Patrick Stewart was born the youngest of three boys to Alfred Stewart, a Regimental Sergeant Major in the British Army, and Gladys Barrowclough, a textile worker on July 13, 1940 in Mirfield, England. The Stewart household was often a difficult one; Alfred Stewart suffered from PTSD due to his experiences as a paratrooper in World War II, had a temperamental manner and was commonly violent.
Stewart was introduced to acting as a young man while attending primary school, having been given a copy of the works of William Shakespeare which changed his life greatly. Having begun to go bald as a teenager made Stewart shy; acting, along with boxing, became a means of asserting himself.
After a brief tenure as a journalist, Stewart became a member of Manchester’s Library Theatre, and in 1966 joined the legendary Royal Shakespeare Company where he performed continually until 1982 and to date has appeared in over 60 productions including Macbeth, Hamlet, Merchant of Venice, The Tempest and King Lear.
In the 1980s Stewart began to find small work in television and film, including Wild Geese 2, a so-bad-it’s-good cult movie, where Stewart played “Soviet General.” Stewart took the role to pay for a window replacement in his apartment.
It was not until 1987 when he took on the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the sequel series Star Trek: The Next Generation that Patrick Stewart became a household name and figure in popular culture. Like Wild Geese 2, Stewart originally took the role for the money, believing the series would fail and he could return to the theater with a larger bank account.
The series, thanks to Stewart’s advocacy and dedication, as well as the leadership of showrunner Michael Piller, Star Trek: The Next Generation ran for seven years—during which time Stewart directed five episodes including the penultimate one—and spawned four movie spinoffs: Generations (1994), First Contact (1996), Insurrection (1998; Stewart also served as an Associate Producer) and Nemesis (2002). Stewart also contributed his voice and likeness in over half a dozen Star Trek PC and console games during since the 90s.
Over the years, Stewart has cited his time in Star Trek as the highlight of his career, and named “Data’s Day” as his favorite episode.
Creator of Family Guy and American Dad Seth MacFarlane befriended Stewart through his love of theater and Star Trek, and lent his voice to MacFarlane’s series as Suzie Swanson and Avery Bullock respectively. In April 2014, Starz announced Seth MacFarlane and Patrick Stewart would be teaming up for a direct-to-series comedy called Blunt Talk in which Stewart starred; this was his first starring role in a television series since Star Trek: The Next Generation ended in 1994.
In 2020, the series was given new life in Star Trek: Picard, which ran for three years and featured Stewart as the title character.
Stewart recently spoke with uInterview at the Tribeca Film Festival where his latest film Match was being screened. He was emotional about the film, which itself was heady with strong emotion, based on the real life story of Tobi Powell, a choreography instructor at Julliard who gave his entire life to his profession. “He lives alone, what might appear to be a rather solitary and perhaps even somber life, and has given everything that he could give in his life to his work,” Stewart told uInterview.
After Star Trek: The Next Generation transitioned from television to film, Stewart became involved in the X-Men franchise in 1999 playing Professor Charles Francis Xavier, creator and leader of the X-Men, a role he has reprised numerous times including X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, and X-Men: Days of Future Past, as well as in a variety of spinoff video games.
It was also during this time that Stewart became friends with fellow thespian Sir Ian McKellen who officiated Stewart’s wedding to Sunny Ozell in 2013.
Stewart also starred in the 2019 film Coda, which followed a famous pianist who struggle with stage fright. The movie also featured Katie Holmes and Giancarlo Esposito.
Patrick Stewart has been married three times. His first marriage was to Sheila Falconer (from 1966-1990). The couple had two children: Daniel and Sofia.
From 2000-2003, Stewart was married to Star Trek: Voyager producer Wendy Neuss. Former TNG costar Brent Spiner was Stewart’s best man.
After this, Stewart was in a relationship with the actress Lisa Dillon who he met during a production of The Master Builder. The relationship ended in 2007.
In 2013, Stewart married Sunny Ozell, having been in a relationship with her since 2008. Longtime friend Ian McKellen presided over the ceremony. Stewart and Ozell now reside in a Brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
From 2004-2008, Stewart again returned to the stage, acting in Dickensian and Shakespearean productions and in 2009 starred opposite Ian McKellen in Waiting for Godot.
In 2006, Stewart was appointed Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield and serves as a Professor of Performing Arts.
Stewart is a member of the Labor Party and is an avowed Socialist. He is a supporter of the British Humanist Association and is an advocate for Amnesty International.
Finally, in 2010 Stewart was knighted, an honor long overdue, by Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace. In response, Stewart thanked Cecil Dormand, the English teacher who had originally gave him a book on the works of Shakespeare and pushed him into acting, saying without Dormand, none of this would have been possible.
Check out Patrick Stewart’s full uInterview video:
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