Sir Ian McKellen leads tributes to Star Trek's Sir Patrick Stewart, who has died at 86 after battling Alzheimer's
Sir Patrick Stewart, who died on Wednesday aged 86. He is to appear posthumously as Professor Xavier in Marvel's forthcoming Avengers: Doomsday.Patrick Stewart as Professor X, the role he reprised for *Avengers: Doomsday*, due for release on 18 December, in which he reunites with lifelong friend Ian McKellen.Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard, the role he won after Gene Roddenberry — who had initially refused to consider him — was ultimately forced to cast him.Sir Patrick Stewart with his wife, singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell, who cared for him at their Los Angeles home during his illness and was at his side when he died on Wednesday.
Sir Patrick Stewart died on Wednesday at his Los Angeles home, aged 86, after a secret battle with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, his spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak confirmed. A statement said he passed surrounded by wife Sunny, family and friends, "surrounded by live music, prayers, tears, laughter." He rose from a working-class Yorkshire upbringing to become a global icon, spending 16 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company before Gene Roddenberry — who initially demanded his name "never be mentioned in my presence again" — was overruled and Stewart was cast as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 1987.
Sir Ian McKellen led tributes, calling Stewart a "beloved" friend, while William Shatner remembered him as "a singular talent."
Stewart had retreated from public life in his final years, with his last known photos showing him watching his beloved Huddersfield Town.
Beyond Star Trek, he played Professor Charles Xavier across the X-Men series, winning a Grammy, four Emmy nominations and two Olivier Awards across a career spanning more than 60 years.
