Patrick Stewart used to come home from Saturday matinees and find his kids watching a TV show he couldn't name. He was a stage actor in England with a family to support. Then he met Gene Roddenberry, the creator of 'Star Trek,' about leading a new series. The job came with a six-year contract. His friends told him not to worry about six years. They didn't think the show would last one.
Chris Kornelis tells the story in Friday's Journal. Stewart died Wednesday, Oct. 28, at his Los Angeles home at 86, a social-media announcement said. It said he died after a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. He played Jean-Luc Picard from the 1987 premiere of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' to the end of his life. That meant seven seasons and four movies. He returned in 2020 for 'Star Trek: Picard,' a streaming series. Along the way he played Macbeth in London's West End, Scrooge on Broadway and Professor Xavier in the 'X-Men' films.
He almost said no. There was more stage work he wanted to do. One friend told him to go to Hollywood, get a suntan, “make a bit of money for the first time in your life,” and go home. Stewart shared that advice with the Journal in 2022. Things, he said, went a little differently.
Where it started
He was born July 13, 1940, in Mirfield, England, and grew up in a house without indoor plumbing. His mother worked in a textile mill. A teacher named Cecil Dormand gave his class 'The Merchant of Venice' and later cast young Patrick as Joseph in the school Nativity play. Queen Elizabeth II knighted Stewart in 2010. He gave the credit to Dormand, saying he owed him “literally everything.” For years, strangers stopped Stewart to say the show got them through hard stretches. One police officer reached for a 'Next Generation' VHS after hard days on the job.
Our read
Career, with an Estate note. Stewart almost turned down the steady job because of the stage work he already loved. His friends called it a short gig. It became the role of his life, and it didn't end the stage work. In between Picard jobs he still played Macbeth and Scrooge. We see the same choice in a lot of careers. The steady job isn't always the enemy of the work you love. Sometimes it's what makes room for it.
His death followed a dementia diagnosis, and that's the quiet planning point. Dementia care can be one of the most expensive stretches of a long life. The papers that let someone run your money and speak for your care have to be signed while you still can. This week, find your durable power of attorney and your health-care directive. Check that the person named is still the right one, still willing and still reachable. Then ask your bank and brokerage whether they'll accept that power of attorney, since some want their own form. If you don't have these papers yet, put them first on next week's list. Bring them to your next review. You don't pick a first officer in the middle of a storm.