Over an acting career spanning more than 60 years, Stewart enjoyed sports from his formative years through his long acting career.
Born in Murfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in 1940, Stewart spent his youth training in boxing. He also enjoyed playing soccer until his late 30s with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s team, which also sponsored a cricket team on which Stewart played.
Stewart was a fan and supporter of the team (photo courtesy of Huddersfield Town on YouTube)
Stewart was a lifelong and dedicated fan of the Huddersfield Town football (soccer) club. Stewart began supporting the team at age seven after his uncle took him to his first match. In 2010, Stewart became president of the Huddersfield Town Academy. The club’s objective was to identify and develop young talent into future soccer players.
Stewart traveled to Wembley Stadium in 2017 to watch Huddersfield win the Championship playoff final and return to the Premier League. It was Huddersfield’s first return to the Premier League since 1972.
Stewart also enjoyed race car driving. He was an avid car enthusiast, seen frequently at Silverstone during British Grand Prix weekends. He even served as the race Grand Marshall at the 2015 Grand Prix of Long Beach and later conducted podium interviews with three finishers at the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix.
Stewart even earned a Motorsport UK competition license and competed in the 2012 Silverstone Classic Celebrity Challenge race, finishing ninth. That same year, Stewart met his racing hero and Formula One Champion Sir Stirling Moss in the BBC Two documentary Racing Legends.
Of course, Sir Patrick Stewart is best known for his acting career. On Broadway, he was a master of many Shakespeare plays, which include The Merchant of Venice (1965), Hamlet (1966), Henry V (1966), The Taming of the Shrew (1967), King Lear (1968), Two Gentlemen of Verona (1970-1971), A Midsummer’s Night Dream (1971), The Tempest (1995), Othello (1997), Antony and Cleopatra (2006), and Macbeth (2007-2008).
Stewart with William Shatner (R) on TV’s Star Trek (photo courtesy PEOPLE)
He starred in many movies, including Hedda (1975), Excalibur (1981), Dune (1984), Lady Jane (1986), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), Jeffrey (1995), X-Men (2000), The Game of Their Lives (2005), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Logan (2017), The Kid Who Would Be King (2019), and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
But Stewart garnered most worldwide attention for playing Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994). He also starred in four Star Trek films: Star Trek Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). Stewart later returned to the role in Star Trek: Picard (2020-2023).
Sir Patrick Stewart died last Wednesday after a brief battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. He was 86.
