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Long before he commanded the Starship Enterprise, Patrick Stewart was a young actor from Yorkshire learning his trade on the banks of the Avon. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1966, stayed as a core member for 16 years, and kept coming back long after Star Trek and X-Men had made him one of the most famous faces in the world. Sir Patrick died on 28 October 2026, aged 86. This is his Stratford story.
On this page
At a glance: joined the RSC in 1966 · a core member until 1982 · more than 30 RSC productions · came back to Stratford in 2006, 2008 and 2011 · an Honorary Associate Artist of the RSC. Read our news report of his death.
His RSC years, 1966 to 1982
Stewart arrived as one of Sir Peter Hall’s resident ensemble, playing supporting roles before moving up to the great classical parts. Some of the productions he played in Stratford and with the company in London:
- 1966: the Player King in Hamlet and the Dauphin in Henry V, his first season at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
- 1967: Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew
- 1968: the Duke of Cornwall in King Lear
- 1969: Lantern Leatherhead in Ben Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair, at the Aldwych, the company’s London home
- 1970–71: Launce in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, in Stratford and London
- 1971: Snout in Peter Brook’s famous production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which took him to Broadway for the first time
- 1976: Shakespeare himself, in Edward Bond’s Bingo at The Other Place, the RSC’s small studio theatre on Southern Lane
- 1977–78: Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- 1981: Leontes in The Winter’s Tale at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Along the way he also played Shylock, Henry IV and, twice, Enobarbus in Antony and Cleopatra, the RSC says. Sir Ian McKellen, who led the tributes this week, recalled that the two first met as ambitious young actors at the RSC, although they were never in the same production.
Coming home: 2006 to 2011
By the 2000s he was a global star, but he returned to Stratford again and again.
- 2006, The Tempest: Prospero in Rupert Goold’s production at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, set in the frozen Arctic. Goold remembered this week that the cast rehearsed in a freezer at a Stratford Tesco to get into the mood (WhatsOnStage).
- 2006, Antony and Cleopatra: after playing Enobarbus twice, he finally played Antony, at the Swan Theatre. Gregory Doran, who directed it, said his return felt like a homecoming.
- 2008, Hamlet: Claudius and the Ghost, opposite David Tennant’s Hamlet, at the Courtyard Theatre, the temporary theatre the RSC used while the Royal Shakespeare Theatre was rebuilt.
- 2011, The Merchant of Venice: Shylock, for the RSC, in the newly rebuilt Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
The RSC later made him an Honorary Associate Artist. Its co-artistic directors, Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, said this week that he remained deeply connected to Stratford and the company throughout his career, and called him “a colossus of both stage and screen”.
Beyond Stratford
Born in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, in 1940, he played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 to 1994), four Star Trek films and Star Trek: Picard (2020 to 2023), and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films from 2000. On stage he played Macbeth in London and on Broadway, earning a Tony nomination in 2008, and toured Waiting for Godot and No Man’s Land with McKellen. He was knighted in 2010 for services to drama and published his memoir, Making It So, in 2023.
The theatres where he played, and how to visit them
All three theatres where he played in Stratford are a few minutes’ walk apart along Waterside and Southern Lane. Tap a pin for what he did there first.
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1 Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Waterside
- 1966: his RSC debut, as the Player King in Hamlet and the Dauphin in Henry V
- 1981: Leontes in The Winter's Tale
- 2006: Prospero in Rupert Goold's Arctic Tempest
- 2011: Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, in the rebuilt theatre
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2 Swan Theatre
Waterside, at the west end of the RST
- 2006: Antony in Antony and Cleopatra, after playing Enobarbus twice
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3 The Other Place
Southern Lane
- 1976: Shakespeare himself, in Edward Bond's Bingo, in the original studio theatre
- 2008: Claudius and the Ghost in Hamlet, opposite David Tennant, at the Courtyard Theatre that stood on this site
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre was rebuilt between 2007 and 2010 but kept its 1932 art deco foyer, and its free exhibition tells the story of the company he served for so long.
Our guide to visiting the RSC has tickets, tours, the exhibition, food and parking.
Stratford remembers: share your memory
Did you see him on stage in Stratford, work with him at the RSC, or bump into him in town? We’d love to hear about it. Send your memory below, with a photo if you have one, and we’ll add a selection here with your first name. If you’ve already shared a memory in the Stratford-upon-Avon Forum on Facebook, you’re welcome to send it to us here as well.
I feel so blessed to have seen him on stage. I had recently become a teacher, and my partner (also a teacher) and I had a weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon designed around seeing Sir Patrick Stewart. He was wonderful!
I was only young, maybe 11 or 12, when I heard the deep, bellowing but comforting voice of Sir Patrick Stewart at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre as he played the mighty Prospero. Even now I'm surprised at how his voice travelled across the stage and the seats.
It was magical, the way he commanded our silence through an endearment that only such a talent could create. There are few actors who could do what he did.
Only the day before, I'd seen him laughing with his fellow actors in Stratford. As someone who grew up watching Jean-Luc Picard, seeing him in everyday clothes with a smile the width of his face was quite a sight.
When The Tempest came to an end, I was far too shy to meet him. But I watched from afar as he met his fans with warmth, giving his time after a gruelling play, into the dead of night, to the people who adored him.
Reading the tributes, it's clear how selfless he was despite battling demons from his past, his father being the largest. That early trauma made him the man we now know: a loving, caring and deeply compassionate knight of the realm.
Tributes in Stratford
The RSC published its tribute on 30 October, with memories from Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, Greg Doran and Joseph Millson, who recalls his support in 2006. No book of condolence, memorial or tribute performance in Stratford has been announced yet. We’re watching for news from the RSC and the town, and we’ll add anything here as soon as it’s confirmed. If you’re organising something in his memory, tell us.
Sir Patrick lived with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. If dementia affects your family, our guide to dementia support in Stratford-upon-Avon lists the cafés, clubs, day care and carers’ groups that meet in and around the town, and who to call for help.
Alex Harrington
Alex Harrington grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and runs What's up, Stratford? as an independent guide to the town.
