Through his more than 60-year career in movies, TV and the theatre including 16 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), he was never shy of speaking his mind, often giving his backing to political campaigns and providing talk shows with an amusing anecdote.
asserted
he → include → anecdote
He also earned four Emmy nominations for various work and two supporting actor Olivier Awards for Shakespeare plays, the first for Antony And Cleopatra in 1979 and the second for Hamlet in 2009.
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He → earn → 2009
His death at his Los Angeles home aged 86 was announced on his Instagram, in a post that said it followed a “brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy Body Dementia”.
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it → age → disease
Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire in 1940, Sir Patrick was the son of an army sergeant major, who he later revealed subjected his mother to repeated bouts of violence.
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he → bear → violence
At the age of 12, he enrolled in an eight-day drama course and got the acting bug.
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he → enrol → bug
He quit school at 15 to work as a cub reporter on a local paper but left the day the editor gave him an ultimatum, to choose either acting or journalism.
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editor → quit → acting
Sir Patrick worked as a furniture salesman before winning a scholarship for the Bristol Old Vic theatre school at the age of 17.
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Patrick → work → 17
The famously bald star wore a toupee for auditions and promised “two actors for the price of one”.
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star → wear → one
In his mid-20s, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing alongside the likes of House Of Cards actor Ian Richardson and Gandhi star Sir Ben Kingsley.
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he → join → Richardson
Sir Patrick also landed roles in TV dramas such as I, Claudius, Smiley’s People, and Fall of Eagles in which he played the Russian revolutionary Lenin and briefly appeared in Coronation Street in the 1960s.
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he → land → 1960s
The Shakespearean actor shot to fame when he originated the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987.
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he → shoot → 1987
The sci-fi TV series ran for seven years, with films Star Trek Generations in 1994 and Star Trek: First Contact in 1996.
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series → run → 1996
Sir Patrick later said the success of the show handicapped him because directors did not want to cast the captain of the Starship Enterprise in their films.
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directors → say → films
Sir Patrick also later admitted to the Hollywood Reporter that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry took a dislike to him almost immediately, saying he did not “want a bald, middle-aged Englishman” to play the role.
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Englishman → admit → role
He said: “Somewhere in the cellar of Paramount Pictures, there’s a Post-it note which says, ‘I do not want to hear Patrick Stewart’s name mentioned again ever,’ signed Gene Roddenberry.
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Roddenberry → say → Pictures
However, Sir Patrick’s career still excelled in Hollywood and he appeared in the 1990s films, the musical Let It Be Me, romantic comedy Jeffrey, Julia Roberts-starring thriller Conspiracy Theory and animated film The Prince Of Egypt.
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It → excel → Egypt
For a new generation, his Star Trek past was soon forgot as he took on his biggest role on the big screen as the Marvel superhero Professor Charles Xavier in all the first three blockbusters, which began life in 2000.
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which → forget → 2000
He would come back to the series in 2014’s X-Men: Days Of Future Past, 2017’s Logan, 2022’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness and 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine.
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He → come → Madness
After James McAvoy took on a younger role as Professor X, the Scottish actor revealed that Sir Patrick was sent cuttings of his hair when he shaved his head for the part, claiming the late actor keeps it in his safe.
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actor → take → safe
Sir Patrick became an officer of the OBE in 2001.
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Patrick → become → 2001
He appeared opposite Doctor Who actor David Tennant in the televised and play version of Hamlet, taking dual roles as Claudius and the ghost, for which he would be given an Emmy nod.
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he → appear → nod
That same year, Sir Patrick finished a 22-week run of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting For Godot alongside Sir Ian McKellen, who had played his friend turned nemesis Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto in the X-Men film series.
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who → finish → series
The two actors have had a long friendship and Sir Ian previously counselled him not to do science fiction.
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Ian → have → fiction
Sir Patrick received his knighthood for services to drama in 2009, and was knighted by the late Queen in 2010.
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Patrick → receive → 2010
At the time, he said: “It was an unlooked-for honour but as I grew up as a child, falling in love with the theatre and Shakespeare, my heroes were Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Alec Guinness.
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heroes → say → theatre
“The knights of the theatre represented to me not only the pinnacle of the profession but the esteem in which the profession was held.
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profession → represent → which
“And now to find myself, to my astonishment, in that company is the grandest thing that has professionally happened to me.”
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that → find → me
Sir Patrick had a very public row at the 2010 Glamour Awards with comedian and actor James Corden, which resulted in the two exchanging verbal jabs on stage.
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two → have → stage
The veteran actor criticised Corden’s hosting abilities, suggesting he should not look like “you wish you were anywhere but here”, and made several jokes about his weight.
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you → criticise → weight
Corden responded with his own advice, that Sir Patrick should “get on with it”, and later asked for a taxi to be ordered to take “the old man home”.
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taxi → respond → man
The pair have reportedly made up since the incident, and starred in a humorous skit together for the Channel 4 Comedy Gala in which they appeared in a bed together.
uncertain
they → make → bed
A year later, Sir Patrick pledged his support for a campaign calling for a change in the law on assisted dying in the UK through Dignity in Dying, which aims to legalise the choice of assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.
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which → pledge → adults
He said: “We have no control over how we arrive in the world but at the end of a life we should have control over how we leave it.”
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we → say → it
Sir Patrick echoed his thoughts in 2022, telling MSPs to back new legislation in Scotland, saying: “Dying people should not be forced to take drastic measures travelling to another country to take their own life.
“They should have the choice to die at home on their own terms.
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They → echo → terms
In 2012, he returned to the stage to celebrate the 60th anniversary of record-breaking stage show The Mousetrap alongside other actors including Julie Walters, and Tamsin Greig, and a year later married his wife Sunny Ozell, 38 years his junior.
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he → return → wife
Known for his outspoken views, he signed an open letter ahead of the vote on Scottish independence urging the Britain to “stay together” and later during the Brexit vote also tried to dissuade voters against leaving the European Union.
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he → know → Union
In 2015, he returned to his journalism roots by being in US sitcom Blunt Talk as a cable news reporter.
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he → return → reporter
He reunited with Sir Ian again in 2016 on stage for a revival of Harold Pinter’s 1975 play No Man’s Land, and that same year could be seen as white-supremacist Darcy Banker in the horror film Green Room.
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He → reunite → film
Asked whether he had any reservations about playing a villainous role, Sir Patrick told PA: “On the contrary.
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Patrick → ask → contrary
I embraced the contrast as fully as possible.”
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I → embrace → contrast
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
