Patrick Stewart OBE (born July 13, 1940) is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated English film, television and stage actor. He is also Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. Stewart has had a distinguished career in theatre for nearly fifty years, including performances as various characters in Shakespearean productions. However, he is most famous for his roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and as Professor Xavier in the X-Men film franchise. ...show more

Patrick Stewart OBE (born July 13, 1940) is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated English film, television and stage actor. He is also Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. Stewart has had a distinguished career in theatre for nearly fifty years, including performances as various characters in Shakespearean productions. However, he is most famous for his roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and as Professor Xavier in the X-Men film franchise.

Stewart was born in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, England. His first appearance on stage was at a local outdoor history pageant as Tom of Towngate when he was 9.[citation needed] At the age of 12, he entered the local secondary modern school where he continued to study drama. He has said that "the greatest thing that ever happened to me" was after he read Shylock aloud in front of his class and his teacher told him, "Stewart, you're good at this. You should do it for a living."[citation needed] At age 15, Patrick dropped out of school and increased his participation in local theatre.

He acquired a job as a newspaper reporter, but after a year, his employer gave him an ultimatum to choose acting or journalism. He quit the job. His brother tells the story that Stewart would attend rehearsals during work time and then invent the stories he reported. Supposedly, this caught up with him the night of a large fire of which, when questioned by his boss, he knew nothing about.[ At 16 he was a furniture salesman. ...show less