Patrick Stewart, Professor X of the X-Men Films, Dies at 86

Sir Patrick Stewart, the actor who gave the X-Men films their calm, wise and unshakable leader, has died at the age of 86. He passed away on Wednesday, October 28, at his home in Los Angeles. In a statement shared on his social media pages, his family said he died after a brief journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia.

For more than twenty years, Stewart was Professor Charles Xavier, the telepathic founder of the X-Men. For a whole generation of moviegoers, he simply was Professor X.

From the Stage to the Starship

Born in Yorkshire, England, in 1940, Stewart spent his early career on the stage, becoming a respected member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Hollywood came later. In 1987 he was cast as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that made him a household name around the world and one he returned to decades later in the series Star Trek: Picard. He was knighted in 2010 for his services to drama.

Twenty Years as Charles Xavier

Stewart first sat in Xavier's wheelchair in X-Men in 2000, the film that helped kick off the modern superhero era. He brought quiet authority to the role, playing Xavier as a teacher first and a fighter second, a man who believed humans and mutants could live side by side even when the world gave him every reason to doubt it.

He returned for X2 in 2003 and X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006. In X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014, he shared the role with James McAvoy, the older and younger Charles Xavier appearing in the same story. In 2022 he surprised fans with a cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, playing a different version of Xavier from another universe.

Logan: The Goodbye Fans Still Talk About

Many fans consider Logan in 2017 to be Stewart's finest work in the franchise. The film showed a Charles Xavier the audience had never seen before: old, ill and struggling to control the powerful mind that once protected the world. Opposite Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Stewart gave a performance that was funny, painful and deeply human, and it remains one of the most emotional moments in any superhero film.

One Last Return in Avengers: Doomsday

Stewart's story with the character is not quite finished. He is set to appear as Professor X one more time in Marvel's upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, giving fans a final chance to see him in the role he made his own.

Tributes Pour In

Marvel Studios said everyone at the studio was deeply saddened by his passing, and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige praised Stewart for bringing Charles Xavier to life with grace, intelligence and humanity. Fans, co-stars and filmmakers from both the X-Men and Star Trek worlds have shared their memories online.

Patrick Stewart leaves behind decades of work on stage and screen, and a version of Professor X that will be hard for anyone to follow. Rest in peace, Sir Patrick.