Patrick Stewart, the English actor best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in *Star Trek: The Next Generation* and Professor Charles Xavier in the *X-Men* films, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles at age 86, according to a statement from his representatives. The statement said he had been living with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. He was with his wife, Sunny.
The family asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations go to the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Fund and the Alzheimer's Foundation of America Caregiver Resources.
Stewart was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1940. He began acting at 12, when his English teacher asked him to read Shylock in *The Merchant of Venice*. He landed his first professional role in 1959. His big break came in his late 40s, when a *TNG* producer heard him lecture on Shakespeare at the University of California, Los Angeles. Ars reports that creator Gene Roddenberry was initially unsure, but Stewart's audition changed his mind.
Stewart told *The Independent* in 2003: "For huge numbers of people, I will always be Jean-Luc Picard, and that's fine. I really believe we created an admirable individual."
Sir Ian McKellen, who co-starred with Stewart in the *X-Men* films, recalled on Instagram that he advised Stewart against the *Star Trek* offer. "Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did," McKellen said.