Oh captain, our captain: Ars staff remembers Patrick Stewart

"For huge numbers of people, I will always be Jean-Luc Picard. ...

The short version

• We created an admirable individual."
• Through the actor’s X account , the family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources .
• Stewart worked regularly in theater and on British television, and his big break came in his late 40s.

What happened

The actor was conducting master classes on Shakespeare at the University of California, Los Angeles, when a TV producer developing TNG heard him lecture and thought he would make a perfect captain for the Enterprise-D . Creator Gene Roddenberry wasn’t initially keen on the choice, but Stewart’s audition changed his mind.

Why it matters

On Instagram , fellow thespian Sir Ian McKellen—who first met Stewart when both were young actors with the RSC and co-starred as Magneto in the X-Men films—recalled the day Stewart told him about the Star Trek offer.

Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.