So a long time ago, in my college days, not too terribly long after Star Trek: The Next Generation came on the air, I shared a Shakespeare class at UC Santa Barbara with a couple of good fellows. One, named Ray, actually worked just down the street from the comic shop where I was employed, at a stationery store if I recall correctly. The other person was a friend of Ray’s, named Jebediah. Now, Jebediah was a very handsome gentleman, appearing at first glance to be straight-laced and all-business. However, he was prone to saying wild and usually hilarious things, usually at the wrong, or perhaps entirely right, time.
Now I realize even as I’m typing this that what I’m about to mention is the very definition of a “you had to be there” moment, but I promise you, at least Ray and I, who knew Jeb, thought this was amusing. We were in the aforementioned class, watching a perhaps 1970s-ish video of Shakespearean actors demonstrating their performances of many of the Bard’s classic characters. Amongst these actors was a certain Patrick Stewart, as I’m sure you’ve probably already guessed.
When he first appeared onscreen, you could hear a reaction from the class as recognition set in. I’m sure not everyone in the class was necessarily a Star Trek fan, but enough were, and their subdued but still slightly audible reaction was still noticeable.
And it was at this point Jeb shouted out “IT’S CAPTAIN PICARD!” — giving a loud voice to what many in the class were obviously thinking. Which is why he did it, Mike said, explaining the joke. It was a way of loudly poking fun at the class’s shared suppressed impulse. Anyway, Ray and I sure laughed at that, and that memory has stuck with me for nearly 40 years. I wonder where those guys are now?
But there’s no wondering where Sir Patrick Stewart went…I mean, look, he’s got a “Sir” in front of his name, he obviously got up to something ever since making that Shakespeare video we saw in class. The first thing I’m pretty sure I ever saw him in was John Boorman’s Excalibur (1981), a pay-cable favorite back in the early ’80s. In the film, Stewart played King Leodegrance, seen here kicking ass and taking names:
Now, when I was watching it on HBO back then, I didn’t clock his performance or anything, thinking “I’d better keep an eye on this…Pat Steward person, he’s something else.” He was just part of the wonderful melange of folks who comprised this still-a-favorite-of-mine flick. But I’d certainly recognize him when I’d return to the film after seeing his next project.
When I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s premiere in 1987, I’m sure I didn’t realize I’d seen the actor playing Captain Picard before. I had seen some…worries, here and there, in the fan press when the show was first announced, wondering if this guy would be a good captain, but that felt like it was more about the general worry about there being a new Star Trek at all, more than anything specifically aimed at Stewart.
Once the first story of this new show aired…well, okay, maybe overall there were still some bugs to work out, but there was no denying that Captain Picard was given a definite commanding presence by Stewart’s performance. As the series progressed, and a little more nuance was baked into the character, it became clear that this new captain was a new breed of leader apart from Captain Kirk, who had come before. The arguments of who would “win in a fight” would pop up now and again, with fans clearly identifying the differences between these two captains. While Picard was perhaps more cerebral a leader than the action-oriented Kirk, despite how this cover portrays him:
…it was clearly understood that he’d be a significant challenge for ol’ James. T. (Also, Picard would totally win.)
Since then I’ve of course encountered Stewart’s excellent work in many other places, most notably in the 1970s BBC mini-series I, Claudius (and you can hear an interview with him about that show on this episode of John Hodgman and Elliot Kalan’s I, Podius). He made for an excellent (or dare I say…”X-cellent”) Professor X in the X-Men films, and in the amazing Logan, with one more turn at the character coming in Avengers: Doomsday. I even have a soft spot for his filmed version of A Christmas Carol, where, at the end of the movie, when Scrooge lets out his laughter, it’s one of the most visceral things ever put to film. (This was inspired by Stewart’s acclaimed solo stage performances of the Charles Dickens story.)
If you have the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack album, you have the introductory and closing segments narrated by Stewart, not used in the actual movie much to its detriment.
If you look here on TikTok, you’ll see the man doing enjoyable readings.
Plus, if you want to see him just being absolutely overjoyed to be doing something naughty on television, please enjoy this Saturday Night Live skit.
Frankly, you don’t have to look far to find something wonderful Stewart got up to. I mean, just his relationship with his best pal Sir Ian McKellen is a delight.
We definitely lost one of the greats with his passing. I know Star Trek isn’t the only thing he did, but boy, can you imagine a world without his Captain Picard in it? A character who embodied thoughtful, compassionate leadership while still being strong as steel. It takes a certain type of person to inhabit that role, and did Sir Patrick Stewart ever. He gave us a literal icon who not just entertained, but inspired, and brought comfort, hope and an impetus to action for countless people, in character and out. That feels like a pretty good legacy to me.
Rest well, Sir Patrick.
I regularly rewatch “Lifeforce”, and I still can’t remember if he wears a toupee or not.
So sad! I find myself tearing up at lovely obituaries for him like this one. He and The Next Generation were such an important part of my youth.
The thing people — possibly fans, but probably just producers — found to fault Stewart for when he took the role of Captain Picard was his baldness. So strange to think that was an issue back in the ’80s when it’s so commonly accepted now.
Now that I’m thinking about it, Stewart *not* wearing a hairpiece on TNG helped me accept my early hair loss. I wonder how much of an effect he had on the culture in that way, generally.
In any case, RIP to one of the greats.
I loved Star Trek as a kid. When Next Gen came along, I was a very skeptical 10 year-old. I didn’t care for it at first- the premiere was boring, and the next episode I saw was the one in which Wesley is almost put to death on the planet of toga-wearing hedonists. I didn’t try again until a year later, when I was treated to the story of the crew trapped in a recreation of a cheesy paperback hotel.
I warmed to the series eventually, and caught “Q Who” and “Measure of a Man.” The latter was well-done all around, but Patrick Stewart’s performance was outstanding. By the time we got to “Best of Both Worlds,” I was a regular watcher, and looked forward to Picard putting everyone on the correct path to victory and enlightenment week after week.
I’m glad Stewart got to have a rich career, and was able to do some personal projects in between Trek and X-Men movies. RIP to one of the greatest!
An unforgettable actor of both high and pop culture, as well as by all accounts a profoundly wise and decent man.
His was the first onscreen portrayal of Gurney Halleck, too. Was there a Marvel Super Special for Dune ’84?
You might also have seen Patrick Stewart in Lynch’s Dune, before you saw him in TNG.
WHAT IS WITH THIS YEAR???
“Was there a Marvel Super Special for Dune ’84?”
Yes, there was a magazine size special, as well as a limited series movie adaptation, as Marvel liked to do BOTH back then.
Not as cool as their BLADE RUNNER adaptation, but certainly cool. I bought one for somebody I know, but read it before I gave it to them, of course.
“I didn’t care for it at first- the premiere was boring, and the next episode I saw was the one in which Wesley is almost put to death on the planet of toga-wearing hedonists”
It REALLY wasn’t a truly good show until about Season 3. I still watched it, I was just so happy for NEW TREK. I was older when each successive series showed up, and I did NOT give Voyager the same grace. That show did NOT get better, and I actually stopped watching.
“the crew trapped in a recreation of a cheesy paperback hotel”
I kind-of liked that one. more could have been done with that idea, certainly.