Patrick Stewart biography, nationality, early life, personal life, career, awards, social media

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Early Years

<a href="/biography/patrick-stewart">Sir</a> Patrick Stewart is an English <a href="/biography/patrick-stewart">stage actor</a> whose career, which covers the span of the last fifty years, includes roles on television and in films as well as live performances. Stewart was born in the civil parish of Mirfield, in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England on July 13, 1940. Stewart’s mother’s maiden name was Barrowclough and she was a textile worker and weaver; his father, Alfred Stewart, was in the military. Stewart began acting at the young age of twelve in local drama clubs and was accepted to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School at the age of seventeen. Stewart’s first professional performance was two years later, in 1959, in the repertory theatre in Lincoln. Stewart did a tour around the world with the Old Vic Company in the early 1960’s. Stewart joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 beginning what would become a twenty seven year affiliation with the group.

Television and Film

After receiving the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Olivier_Award_for_Best_Actor_in_a_Supporting_Role">Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role</a> for his performance in Anthony and Cleopatra in London’s West End for his stage work; Stewart began branching out to television and film. Although Stewart had several minor roles in television in the late 1960’s, his first major small screen roles were for the British Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts of “Hedda” and “I, Claudius” miniseries which aired in the mid to late 1970’s. Stewart appeared in many television series appearing as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin">Vladimir Lenin</a> in “Fall of Eagles”, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejanus">Sejanus</a> in “I, Claudius, Karla in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and “Smiley’s People”. Stewart also took minor roles in films playing such characters as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leodegrance">King Leondegrance</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boorman">John Boorman</a>’s “Excalibur”, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurney_Halleck">Gurney Halleck</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch">David Lynch</a>’s film “Dune”, and Dr. Armstrong in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobe_Hooper">Tobe Hooper</a>’s “Lifeforce”.

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Stewart went to Los Angeles, California to star on the American television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in the mid 1980’s. Stewart was initially reluctant to sign a standard six year contract to work on the show but was advised by his agent and others with whom he consulted about the show that it would probably soon fail. Stewart, who knew nothing about the original television show or its iconic status in the United States, agreed to work in Hollywood all the while imagining that he would soon be back at work on the London Stage. Unfortunately for Stewart, the series ran for seven years, from 1987-1994 with Stewart playing the star role of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Picard">Captain</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Picard">Jean-Luc Picard</a>. For his work on the role, TV Guide, in 1993, named Stewart the Best Dramatic Actor of the 1980’s and received a Screen Actors Guild award nomination for “Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. These acclaims are notable being that Stewart was infamously described by the Los Angeles Times as an “unknown British <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare">Shakespearean</a> actor” when he was originally picked to star in the series.

Following the success of the television series, Stewart reprised the character of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Picard">Jean Luc-Picard</a> in the Star Trek films Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).

Unfortunately, the success of the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and its film franchises ended up in Stewart being typecast and made it difficult for studio audiences to see him in other roles. Stewart eventually overcame this typecasting and in the late 1990’s accepted a significant role in the X-Men film series playing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_X">Professor</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_X">Charles Xavier</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_X">founder</a> of the superhero team. Stewart went on to play the role in seven feature films including "X-Men" , "X2,  "X-Men: The Last Stand", "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", "The Wolverine", "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and "Logan".

Charitable Causes

Stewart is known for being outspoken about domestic violence and in 2006, he made a short video for Amnesty International against it. Stewart grew up in a violent home and believes that “it is destructive and tainting.” After learning that it may have been post traumatic stress disorder that perpetuated his father’s violence Stewart became a supporter of the armed forces charity, Combat Stress. Stewart is also a <a href="/biography/patrick-stewart">patron</a> of the United Nations Association-UK. Stewart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996 and was knighted by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II">Queen</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II">Elizabeth</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II">ll</a> for services to drama.

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