English actor Sir Patrick Stewart was born 83 years ago in Mirfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, is married and has 2 children.
As a kid, he first went to a junior school, where he was encouraged by his English teacher to take drama lessons. He proceeded to secondary school when he was 11 years old where he continued studying drama. Four years later, he left school and frequently attended the local theatre and got a job as a newspaper reporter/obituary writer. After just a year, however, Patrick quit to pursue an acting career and also took boxing lessons. He later obtained a grant to attend a theatre school.
In 1959, Patrick gave his first professional theatrical performance in the play ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’. Seven years later, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and remained a member for 16 years. He then was offered a role in the famous soap opera ‘Coronation Street’ and in the next 2 decades starred in numerous movies, both in significant and minor roles, plus acting in several TV series. These include ‘Fall of Eagles’, ‘I, Claudius’, ‘North and South’, ‘Dune’ and ‘Lady Jane’.
In 1987, Stewart was offered to star in the popular Sci-Fi series ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. Although he was not particularly keen on this film genre and was quite sceptical about the series’ success, he agreed to take the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. At first he felt awkward to mingle with his colleagues but soon they became close friends and realised how dedicated and professional he was in his work.
Patrick was pleasantly surprised with the series success and soon became unexpectedly famous. After the series ended, between 1994 and 2002, he reprised his ‘Picard’ role in the 5 Star Trek films ‘Star Trek Generations’, ‘Star Trek: Contact’, ‘Star Trek: Insurrection’, Star Trek: Nemesis’ and ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’.
From the 90s to date, Stewart appeared in numerous other films, both on the big and on the small screen, like the ‘X-Men’ film series, TV series, documentaries, sitcoms etc. In addition, after a long absence, he returned to performing in several theatrical plays as well. He also lent his voice to many animated movies such as ‘The Prince of Egypt’, ‘Chicken Little’, ‘Animal Farm’, ‘American Dad!’ and ‘Bambi II’.
During his +60-year career, Patrick received 8 awards, including a Grammy and 2 Olivier. In 1996, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in 2001 was appointed Office of the Order of the British Empire and in 2010 was given the title of Knight Bachelor. Steward is also an avid philanthropist and supports several charitable institutions.
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