Patrick Stewart Dies at 86

Patrick Stewart died at age 86 at his home in Los Angeles. According to a statement posted on social media, the actor passed away following "a brief and touching journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia."

Stewart was born in 1940 in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England. Over a professional career spanning more than sixty years, he performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, which he joined in 1966 and remained with until 1982, taking leading roles in numerous Shakespeare productions including "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "The Merchant of Venice," and "The Winter's Tale."

He reached mass audiences through his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." He played Professor Charles Xavier in nine X-Men films, including the original Fox trilogy, as well as "Logan" in 2017 and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" in 2022. It had previously been announced that he would reprise his role in "Avengers: Doomsday," which is set to release on December 18.