Legend of Stage and Screen Patrick Stewart Has Died at the Age of 86
It's hard to find a more universally admired entertainer than Sir Patrick Stewart. An artist of such impressive talent that he made a name for himself as a teenager in 1959, on the English stage after training at the Old Vic Theatre School in England. Then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, where he spent over two decades.
Actors with those kind of chops tend to get typecast and spend their lives on stage reciting soliloquies. Which, given that's considered the pinnacle of their profession, is hardly the worst way for earn a living. But Stewart did the impossible in a number of ways. First, by breaking into American television. Secondly, and perhaps more impressively, filling an impossible pair of space boots by becoming Captain of the USS Enterprise Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Few TV roles were more icon than Star Trek's original Captain, William Shatner's James Kirk. Stewart took the image of the bold, dashing, intrepid leader who took all challenges head on, flew into danger, defeated the bad guys and then boned the hot alien chicks and turned it inside out.
His Picard was reserved. Intellectual, Introspective. Philosophical. While just as daring as Kirk, just more thoughtful. It was a bold casting choice. And a challenge for any actor to be the lead in a series that would forever be compared to the original. And he more than met that challenge. He exceeded it. In every respect.
The Original Series will forever be my Star Trek, just because I grew up on the reruns. The Next Generation didn't come along until I was hitting adulthood, so I was late to the party on it. But it's more popular among Trekkers in general, and for good reason. Most of them having to do with the series lead, and the actor who portrayed him.
And so it was that Stewart transitioned into popular entertainment in which few actors ever do. One is his friend Ian McKellen, who actually officiated Stewart's wedding. Which is why when those two were announced to be the leads in the X-Men films, the choices were universally acclaimed. And together they set a standard of playing superfrenemies that is impossible to match:
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I'll finish with this video, one I've often thought about and mentioned to others. It's Stewart being asked what his proudest accomplishment is outside of acting. And he gave a heartfelt answer about creating a shelter for women and their children, after his experiences being raised by an abusive father. Only to later in life realize how damaged his father was by the war, at a time when British veterans were told to keep a stiff upper lip and just carry on, instead of getting treatment for the wounds nobody sees:
A thoroughly unique career with unparalleled crossover appeal. He said he'd never retire:
… and made good on that promise.
An 86-year life of entertaining the world and doing great works. And still, gone too soon. Requiescat in Pace, Sir Patrick Stewart.