Sir Ian McKellen leads tributes to Sir Patrick Stewart and recalls warning him against taking 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 Patrick Stewart, the Yorkshire-born actor who rose from Mirfield to become Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Professor Charles Xavier, died at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday aged 86 after battling Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. Sir Ian McKellen, 87, his X-Men co-star and close friend of five decades, called him "the most respected and beloved actor of his generation" and revealed he had once urged Stewart not to take the Star Trek role for fear he would get "lost in Hollywood for years and years." West End theatres will dim their lights for two minutes at 7pm on Tuesday 3 November in his honour, with the Society of London Theatre calling him "an acting giant whose seven-decade career is testament to his extraordinary talent."
Sir David Suchet told BBC Radio 4 he heard of his close friend's death during an interval and it 'came as a huge shock.'
James McAvoy, his X-Men co-star, wrote on Instagram: 'Wherever you're going I know you'll go boldly.'
Huddersfield Town, the club Stewart followed from childhood and celebrated reaching the Premier League with at Wembley, called him 'a Terrier in every sense.'
