LONDON (AP) — Before he captained the Starship Enterprise, Patrick Stewart commanded the Shakespearean stage.

And it was the stage to which he returned time and again, even after “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “X-Men” made him a Hollywood star.

The theater was where Stewart felt at home, and where he could fill an auditorium with his sonorous voice, tinged with a warm Yorkshire burr.

Stewart spent a decade and a half with the Royal Shakespeare Company, whose former artistic director, Gregory Doran, remembered him as “a true Shakespearean” and “a theater actor in his bones.” In later life, he formed a memorable double act with his friend Ian McKellen, who called Stewart “the most respected and beloved actor of his generation.”

London’s West End theaters plan to dim their lights next Tuesday evening in memory of Stewart, who died Wednesday in Los Angeles, aged 86.

A passion for Shakespeare started in childhood

He achieved both screen fame and stage kudos, a notoriously difficult balance.

McKellen…