Sir Ian McKellen recalls in his tribute that he urged Sir Patrick Stewart NOT to take the Star Trek role
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 Ian McKellen's tribute to Sir Patrick Stewart, who died aged 86 on Wednesday at his Los Angeles home, reveals he tried to talk his lifelong friend out of taking the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard — fearing Hollywood would swallow him whole. The pair first met as young actors at the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago. McKellen wrote on Instagram that he loves Stewart and called him a proud Yorkshireman who 'wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on'.
Stewart died following a 'brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia', his family confirmed.
West End theatres will dim their lights for two minutes at 7pm on Tuesday, November 3, in his memory.
NASA posted a Hubble image appearing to show galaxies colliding in the shape of the USS Enterprise, viewed by nearly 700,000 people.
