While Patrick Stewart, who died on Wednesday at 86, was best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” his career spanned stage, screen and voice work. A celebrated Shakespearean actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1966, he starred as King Claudius in “Hamlet” and Macbeth, once telling The New York Times that the role “got into me so deeply it dominated my life.” His portrayal of Captain Picard, ordering “Tea, Earl Grey, hot” from the Enterprise’s replicator, became iconic, as did the captain’s signature face-palm gesture that later became an internet meme. Stewart also embraced comedy, hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 1994 and voicing characters in “Ted” and “American Dad.” He took Shakespeare to children on “Sesame Street” and played Professor X across multiple “X-Men” films, most recently reprising the role in “Avengers: Doomsday,” scheduled for December release. “I still continue to receive interesting offers and I love being challenged by new work,” he told TV Insider in July. “I can’t imagine ever officially ‘retiring.’ I’ll always and forever be an actor.”
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