--- title: "Ian McKellen pays tribute to Patrick Stewart, his X-Men co-star and friend of half a century" description: "McKellen's Instagram farewell recalls a Star Trek warning, a Yorkshire boyhood and a final screen pairing still to come in December." url: https://tv-movies.skoop.news/ian-mckellen-pays-tribute-to-patrick-stewart-after-his-death-6e1866/ published: 2026-10-31T04:28:09.392851-04:00 modified: 2026-10-31T04:28:09.392876-04:00 section: "TV & Movies" publisher: "skoop.news" language: en keywords: ["Stewart", "Professor X", "Star Trek", "West End", "Chancellor of Huddersfield University", "Kelly Bush Novak", "Royal Shakespeare Company", "X-Men", "Yorkshire", "Magneto"] hashtags: ["#ProfessorX", "#StarTrek", "#WestEnd", "#Film", "#movieclips"] image: https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Wakefield_Cathedral_Choir%2C_West_Yorkshire%2C_UK_-_Diliff.jpg/1280px-Wakefield_Cathedral_Choir%2C_West_Yorkshire%2C_UK_-_Diliff.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail --- # Ian McKellen pays tribute to Patrick Stewart, his X-Men co-star and friend of half a century > McKellen's Instagram farewell recalls a Star Trek warning, a Yorkshire boyhood and a final screen pairing still to come in December. Published 2026-10-31 · Updated 2026-10-31 · TV & Movies, [skoop.news](https://skoop.news/) ## In brief - Patrick Stewart died on a Wednesday at the age of 86, and his X-Men co-star Ian McKellen has answered with a tribute to his longtime friend. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) - Stewart's longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, announced his death. [[3]](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/patrick-stewart-ian-mckellen-tribute-1236743258/) - McKellen said Stewart was defined first by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the county he loved to the end. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) ## The tribute Patrick Stewart died on a Wednesday at the age of 86, and his X-Men co-star Ian McKellen has answered with a tribute to his longtime friend. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) For fans of Magneto and Professor X, the loss lands with one last film still ahead. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) McKellen posted the tribute on Instagram. [[2]](https://deadline.com/2026/10/ian-mckellen-pays-tribute-patrick-stewart-1237209210/) He wrote that Stewart wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and, in McKellen's case, to love. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) ## How Stewart's death was announced Stewart's longtime spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak, announced his death. [[3]](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/patrick-stewart-ian-mckellen-tribute-1236743258/) He died at his home in Los Angeles, with his wife, Sunny Ozell, by his side. [[3]](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/patrick-stewart-ian-mckellen-tribute-1236743258/) [[2]](https://deadline.com/2026/10/ian-mckellen-pays-tribute-patrick-stewart-1237209210/) He died following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. [[3]](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/patrick-stewart-ian-mckellen-tribute-1236743258/) His representative described him as a 3x Golden Globe-nominated actor. [[2]](https://deadline.com/2026/10/ian-mckellen-pays-tribute-patrick-stewart-1237209210/) ## Yorkshire first, then America McKellen said Stewart was defined first by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the county he loved to the end. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) In McKellen's telling, Stewart's accented voice and stern honesty reflected those Yorkshire origins. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) America was Stewart's adopted home, McKellen said, and it was where he met his wife Sunny, who cared for him through sickness and health. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) McKellen named Stewart's appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire as his proudest achievement. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) ## Fifty years of friendship McKellen and Stewart first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company about half a century earlier, though they were not in the same productions. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) Over the years they shared a public friendship, often appearing at premieres for each other's work, and served as two of British theatre's leading global ambassadors. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) In 2009 they starred together in a West End production of Waiting for Godot. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) General audiences came to know them best when they starred opposite each other in Marvel's X-Men film series, playing the frenemies Magneto and Professor X. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) ## The Star Trek gamble Stewart took the role of Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation in the late 1980s. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) The part established his presence in Hollywood and made him a household name for general audiences. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) McKellen recalled that Stewart was offered a leading part in Star Trek and that McKellen urged him to consider the risk to his stage career in the UK. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) Stewart took the risk, which McKellen said benefited his devoted Trekkies and film and theatre audiences. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) Stewart went on to star in cinema successes, including X-Men, and in classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London's West End and on Broadway. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) ## What fans can watch for If you want to see McKellen and Stewart together one more time, Marvel's Avengers: Doomsday is the film. [[1]](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) It premieres in theaters on Dec. 18. [[2]](https://deadline.com/2026/10/ian-mckellen-pays-tribute-patrick-stewart-1237209210/) McKellen said Stewart's farewell performance in it is yet to be seen. [[2]](https://deadline.com/2026/10/ian-mckellen-pays-tribute-patrick-stewart-1237209210/) Tributes from Stewart's co-stars came in after his death was announced, including from Kevin Feige, William Shatner, Seth MacFarlane, Hugh Jackman, Minnie Driver, Rebecca Romijn and Famke Janssen. [[3]](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/patrick-stewart-ian-mckellen-tribute-1236743258/) ## Sources 1. [Ian McKellen Pays Tribute to Patrick Stewart After His Death](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/ian-mckellen-tribute-patrick-stewart-1235224695/) — IndieWire 2. [Ian McKellen Pays Tribute To Patrick Stewart: “He Wore His Heart On His Sleeve”](https://deadline.com/2026/10/ian-mckellen-pays-tribute-patrick-stewart-1237209210/) — Deadline 3. [Ian McKellen Pays Tribute to Patrick Stewart: “A Man to Rely on, Admire and in My Case, Love”](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/patrick-stewart-ian-mckellen-tribute-1236743258/) — The Hollywood Reporter Image: Photo: Diliff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wakefield_Cathedral_Choir,_West_Yorkshire,_UK_-_Diliff.jpg) --- Written from the sources above and checked twice (rules and an independent model) before publishing. How we work: https://skoop.news/how-we-work/ · Corrections: https://skoop.news/corrections/