Ian McKellen Pays Tribute to Patrick Stewart: 'A Man to Love' Who Took the Star Trek Risk Anyway
Ian McKellen, who played Magneto opposite Patrick Stewart's Professor X in the X-Men films, paid tribute to his friend of half a century on Instagram on Thursday, after Stewart died at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday at the age of 86.
'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,' McKellen wrote. '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.'
The two first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago. McKellen recalled learning that Stewart had been offered the leading part in Star Trek and urging him to 'think of your stage career in the UK,' asking whether he really wanted to risk 'getting lost in Hollywood for years and years.' Stewart took the risk anyway. 'Thank goodness for us all that he did,' McKellen wrote, calling Stewart 'the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic' and noting that Stewart considered his appointment as Emeritus Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield his 'proudest achievement.'
Their friendship ran deeper still: when Stewart married singer Sunny Ozell in 2013, McKellen performed the ceremony. In his 2023 memoir Making It So, Stewart revealed that McKellen had almost bodily prevented him from signing the Star Trek contract: 'No! No, you must not do that. You have too much important theater work to do. You can't throw that away to do TV.'
Marvel Studios also paid tribute, saying Stewart brought 'a gravitas and profundity' to Professor X for more than 25 years, 'earning fans across the globe and helping to transform Super Hero storytelling forever.' Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine opposite Stewart, called him 'one of the greats of stage and screen today,' adding: 'I learned so much from him. I will miss you, Patrick Stewart, all of my days.'
Stewart died in the loving care of his wife, Sunny Ozell, following a brief battle with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Patrick Stewart 2023年10月出席 Royal Festival Hall 活动（资料照片）。Raph_PH 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Patrick Stewart at the Royal Festival Hall in October 2023 (file photo). Photo by Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-29Patrick Stewart, Star Trek's Captain Picard and X-Men's Professor X, Dies at 86: Actor Passed Away October 28 at His Los Angeles Home
- 2026-10-31Ian McKellen Pays Tribute to Patrick Stewart: 'A Man to Love' Who Took the Star Trek Risk AnywayThis story
