Sir Ian McKellen paid a touching tribute to his late friend and co-star Sir Patrick Stewart, who died Oct. 28 at his home in Los Angeles. McKellen shared memories of his close friend in a lengthy Instagram post, along with a photo of Stewart in academic robes from his time as chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. Stewart was 86.
Ian McKellen Tribute Shares Memories of Patrick Stewart
McKellen posted his tribute Oct. 29, just a day after Stewart died. He headed the post “SIR PATRICK STEWART (1940-2026)” and opened by saying that Stewart’s identity was shaped by Yorkshire, the northern English county where Stewart was born and raised. McKellen wrote,
“Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.”
McKellen continued in the post that the two friends met roughly 50 years ago as young performers at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He added,
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions. My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. ‘But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk—getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?’ Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.”
McKellen also noted that the United States became Stewart’s adopted home, and that he met his wife, Sunny Ozell, there. She cared for him through his illness. Still, McKellen wrote that Stewart never forgot his roots, and that his proudest accomplishment was his appointment as chancellor of the University of Huddersfield in Yorkshire. McKellen called him the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic.
Any Patrick Stewart tribute inevitably involves McKellen. The two knew each other from their stage days long before 2000, but their friendship took off on the set of the first “X-Men,” with McKellen as Magneto and Stewart as Professor X. Off camera, the bond only deepened — McKellen even officiated Stewart’s 2013 wedding to Ozell.
Following their first “X-Men” collaboration, the pair remained fixtures in Fox’s mutant franchise, returning as their mutant counterparts in films released over a 14-year period.
McKellen ended his message by looking ahead. Audiences haven’t yet seen Stewart’s final performance in “Avengers: Doomsday,” which also features McKellen and is scheduled for release Dec. 18.
Stewart’s Spokesperson Made Public Statement After His Death
Stewart’s death was announced by his longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, in a statement released Oct. 29, the same day McKellen shared his Instagram post. Per People, Bush Novak said, “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.”
She continued, “He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter, and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all. We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.”
While the world mourns Stewart, his legacy lives on through a body of work that shaped modern film, television and theater. From commanding starships to guiding generations of mutants, Stewart’s performances left an incredible mark on popular culture. As audiences prepare to watch his final appearance as Professor X on the big screen, they do so with gratitude for an actor whose talent, wisdom and presence will continue to inspire long after the credits roll.
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