Patrick Stewart Biography
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Patrick Stewart, OBE, (born July 13, 1940
in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England) is an English film, television, and
stage actor and Chancellor of Huddersfield University . Throughout his
career, he has performed various characters in Shakespearean
productions. However, he is best known to the public at large for his
roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and
as Professor Xavier in X-Men, X2 and the upcoming third installment X3.
He has led a distinguished career in the theatre for nearly fifty years.
His bald head and classically trained vocal mannerisms are his most
recognised traits.
****
Biography
His first appearance on stage was at a
local outdoor history pageant as Tom of Towngate when he was nine years
old. At the age of 12, he entered the local secondary modern school
where he continued to study drama. He has said that "the greatest thing
that ever happened to me" was after he read Shylock aloud in front of
his class and his teacher told him, "Stewart, you're good at this. You
should do it for a living."
At 15, he dropped out of school and
increased his participation in local theatre. He acquired a job as a
newspaper reporter, but after a year, his employer gave him an ultimatum
to choose acting or journalism. He quit the job. His brother tells the
story that Stewart would attend rehearsals during work time and then
invent the stories he reported. Supposedly, this caught up with him the
night of a large fire of which, when questioned by his boss, he knew
nothing about.
At 16 he was a furniture salesman, and in
1957 at the age of 17, he embarked on a two-year acting course at
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He lost most of his hair by the age of
19 (alopecia runs in his family), but he successfully sold himself to
theatre producers, after performing an audition with and without a wig,
as "two actors for the price of one!". In 1964 he met the Old Vic's
choreographer Sheila Falconer and they married on March 4, 1966. They
had two children, Daniel Freedom Stewart and Sophie Alexandra Stewart,
and divorced in 1990.1
Following a period with the Manchester
Library Theatre, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 where
he appeared next to actors such as Ben Kingsley and Ian Richardson — and
even played on the company's football (soccer) team. He then moved to
the Royal National Theatre in the early 1980s. Over the years, Stewart
took roles in many major television series without ever becoming a
household name. He appeared as Sejanus in I, Claudius; Karla in Tinker,
Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People; Claudius in a 1980 BBC
adaptation of Hamlet and took the romantic male lead in the BBC
adaptation of Mrs Gaskell's North and South (wearing a hairpiece).
Diehard fans will recognize him in a minor
role as King Leondegrance in John Boorman's Excalibur (1981). He played
the character Gurney Halleck in David Lynch's 1984 film version of Dune.
Much of his part was cut from the original release of the film due to
editing made to make the immensely long film shorter. Much of this
footage was restored for the Fox Television broadcast of the film.
In 1987, after doing a Shakespeare Seminar
at UCSB, Stewart went to Los Angeles to star as Captain Jean-Luc Picard
in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994). From 1994 he also
portrayed Picard in the movie spin-offs Star Trek: Generations (1994),
Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). In 1997 he was engaged to Wendy Neuss,
production assistant of Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001). They married on
August 25, 2000, only to later divorce on October 14, 2003. His life was
substantially changed by Star Trek, and he has been quoted as saying:
It was almost entirely a blessing. It
introduced me to a world I never expected to be a part of — celebrity,
fame, financial success. It also gave me the chance to work with the
finest group of people I've ever known.
Stewart has also said he is very proud of
his work on Star Trek: TNG, for its social message and educational
impact on young viewers. On being questioned about the significance of
his role compared to his distinguished Shakespearean career, Stewart has
said:
One day, out of irritation, I said, you
know all of those years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, all those
years of playing kings and princes and speaking blank verse, and
bestriding the landscape of England was nothing but a preparation for
sitting in the captain's chair of the Enterprise.
The accolades included being called the
"Sexiest Man on Television" (TV Guide, 1992), which he considered an
unusual distinction considering his age and his baldness. In an
interview with Michael Parkinson, he expressed gratitude for Gene
Roddenberry's riposte to a reporter who said, "Surely they would have
cured baldness by the 24th century," to which Roddenberry replied, "In
the 24th Century, they wouldn't care." A few years later, he described
an event connected with his natural loss of hair whilst a guest of
Jonathan Ross's talk show, whereby he had a last patch of hair that
looked so out of place that while visiting friends his hosts actually
held him back and cut off the offending lock. He also narrated the book
The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis for Harper Audio.
Stewart had said after the failure of the
latest film, another Star Trek: Next Generation film would be unlikely.
In December, 2005, Stewart disclosed that talks are in the process for
another Star Trek film, and that after his fulfilling his previous
commitments, he would be open to the possibility of reprising his role
as Jean Luc Picard. On April 20, 2006, a new Star Trek movie was
announced by Paramount (Star Trek XI). However, it is to be set in
during the period in which Kirk and Spock are at Starfleet Academy, and
thus likely wouldn't include the character of Jean Luc Picard.
In 1991, he performed his one-man-play
adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in which he performed
the roles of all of the 40-plus characters himself. His radiant energy
and marvellous performance was repeated the following year in 1992 and
then 1993, 1994, 1996 and then again, for the benefit of survivors and
victims' families in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Stewart performed
the play again for a 23-day run in London's West End in December 2005.
For his performances in this play, he has received the Drama Desk Award
for Best Solo Performance in 1992 and the Laurence Olivier Award for
Best Entertainment for Solo Performance in 1994. 1997 would see Patrick
invert Shakespeare's Othello. Originally a play about a black African
entering a white Society, Patrick had wanted to play the title role
since the age of 14, so he (along with director Jude Kelly), inverted
the play so Othello became a White man in a Black Society. In 1998, he
performed Prospero in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, on Broadway, in
New York City.
He has played a great range of characters,
from the flamboyantly gay Sterling in the 1995 film Jeffrey to King
Henry II in Lion in Winter (2003) and Captain Ahab in Moby Dick.
Stewart has also starred in X-Men and X2 as
Charles Xavier and the films' success has appeared to have resulted in
another lucrative regular role in the burgeoning superhero film series.
A third installment is coming underway scheduled for a May 2006 release.
Most recently, he has signed up to play the
role of Professor Ian Hood, the lead character in the forthcoming ITV
science-fiction thriller series Eleventh Hour, created by Stephen
Gallagher. The first episode was broadcast on January 19, 2006.
Stewart also, notably, appeared in Ricky
Gervais's television series Extras, as a last-minute replacement for
Jude Law.
In late 2003, during the eleventh and final
season of NBC's Frasier, Stewart appeared on the show as a gay Seattle
socialite who mistakes Frasier for a potential lover.
Although he has had a tremendous amount of
success doing films, he prefers theatre. He told reporters that "Ingmar
Bergman was once asked which he preferred and said, 'I love making
movies, but the theatre is my life.' That exactly sums it up for me,
too."
Stewart is currently the Chancellor of the
University of Huddersfield. He is probably the most famous supporter of
Huddersfield Town Football Club, following in the footsteps of former
British Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Stewart is a lifelong
supporter of the British Labour Party.
Stewart was made an Officer of the Order of
the British Empire (OBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours list.
Stewart was at one time considered for the
role of Willy Wonka in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to
which he (like the rest of Hollywood) had great interest in playing. But
his reason for wanting it is because he always loves playing characters
from books.
Voice acting
Stewart has lent his recognizable voice to
a number of projects. He has narrated recordings of Prokofiev's Peter
and the Wolf, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle
(part of the series The Chronicles of Narnia), and Rick Wakeman's Return
to the Centre of the Earth, as well as numerous TV programs such as High
Spirits with Shirley Ghostman.
He also was a voice actor on several
animated films — including The Prince of Egypt, Jimmy Neutron: Boy
Genius, Chicken Little, The Pagemaster, and the English dubbings of the
Japanese anime films Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Steamboy —
and voiced the pig Napoleon in a TV adaptation of George Orwell's Animal
Farm as well as CIA Deputy Director Avery Bullock (lending his likeness
as well as his voice) on the animated series American Dad and guest
starred in the Simpsons episode "Homer the Great".
In addition to voicing his characters from
Star Trek and X-Men in several related computer and video games, Stewart
also worked as a voice actor on games unrelated to both franchises, such
as Lands of Lore, Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, and The Elder Scrolls
IV: Oblivion. In 2005, Stewart voiced Bambi's father, The Great Prince
of the Forest in Disney's direct-to-video sequel, Bambi II.
Filmography
Year Title Role Other notes
1974 Antony and Cleopatra Enobarbus
Made-for-TV movie
1974 Fall of Eagles Lenin TV miniseries
1974 The Gathering Storm Clement Atlee
Made-for-TV movie
1975 Hedda Ejlert Løvborg
1975 Hennessy Tilney
1975 North and South John Thornton
Made-for-TV movie
1976 The Madness Largo Caballero
Made-for-TV movie
1976 I, Claudius Sejanus TV miniseries
1978 When the Actors Come Janos Made-for-TV
movie
1979 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Karla TV
miniseries
1980 Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Claudius
Made-for-TV movie
1980 Little Lord Fauntleroy Wilkins
1981 Excalibur Leondegrance
1981 Maybury Dr. Edward Roebuck TV
miniseries
1982 Smiley's People Karla TV miniseries
1982 The Plague Dogs Major (voice)
1984 Uindii Mr. Duffner
1984 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Lord Yupa (voice) 2005 Disney release
1984 Pope John Paul II: The Movie Wladislaw
Gomulka Made-for-TV movie
1984 Dune Gurney Halleck
1985 Lifeforce Dr. Armstrong
1985 Wild Geese II Russian General
1985 Code Name: Emerald Colonel Peters
1985 The Doctor and the Devils Prof.
Macklin
1986 Lady Jane Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk
1987 The Devil's Disciple Reverend Anderson
Made-for-TV movie
1987 Star Trek: The Next Generation Captain
Jean-Luc Picard Television series (1987–1994)
1991 L.A. Story Mr. Perdue, Maitre D' at
L'Idiot
1993 The Nightmare Before Christmas
(soundtrack voice)
1993 Death Train Malcolm Philpott
Made-for-TV movie
1993 Robin Hood: Men in Tights King
Richard
1994 Gunmen Loomis
1994 In Search of Dr. Seuss Sergeant
Mulvaney Made-for-TV movie
1994 Star Trek: Generations Captain
Jean-Luc Picard
1994 The Pagemaster Adventure (voice)
1995 Jeffrey Sterling
1995 Let It Be Me John
1996 The Canterville Ghost Sir Simon de
Canterville Made-for-TV movie
1996 Star Trek: First Contact Captain
Jean-Luc Picard
1997 Conspiracy Theory Dr. Jonas
1997 Masterminds Rafe Bentley
1998 Moby Dick Captain Ahab Made-for-TV
movie
1998 Dad Savage Dad Savage
1998 Safe House Mace Sowell Made-for-Cable
movie (Showtime)
1998 Star Trek: Insurrection Captain
Jean-Luc Picard
1998 The Prince of Egypt Pharaoh Seti I
(voice)
1999 Animal Farm Napoleon (voice)
Made-for-TV movie
1999 A Christmas Carol Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge
Made-for-TV movie
2000 X-MEN Professor Charles Xavier
2001 Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius King Goobot
(voice)
2002 King of Texas John Lear Made-for-TV
movie
2002 Star Trek: Nemesis Captain Jean-Luc
Picard
2003 X2: X-MEN UNITED Professor Charles
Xavier
2003 The Lion in Winter King Henry II
Made-for-TV movie
2004 Back to Gaya Albert Drollinger
(voice)
2004 Steamboy Dr. Lloyd Steam (voice)
2005 Eleventh Hour Professor Ian Hood TV
miniseries
2005 The Game of Their Lives old Dent
McSkimming
2005 Mysterious Island Nemo TV miniseries
2005 Chicken Little Mr. Woolensworth
(voice)
2005 Family Guy Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Television series
2005 American Dad Deputy Director Avery
Bullock (voice) Television series (2005–present)
2006 Bambi II Great Prince of the Forest
2006 X-MEN: The Last Stand Professor
Charles Xavier
****
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Date Article Copied:
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