Patrick Stewart photographed in London in 2008. Stewart first found acclaim as a Shakespearean actor before making an unlikely career pivot to TV that would bring him his greatest fame. | STEVE FORREST / THE NEW YORK TIMES

Patrick Stewart, who rose from poverty in England to become an accomplished Shakespearean stage actor and then achieved global stardom as the erudite Captain Jean-Luc Picard in TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the telepathic professor Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” movies, has died at the age of 86.

Stewart, knighted in 2010 by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to drama, died at his home in Los Angeles, according to a statement on his X account.

“We announce with great sorrow the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart yesterday at his home in Los Angeles, in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia,” it said.

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