Patrick Stewart Death | Ian McKellen Remembers Their 50-Year Friendship: ‘He Wore His Heart On His Sleeve’

Legendary Hollywood actor Patrick Stewart breathed his last at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86. His longtime friend and former X-Men co-star Ian McKellen paid a moving tribute to Stewart, highlighting his contributions to theatre, cinema, and remembered him for his Yorkshire roots.

Stewart died on Wednesday (October 29, 2026). He was battling Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy Body Dementia. His wife, Sunny Ozell, was by his side at the time of death.

Ian McKellen pays tribute to Patrick Stewart

The death of Patrick Stewart has led to a flood of tributes on social media, including from Marvel Studios and his colleagues. Stewart was best known for his role as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films.

McKellen, 87, shared a lengthy post on his Instagram handle, reflecting on their friendship, which spanned over five decades.

“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 and added, “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 (sic).”

McKellen also wrote that Stewart “wore his heart on his sleeve”, which made him a man to “rely on, to admire and in my case, love.”

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart's friendship

In the same post, McKellen recalled meeting Stewart when they were both “ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago”.

“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’,” McKellen wrote.

He also said that he reminded Stewart of his ‘stage career’ in the UK and the possibility of “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 (sic),” McKellen wrote, praising his legacy.

They worked together in Bryan Singer's X-Men, where Stewart played Professor Charles Xavier, and McKellen played Magneto. They reprised their roles in several films, including X2, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past. 

Patrick Stewart's last performance will be in Avengers: Doomsday, which will hit the screens in December.