McKellen leads tributes to Sir Patrick Stewart, 86
A death announced on Thursday
Sir Patrick Stewart died at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday 28 October, aged 86, his longtime spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak said. The statement said he died after a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, and that he was in the loving care of his wife, Sunny Ozell. News of his death was shared on Thursday on his social media accounts, and tributes followed within hours from colleagues across stage and screen.
Stewart was born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, on 13 July 1940, and spent 16 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company before becoming a household name as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films. His career spanned seven decades across theatre, television and film.
McKellen: born and bred in Yorkshire
Sir Ian McKellen, his X-Men co-star and close friend, said Stewart was defined above all by being born and bred in Yorkshire, and that his accent carried the stern honesty with which he told people what he thought and felt. McKellen wrote that Stewart wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and, in his case, to love, and called him the most respected and beloved actor of his generation.
William Shatner, the original Star Trek captain, said Captain Picard stood for the best of us, and so did the man who played him. Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine alongside Stewart's Professor Xavier, wrote that he had lost a tremendous friend and man, and that he would miss Stewart all of his days. George Takei called him an irreplaceable legend who inspired a next generation of star-gazers.
A Yorkshire farewell
Fans gathered at Stewart's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, and Huddersfield Town said it was deeply saddened. Kim Leadbeater MP called him Mirfield's finest, a boy from a Yorkshire town who carried his roots to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise and back to the Shakespearean stage.
Sources: BBC News | Willamette News (AP/Guardian reporting)
