Sir Patrick Stewart
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I first met Patrick Stewart at the London Film and Comic Convention held at Earls Court in September 2007. He was amazingly busy, but he signed a photograph for me, and also my very rare Star Trek Monopoly.
I met him again in May 2010 at the Collectormania event held at the MK Dons stadium in Milton Keynes. I had my photograph taken with him and he later signed a
Patrick and older brother Trevor in 1944
Patrick Hewes Stewart, the youngest of three brothers, was born in 1940, at 17 Camm Lane in Mirfield, near Dewsbury in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His father, Alfred, was a Regimeta
said, "Thank you very much," as I shook his hand.
Patrick Stewart's birthplace in Mirfield
Regimental Sergeant Major with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and his mother worked in a local textile mill. Patrick acquired a love of literature from an early age, when his older brothers read to him from the few books they had in the house.
This interest continued at Crowlees Junior school, and later at the new Mirfield Secondary Modern school, where his English teacher, Cecil Dormand, actively encouraged Patrick's interest in theatre after hearing him read passages from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. It was tha
Cecil Dormand
work as a junior reporter for the local newspaper but that didn't last long as he spent more and more time with drama groups. Patrick eventually auditioned, and was accepted for the Bristol Old Vic theatre school, where he spent the next two years, during which time he lost, not only his broad Yorkshire accent, but nearly all of his hair to premature baldness. Patrick's professional stage
aged 11
thanks to Dormand that the 12 year old was offered a place on an eight day drama course that focused his mind on wanting to become a professional actor. After the course, he threw himself into amateur dramatics, which he continued after leaving school at 15. He started to
stage debut in 1959 was at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln, playing Morgan in a stage adaption of Treasure Island.
Stewart in 1976 as Larry Slade in
The Ice Man Cometh
After several years working for various repertory companies, he achieved his dream of working for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and in 1967 became an associate artist. Patrick Stewart worked f
Patrick Stewart as Sejan in I Claudius
Stewart as Lenin in Fall of Eagles
for the RSC for the next 20 years, developing into one of Brita
Britain's finest classical actors.
Apart from his stage work, Patrick began to be seen in TV plays during the 1970s and 80s. Productions included Fall of Eagles (1974) in which he played Lenin; I Claudius (1976), and the adaptations of two John Le Carre novels Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979) and Smiley's People (1982). He played Claudius in the BBC's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1980) and, in complete contrast, 21 episodes of the hospital series Maybury (1981-83) in which he played the consultant Dr Edward Roebuck.
Patrick Stewart as Dr Jonas
in Conspiracy Theory
Patrick Stewart & Sir Alec Guinness in
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
In the early 80s, Patrick Stewart began to be seen on the big screen, appearing in films like the fantasy Excalibur (1981); the sci-fi adventure Dune (1984) and the horror thriller Lifeforce (1985).
Patrick Stewart as Dr Armstrong
Patrick Stewart as Claudius in
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Stewart as Leodegrance in Excalibur
Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck in Dune
During his time with the RSC, Patrick Stewart along with other British actors, often visited American Colleges to try and improve the way Shakespeare was taught in the US. It was on such a visit in 1986
1986, that Stewart met Robert Justman, one of the Star Trek
in Lifeforce
The Next Generation series was in the planning stages, with the Captain's role proving a difficult one to cast. Justman wanted Stewart for the part, but executive producer Gene Roddenbury wasn't convinced. Months passed and many actors were interviewed but, with time running out, Roddenbury finally gave in and Stewart was given the part of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a role that would see him in 176 episodes of Star Trek:The Next Generation over seven years, from 1987 to 1994.
Trek producers.
Patrick Stewart has signed this photo to me. It shows him
as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek
Patrick Stewart & Marina Sirtis in Star Trek
In order to avoid typecasting, Stewart developed his highly acclaimed one-man adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which he performed in 1991, 1992, 1994 & 1996 in NewYork, and various other locations throughout the USA. Stewart also performed this tour-de-force of stage acting, in London in 1993.
Other small parts like Mr Perdue in L.A.Story (1991) and King
Patrick Stewart as King Richard in
Stewart as Mr Purdy the Head Waiter
in L.A.Story
Patrick Stewart in A Christmas Carol
King Richard in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) were fitted into his enormous Star Trek schedule, and showed his versatility as an actor. Lat
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
Later film roles included Sterling in the Gay comedy Jeffrey (1995); the Oscar nominated Star Trek: First Contact (1996); Dr Jonas in Conspiracy Theory (1997) and yet more Captain Picard in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). He also starred as Professor Charles Xavier in the award-winning sci-fi thriller X-Men (2000) and their sequels X2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
Patrick Stewart as Sterling
in Jeffrey
Another TV production at this time was the adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear as a western, King of Texas (2002) with Patrick Stewart as John Lear.
Roy Scheider & Patrick Stewart in
King of Texas
Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier in
X-Men: The Last Stand
Since 2000, most of Patrick Stewart's film & TV involvement has taken the form
form of voice work and narration for over 25 different productions including a number of Star Trek video games. He also voiced (and resembles!) the character of CIA chief Avery Bullock in 36 episodes of the cartoon series American Dad (2005-10).
Avery Bullock character in American Dad
Patrick Stewart voicing Winters in
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
However, it is in live theatre that Patrick Stewart continues to excel. He performs his Christmas Carol on a regular basis, and in 2006 he returned to
to the Royal Shakespeare Company for the first time in 25 years, starring in Antony and Cleopatra and The Tempest which played at Stratford-upon-Avon, Ann Arbor in Michigan, New
In two modern Shakespearian productions at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2007 Stewart starred in the title role in Macbeth (set in the 1950s!) and as Malvolio in the comedy Twelth Night. 2008 saw him win an Olivier Award for his Stratford performance playing both Claudius and The Ghost in Hamlet, which starred David Tennant in the title role.
Newcastle, and London's West End.
His many previous stage successes included Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in London in 1986 and Minneapolis in 2001, Johnson Over Jordan in Leeds in 2001 and The Caretaker in New York in 2003.
Stewart & Kate Fleetwood in Macbeth
As Antony in Antony and Cleopatra
As Davies in The Caretaker
Patrick Stewart as George in
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
As Malvolio in Twelth Night
Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellan in Waiting for Godot
During the summer of 2009, Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen starred in a sell-out West End run of Samuel Beckett's tragicomedy Waiting for Godot, before it went on a regional tour of seven English theatres.
Click here for the full list of Patrick Stewart's stage work since 1958.
Patrick Stewart married his first wife, Sheila Falconer, in 1966 and they had two children, Daniel and Sophie. After a divorce in 1990, Stewart married Wendy Neuss, an American film producer, in 2000 but they divorced three years later.
Stewart was made Chancellor of Huddersfield University in 2004, and is also their Professor of Performing Arts. He is also a lifelong supporter of Huddersfield Town footba
football team.
Patrick Stewart and his son Daniel talk football
with Martin Chivers at the MK Dons stadium
Patrick Stewart in his robes as Chancellor
of Huddersfield University
Stewart is also a Patron of the UK charity Refuge, which helps women and children who suffer domestic violence. In an article for the Guardian newspaper in 20
2009, he talked about the violence that his mother received at the hands of his father.
In 2001, Stewart was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Millennium Honours list for services to acting and the cinema, and in the 2010 New Year's Honours becam
became a Knight Bachelor for services to drama. He was knighted at Buckingham Palace by the Queen on 2nd June 201
Patrick Stewart is a patron of the charity Refuge
2010. Stewart said that he owed "literally everything" to his English teacher, Cecil Dormand, who first encouraged him to perform. Al
"Although many people in my life have had great influence on
Sir Patrick Stewart
Stewart receives his knighthood
Patrick Stewart has signed this photo for me
My Star Trek Monopoly has been signed by Patrick Stewart and also by
Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn & Denise Crosby
VIDEO
Patrick Stewart as Shakespeare
in Bingo
on me, without this man none of it would have happened."
a 10x8 photograph for me. I told him what a great pleasure it was to meet one of our finest stage actors, to which he gave me a broad smile and