Patrick Stewart

Sir Patrick Stewart was born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, to Gladys (Barrowclough), a textile worker and weaver, and Alfred Stewart, who served in the army. He joined local drama groups around age twelve, left school at fifteen to work as a junior reporter on a local newspaper, and quit after his editor complained that he spent too much time at the theatre. Stewart then worked for a year as a furniture salesman, saving money to attend drama school, and was accepted by Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1957. He made his professional debut in 1959 with the repertory theatre in Lincoln, later performed at Manchester Library Theatre, and toured worldwide with the Old Vic Company in the early 1960s. Stewart joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, beginning a twenty‑seven‑year association, and after a period with the Royal National Theatre in the mid‑1980s he moved to Los Angeles, California, to star as Captain Jean‑Luc Picard on *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (1987–1994). Following the series, he reprised the role in the films *Star Trek: Generations* (1994), *Star Trek: First Contact* (1996), *Star Trek: Insurrection* (1998) and *Star Trek: Nemesis* (2002). Stewart continues to work on stage and in various films and was appointed a Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2010 Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for services to drama.