Culture 3 min read By Morgan Griffin
NASA pays tribute to Patrick Stewart after the Star Trek star’s death at 86
NASA joined a wave of tributes from Hollywood and the Star Trek community after the death of actor Patrick Stewart, who was 86. Colleagues remembered him as a stage and screen giant.
NASA has joined the wave of tributes honoring Patrick Stewart, the actor best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, who died at the age of 86. The space agency’s message stood out among the many statements from the entertainment world, as it reached well beyond the Hollywood circle that has mourned the star.
Tributes have been pouring in from around the globe since the news of Stewart’s death. Friends, co-workers and fans have remembered him for his intelligence, grace and what one Star Trek colleague described as a deep sense of humanity. The Star Trek franchise, where Stewart spent much of his career as the commander of the starship Enterprise, has been at the center of the public response.
Fellow Star Trek captain William Shatner was among the first to publicly mourn him. Writing on social media, Shatner called Stewart “a friend, a colleague, and a magnificent actor,” adding that from the stage to the bridge of the Enterprise, Stewart brought “intelligence, grace, and a deep sense of humanity to everything he did.” Shatner also said that Captain Picard “stood for the best of” what the character represented.
Stewart died on Wednesday, October 28, at his home in Los Angeles, according to reports. His family said in an Instagram post shared the following day that he had undergone “a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.” Born in Yorkshire, England, in 1940, Stewart built a multi-decade career that included extensive stage work with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was knighted for services to drama in 2010.
Among the others paying tribute was Ian McKellen, who starred opposite Stewart in the X-Men films and in numerous stage productions. McKellen wrote that Stewart was defined first by his roots in Yorkshire, the county he loved to the end. He recalled advising Stewart years earlier, when the Star Trek offer arrived, to weigh the risk of being lost in Hollywood against a stage career in Britain. McKellen said Stewart took the risk, to the benefit of Trek fans and of audiences who saw him in cinema hits and in classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller and Beckett.
Hugh Jackman, another X-Men co-star, wrote that he had lost a “tremendous friend” as well as one of the great figures of stage and screen. Comedian Ricky Gervais also posted a tribute, recalling a scene the two shared and praising Stewart’s willingness to take part in it.
Stewart is survived by his wife, Sunny, whom he married in 2013, and by two children. His family asked that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources.
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