Sir Ian McKellen pens heartfelt tribute to Sir Patrick Stewart after death aged 86
Sir Ian McKellen has remembered his late friend Sir Patrick Stewart after his death aged 86.
Sir Ian McKellen has paid an emotional tribute to his late friend Sir Patrick Stewart.
The 87-year-old star reflected on his longtime bond with his fellow actor, who has died aged 86, following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
In a lengthy Instagram post, McKellen wrote: "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.
"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 Lord of the Rings star recalled how they "first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago", even though they initially didn't appear "in the same productions".
He continued: "My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in 'Star Trek'.
"'But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk—getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?'.
"Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes ('X-Men' of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway."
McKellen reflected on how the US became Stewart's "adopted home", and noted the way his wife Sunny "cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin".
He added: "But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire."
At the end of the tribute, McKellen noted that Stewart would have "his farewell performance" when he returns as X-Men's Professor Charles Xavier in Avengers: Doomsday.
Stewart's death was announced via a post on social media.
His family confirmed that he passed away at his home in Los Angeles, following a battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy Body dementia.
The statement read: "We announce with great sorrow the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart yesterday at his home in Los Angeles, in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy Body dementia.
"He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayers, tears, laughter and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to all of us.
"We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace."
