In Pictures: Star Trek reboot pushed Sir Patrick Stewart’s career into orbit
Once a cub journalist, he reached new levels of fame as Captain Jean-Luc Picard after a successful but more low-key start in acting.
Sir Patrick Stewart enjoyed his most successful years as an actor relatively late in life after dabbling in journalism as a young man.
Born near Huddersfield, a town he remained close to, he supposedly opted for the stage after an editor had pointed out to him he had to decide whether to be an actor or a reporter after noticing the budding writer’s head being turned by the theatre.
He made a good living in Shakespeare and even a role in Coronation Street before being propelled to a new level of fame as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the reboot of Star Trek.
A long-time campaigner for the Labour Party, he was willing to lend his name to causes such as medicinal cannabis and the Remain campaign in the Brexit referendum while his support of Huddersfield Town and role as chancellor of the town’s university kept him in touch with his roots.
He formed a close and openly affectionate friendship with Sir Ian McKellen, another actor who did not take the usual route to stardom.
Three times married and with children, he would die in Los Angeles after a battle with dementia.