Sir Ian McKellen reveals he urged late friend Sir Patrick Stewart NOT to take Star Trek role as stars mourn
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 at his home in Los Angeles on October 28 from Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, aged 86. His lifelong friend Sir Ian McKellen revealed on Instagram that he had actively discouraged Stewart from taking the Captain Jean-Luc Picard role in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' — but admitted "thank goodness for us all that he did". Dame Judi Dench said she was "very, very shocked" and described Stewart as always deeply committed to his craft.
West End theatres will dim their lights for two minutes at 7pm on Tuesday, November 3, to honour Stewart.
NASA posted a Hubble Space Telescope image showing galaxies colliding in the shape of the USS Enterprise, viewed by nearly 700,000 people.
Domestic abuse charity Refuge and Amnesty International praised Stewart, who first spoke publicly in 2004 about witnessing his father beat his mother as a child.
