Sir Patrick Stewart, the actor best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Professor Charles Xavier, has died at 86. His family confirmed that he died on Wednesday, October 28, at his home in Los Angeles with his wife, Sunny Ozell, at his side, following a short illness with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. He is also survived by his son, Daniel, and his daughter, Sophie.
For gamers, his voice is permanently etched into the opening minutes of one of the defining RPGs of its generation. Below is a look back at his six-decade career, with a focus on the video games he helped bring to life.
From the stage to the screen
Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, on July 13, 1940, Stewart trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966. Over the next two decades, he built a reputation as one of Britain's finest classical stage actors, making his Broadway debut in 1971 and winning a Laurence Olivier Award in 1979 for his supporting role in Antony and Cleopatra. He was appointed an OBE in 2001 and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 for services to drama.
Picard and Professor X
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–94) made him a global household name as Captain Jean-Luc Picard across 178 television episodes, a role he reprised in four feature films and three seasons of Star Trek: Picard (2020–23).
In 2000, he took on a second career-defining role as Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men, playing the mutant leader across 17 years of Fox films, culminating in Logan (2017), before returning as an Earth-838 variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). His final screen appearance as Xavier is scheduled for Avengers: Doomsday, set for release on December 18, 2026.
His voice in games
Stewart lent his Shakespearean gravitas to more than a dozen video games across three decades, never treating voice work as a lesser medium.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006): Voiced Emperor Uriel Septim VII, whose assassination sets the entire main quest in motion. Though his screen time lasts less than ten minutes, his performance won him a Spike TV Video Game Award in 2006, and his archived recordings were preserved for Oblivion Remastered (2025).
Star Trek games (1995–2006): Reprised Captain Picard across six major releases: Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity (1995), Star Trek: Armada (2000), Star Trek: Armada II (2001), Star Trek: Bridge Commander (2002), Star Trek: Elite Force II (2003), and Star Trek: Legacy (2006).
Fantasy and action RPGs: Voiced King Richard in Westwood's Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos (1993), the archmage Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun in Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (2004), and the Lord of the Necromancers, Zobek (while also serving as the overarching narrator) in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (2010) and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (2014).
Superhero and indie titles: Reprised Professor X in X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003) and X-Men Legends (2004), narrated the opening cinematics of LEGO Universe (2010) and The Sims Medieval (2011), and narrated the historical indie puzzle-platformer My Memory of Us (2018).
The Emperor in Oblivion
When Bethesda Softworks announced Oblivion's voice cast in September 2005, led by Stewart as Emperor Uriel Septim VII, Sean Bean as Martin Septim, and Terence Stamp as Mankar Camoran, it signaled a major shift in how Western RPGs presented cinematic storytelling.
Stewart's voice is the very first thing players hear as the camera sweeps over the Imperial City:
"I was born 87 years ago. For 65 years I've ruled as Tamriel's Emperor. But for all these years, I have never been the ruler of my own dreams. I have seen the Gates of Oblivion, beyond which no waking eye may see. Behold, in darkness a doom sweeps the land. This is the 27th of Last Seed; the Year of Akatosh 433. These are the closing days of the Third Era, and the final hours of my life."
Moments later, fleeing through a secret dungeon passage beneath the Imperial Prison, the Emperor stops in front of your cell, recognizes your face from his prophetic visions, and ultimately entrusts you with the Amulet of Kings before falling to the Mythic Dawn.
Even though Uriel Septim VII appears for only the opening tutorial, Bethesda prepared a massive, nearly 90-page character biography detailing the Emperor's lineage, reign, and political history. Executive producer Todd Howard later recalled that the team worried they had gone overboard and that Stewart might ignore the binder altogether. Instead, the Royal Shakespeare Company veteran read the entire packet and praised it as some of the most thorough character preparation he had ever been given.
As Kotaku noted, those original 2006 recordings were kept intact for Oblivion Remastered, ensuring a new generation of players on modern consoles and Switch 2 still hear his exact performance. Following the news of his passing, Bethesda Game Studios paid tribute, calling him "an emperor, a captain, and an inspiration to us all."
A career in dates
1940: Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, on July 13.
1966: Joins the Royal Shakespeare Company.
1971: Makes his Broadway debut in Peter Brook's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
1979: Wins a Laurence Olivier Award for Antony and Cleopatra.
1987: Debuts as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
1993: Makes his video game voice acting debut as King Richard in Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos.
2000: Stars as Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men and voices Picard in Star Trek: Armada.
2001: Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
2006: Voices Emperor Uriel Septim VII in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, winning a Spike Video Game Award.
2010: Knighted at Buckingham Palace for services to drama and voices Zobek in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
2020: Returns as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard.
2025: Heard once again by millions as Uriel Septim VII in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.
2026: Dies in Los Angeles on October 28, aged 86.
Where to start if you want to revisit his work
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (or Oblivion Remastered): Play the opening 45 minutes in the Imperial City dungeons to experience the gold standard of RPG prologue acting.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: His longest and richest video game script, where he narrates every chapter like a gothic stage play while fighting alongside Gabriel Belmont as Zobek.
Star Trek: Bridge Commander: Still one of the finest tactical starship simulators ever made, anchored by Stewart's calm command presence on the bridge.
Remembering him
Whether you first knew him from the bridge of the Enterprise-D, a school for gifted youngsters in Westchester, or a dim prison cell beneath Cyrodiil, his voice carried an authority and warmth that few actors in any medium have ever matched. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and everyone who grew up watching and listening to him.
What was your first Sir Patrick Stewart role, on screen or in a game? Tell us on our socials, and if you're revisiting any of his classics this week, log them to your collection on MySaveSlot.