Sir Patrick Stewart, the actor whose stage and screen career spanned more than six decades, died Wednesday at 86, his spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak said.
Bush Novak said Stewart died after what she described as a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. In a statement, she said he was surrounded by family and friends, live music, prayer, tears and laughter, and that they would remember the peaceful expression he retained.
His work took him from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre to the USS Enterprise. For racing fans, another part of his legacy was his enthusiasm for cars and racing, which he explored in a film about Sir Stirling Moss.
Moss, who died in 2020, is remembered as perhaps the greatest driver never to win a Formula 1 world championship. Stewart regarded him as a childhood hero. In the hour-long documentary, Stewart, then 72, entered the Silverstone Classic Celebrity event with a newly acquired racing license and drove some of the cars Moss had taken to victory, seeking a closer understanding of the driver.
The film combined archival footage of Moss's career with conversations between the two men and appearances by other figures, including Murray Walker. Stewart's evident joy in sharing time with Moss is a central part of the documentary.
Stewart leaves a body of work that made him widely known, along with a quieter reputation among motorsport followers as a fan who turned admiration into a personal project.