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Knighted in 2010 for services to drama, Patrick Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation 1987-1994 and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and won three Laurence Olivier Awards.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Patrick Stewart — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Patrick Stewart by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Patrick Stewart — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
At age 15, Patrick Stewart left school in Mirfield, Yorkshire to work as a junior reporter for a local newspaper. His mother Gladys was a textile worker, and his father Alfred served in the army; Stewart has said his mother suffered abuse at his father’s hands.
After being told he spent too much time at the theatre, he quit journalism and spent a year as a furniture salesman, saving money to attend drama school. He was accepted by the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1957.
Stewart made his professional debut in 1959 at the Lincoln repertory theatre. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, beginning a 27-year association. After a stint with the Royal National Theatre in the mid-1980s, he moved to Los Angeles to star in Star Trek: The Next Generation 1987-1994 as Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
He reprised the role in four films: Star Trek: Generations 1994, First Contact 1996, Insurrection 1998, and Nemesis 2002. Stewart also played Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men series, first appearing in 2000. On stage, he won Laurence Olivier Awards for A Christmas Carol, Antony and Cleopatra, and Hamlet.
Stewart married Sheila Falconer in 1966; they had two children, Daniel and Sophie Stewart, before divorcing in 1990. He later married Star Trek: Voyager producer Wendy Neuss in 2000, but they divorced in 2003.
In 2013, he married singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell, with his close friend Sir Ian McKellen officiating the ceremony. Stewart has been a patron of the domestic violence charity Refuge, inspired by his mother’s experiences.
Stewart’s portrayal of Captain Picard set a new standard for sci-fi captains. According to co-star Brent Spiner, it influenced the pronunciation of data in American English. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996 and was knighted in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to drama.
He also served as Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield from 2004, and Amnesty International named a human rights scholarship after him. Most remember Stewart as the dignified and intellectual Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
The complete filmography of Patrick Stewart — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Patrick Stewart — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Patrick Stewart — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Was Brought up in a Very Poor and Very Violent Household. I Spent Much of My Childhood Being Afraid.
I Would Like to See Us Get This Place Right First Before We Have the Arrogance to Put Significantly Flawed Civilizations Out Onto Other Planets, Even Though They May Be Utterly Uninhabited.
A Lot of These Changes We Do on Stage. so the Apollo Audience, Whether It’s to Their Taste or Not, Will Have to Tolerate the Sight of Josh and Myself Taking Our Clothes on and Off.
Reinforcing Human Rights Is the Way to Reinforce Security.
Writing Is the Strength of Any Project. If the Script Isn’t Good, Then You’ll Be Doing a Cellophane Job from Day One, Patching It Up, Trying to Cover All the Holes.
All I Know Is That I Have to Act. It’s a Compulsion. I’m Driven to It. I Wouldn’t Say That I Would Die If It Were Taken Away from Me, but a Large Part of Me Would Shrivel Up.
I Have This Theory That These Roles, the Really Great Roles – There Are Elements of Them in All of Us. and That Is Part of the Greatness of This Dramatist, That He Taps into Something Which Is Entirely Human. You Feel Him Reaching Out His Hand and Saying to You as an Actor, Come On, It’s Easier Than You Think..
It Would Irritate My Father so Much – Because He Was a Military Man, and Both My Brothers Did Military Service, and I Didn’t – That I Walk Around New York and I Hear, Hey, Captain, How Are You?.
I Had a Certain Fear of Exposing Myself Too Much in My Work for a Long Time. a Lot of What Performing to Me Had Been Was Elaborate, and at Times Quite Clever, Concealment. Someone Once Said of Acting That It Is Telling Beautiful Lies, and Well, It Became Just No Longer Satisfactory to Work That Way.
There’s Always This Sense in Los Angeles That If You’re Doing Theater, It’s Because You Can’t Get Film or Even Television Work.
Little-known facts about Patrick Stewart — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
The habit of tugging on his uniform creases when standing up on Star Trek: The Next Generation was dubbed the Picard Maneuver by co-star Jonathan Frakes.
When Patrick Stewart married Sunny Ozell in 2013, his friend Sir Ian McKellen officiated the ceremony; the two have co-starred in X-Men and other projects.
Brent Spiner credits Stewart with changing the American pronunciation of data from dat-uh to day-tah after Stewart used the British pronunciation at the first table read for Star Trek: The Next Generation.
For the Ice Bucket Challenge, Stewart released a video where he wrote a cheque, took two ice cubes from a bucket, put them in a glass of whisky, and toasted the camera.
During the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stewart was so convinced he would be fired that he did not unpack his bags for six weeks.
Stewart is a devoted fan of Monty Python and close friends with all the members; they have said he would replace the late Graham Chapman in a reunion.
His best friends include Star Trek: The Next Generation castmate Brent Spiner, who was his best man at his wedding to Wendy Neuss.
A tipsy couple once mistook Stewart for Dr. Spock from Star Wars and then for Sir Ben Kingsley in a San Francisco hotel elevator, as he recounted on The Graham Norton Show.
Stewart has lamented not being offered a role in the Harry Potter film series.
At 47 years old when Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted, Stewart is the oldest actor to play a captain in a first-billed starring role among the four Star Trek series.
He joked that his French character Jean-Luc Picard speaks with a British accent because he was raised by an English nanny.
The stillsuit he wore in Dune 1984 was, in his words, the most uncomfortable costume he ever wore.
He convinced Gates McFadden to return to Star Trek: The Next Generation for its third season; they remain close friends.
When starting on Star Trek: The Next Generation, his trailer label read British Shakespeare Actor because he was unknown to American networks.
In tribute to his mother, he is a patron of the UK domestic violence charity Refuge.
A human rights scholarship is named after him by Amnesty International.
He is very good friends with Whoopi Goldberg and William Shatner.
He was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005, which went to Johnny Depp.
His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for live theater was awarded on December 16, 1996, at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.
A huge fan of Doctor Who and Red Dwarf, Stewart also originally narrated The Nightmare Before Christmas 1993, but Tim Burton cut most of the narration; his recording is on the soundtrack.
The character name Picard, meaning pike handler in French, references Captain Pike from the original Star Trek.
Stewart revealed he believed he was circumcised his entire life until his wife told him otherwise, later confirmed by his doctor.
He has been close friends with Brian Blessed since childhood and best friends with Ian McKellen.
In 2016, along with Benedict Cumberbatch, Stewart guided over 280 arts figures to back remaining in the European Union for the UK referendum.
Scheduling conflicts with Star Trek: The Next Generation forced him to turn down voice roles in Disney films including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas.
He became Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield in 2004 and made his first official visit on March 10, 2004.
In John le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 1979 and Smiley’s People 1982, he played Karla in one scene each opposite Alec Guinness, with no dialogue.
He is an Honorary Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Stewart had the first line on both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the last line on the former.
He was awarded OBE in 2001 and Knight Bachelor in 2010 for services to drama.
His habit of calling Commander Riker Number One on Star Trek: The Next Generation led to him playing a character named Number One on The Simpsons.
TV Guide voted him Most Bodacious male on television in 1993.
Along with Colm Meaney and Armin Shimerman, Stewart appeared in the pilots of two different Star Trek series: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.
The number 47 frequently appears in the Star Trek franchise, and Stewart was 47 when the show debuted.
He turned down the role of Jafar in Aladdin due to Star Trek scheduling; it went to Jonathan Freeman.
A self-confessed huge fan of Reba McEntire.
Stewart has appeared with Kelsey Grammer in five productions: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Frasier, X-Men: The Last Stand, Legends of Oz, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
He won the 1994 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Entertainment for his adaptation of A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic.
He played Richard the Lionheart in Robin Hood: Men in Tights 1993 and his father King Henry II in The Lion in Winter 2003.
He played Captain Jean-Luc Picard on five different series: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Family Guy, Robot Chicken, and Star Trek: Picard.
The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation playfully nicknamed him Old Baldy.
He accepted a role in Wild Geese II 1985 because he needed money for an expensive home repair; he also appeared in Lifeforce for the same reason.
A huge fan of the comic Transmetropolitan, he wrote an introduction for Lonely City and his company was involved in a film adaptation that stalled in 2010.
He is father of Sophie Stewart and Daniel Stewart.
He accepted the position of Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield and became a British resident again in 2004.
A huge Formula 1 fan, he attended the 2003 British Grand Prix and has taken part in celebrity car races.
He has won three Laurence Olivier Awards, and also an Evening Standard Best Actor Drama award for Macbeth.
His likeness as Captain Picard appeared on a set of 18 British commemorative postage stamps issued in November 2020 celebrating Star Trek.
He won the New York Theater Critics Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance in 1993 for A Christmas Carol.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Patrick Stewart.
Celebrities similar to Patrick Stewart — same craft, ranked by reach.
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