring as a gay interior designer in the trailblazing 1995 film Jeffrey, which contributed to his reputation as a staunch LGBTQ ally; making appearances on The Simpsons and countless talk shows; and performing a memorably soliloquy about the letter “B” on Sesame Street.
Stewart stayed busy until nearly the end of his life, using his sonorous voice to play a wise ram in The Sheep Detectives, a charming, family-friendly mystery released in March. He will also be seen as Professor X in Avengers: Doomsday, out in December. “I can’t imagine ever officially ‘retiring,’” he said in July. “I’ll always and forever be an actor.”