Sir Patrick Stewart, known for his iconic roles in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, has died at 86.

Deadline has reported that Stewart died on Wednesday, October 28th, at his home in Los Angeles following “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.” Longtime spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak announced the news.

“He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all,” Bush Novak wrote. “We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.”

When Stewart was cast as Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation in the 1980s, he was unfamiliar in America but had decades of classical theater work in England with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Stewart reportedly won over Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and signed a long-term contract to play Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, despite thinking there was no way the show would last beyond one season.

He was also well-known for his role in the X-Men franchise, an adaptation of the Marvel comic books. He worked alongside longtime friend Ian McKellen, who played opposite him as the villain, Magneto, and appeared as Charles Xavier in eight total films: X2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), and Logan (2017), along with having cameos in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), The Wolverine (2013) and Avengers: Doomsday (2026).

Stewart was born on July 13th, 1940, in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, to Alfred and Gladys Stewart. At 18, he won a scholarship to Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and at 26, he became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he spent the majority of the 1960s.

He received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for playing Captain Ahab in the 1998 miniseries Moby Dick and for his work as King Henry II in The Lion in Winter.

His roles certainly didn’t stop there, as Stewart had quite a long filmography over his many years as an actor.

“Like me, Jean-Luc has lived an unusual life that has taken him far beyond the bounds of normal human experience,” Stewart wrote in his 2023 memoir, Making It So. “But he is also someone who has remained true to his earthbound roots, for they are what gave him his identity. In the end, he feels the call of home, as do I.”

He was married three times, first to theater choreographer Sheila Falconer in 1966, with whom he had two children — Daniel and Sophia. He later married Star Trek producer Wendy Neuss, and in 2013, he married jazz musician Sunny Ozell in a ceremony officiated by McKellen.

Our thoughts are with Patrick Stewart’s friends and family during this difficult time.