Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart sharing the stage in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (2013). Two extraordinary actors bringing one of theatre’s most celebrated plays to life.
There was something extraordinary about the way Sir Patrick Stewart could make even the most powerful characters feel profoundly human.
Whether commanding the bridge of the Enterprise or guiding a generation of young mutants, Sir Patrick Stewart brought a tenderness to his characters that made us feel we knew them. Behind that unmistakable voice was an actor who understood that even the greatest heroes could be uncertain, that strength could exist alongside vulnerability, and that compassion was never a weakness.
Over a career spanning more than six decades, his performances became woven into the lives of generations who grew up watching him. As Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Professor Charles Xavier, and so many others, he left us with characters we loved, lessons we carried, and memories we'll always treasure.
SIR PATRICK STEWART (1940-2026)
Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions. My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in 'Star Trek'. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk—getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”. Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes ('X-Men' of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin. But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.
His farewell performance in 'Avengers: Doomsday' is yet to be seen.
Ian McKellen 29 October 2026
Photo: University of Huddersfield
All of us at Marvel Studios are deeply saddened by the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart. Sir Patrick brought Professor Charles Xavier to life with extraordinary grace, intelligence, and humanity, defining the character for generations of fans, from "X-Men" to "Logan" to "Avengers: Doomsday." He was a singular talent, a generous collaborator, and a true gentleman. Our hearts go out to his wife Sunny, his children, his friends, and the countless fans around the world whose lives he touched with his art.
El aeropuerto de Nueva Zelanda es un paraíso para cualquier fan de El Señor de los Anillos.
Debido al éxito de las películas de El Señor de los Anillos y El Hobbit, en 2012 el aeropuerto de Nueva Zelanda acabó convirtiéndose en una especie de puerta a la Tierra Media.
El aeropuerto colaboró con Wētā Workshop, el estudio neozelandés responsable de gran parte de las criaturas, las esculturas y los efectos físicos de las películas, para recibir a los viajeros con figuras gigantescas de la saga.
En el exterior del aeropuerto se colocó una figura enorme de Gollum que medía aproximadamente 6 metros de altura en 2003 y en 2004, un año mas tarde, fue retirada.
8 años después, en el 2012, apareció la primera figura de Gollum colgada del techo del aeropuerto.
Tristemente en el año 2025, retiraron las dos águilas gigantes y a Gandalf para renovar la decoración del aeropuerto.
Pero Smaug sigue en el aeropuerto. Así que todavía queda un recuerdo espectacular de la saga de Tolkien en Wellington con el que los visitantes de Nueva Zelanda todavía pueden sentirse como si entraran en las páginas de Tolkien.