Patrick Stewart, legendary actor of ‘Star Trek’ and ‘X-Men’ fame, dies at 86

Patrick Stewart, the classically trained actor who added Shakespearean gravitas to the “Star Trek” and “X-Men” franchises, has died. He was 86. Stewart died Wednesday in Los Angeles, following “a brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer s disease and Lewy Body Dementia, spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak said. Stewart’s diagnoses had not been previously disclosed. While best known as Professor Charles Xavier and Captain Jean-Luc Picard from the “X-Men” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” series and films, respectively, Stewart spent more of his career onstage than in the X-Mansion or on the USS Enterprise. Besides playing everyone from Claudius to Macbeth, he often performed a one-man rendition of “A Christmas Carol” and did West End and Broadway runs of Harold Pinter s “No Man s Land” and Samuel Beckett s “Waiting for Godot” in repertoire with buddy Ian McKellen. He achieved some of the best reviews of his career when he finally tackled Macbeth for the first time. The production, under