"I am not the archetypical leading man. This is mainly for one reason: as you
may have noticed, I have no hair." --Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart is the coolest actor in showbiz. Not only is he a well trained, talented actor, with a really cool british accent, he is also a handsome devil, receiving "sexiest man of the year" in 1992 by "TV Guide". Stewart was born on July 13, 1940 in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, England. He began acting at the age of 12 in many local theater groups. At the age of 15, he left school and began working as a journalist. He then recieved a scholarship which allowed him to go to the Old Vic Theater School in Bristol. In 1959 he got his first professional role at the age of 19.
He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for 25 years and he doesn't like anything more than to be on the stage performing great Shakespearian works in London, Los Angeles, and New York. He's been praised time and time again for such great performances as Claudius in "Hamlet", King Henry IV in the "Merchant of Venice", Oberon in "A Midsummer's night Dream", and fairly recently Prespero in "The Tempest".
Oberon, 1977 "Midsummer's Night Dream" -- Prospero, 1995 "The Tempest"
Stewart has received many awards for his outstanding performance. A few of them are, an Olivier Award for his performance in the play "Shylock," two Oliver Awards for "A Christmas Carol" and was nominated "best actor" and "best entertainer." Not only has he done many plays but he has also made many television appearances in such BBS productions like "I Claudius," "Smiley's People," and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." In America he has been on "Sesame Street," "Saturday Night Live,", and he is best known for his role of Captain Jean Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." He has also played some leading roles in films such as "Death Train" with Pierce Brosnan, "Gunman" with Christopher Lambert, "Star Trek: Generations," and, "Star Trek: First Contact," coming soon "Conspiracy Theory" with Julia Roberts and Mel Gibson.
"Sesame Street"
Captain Jean Luc Picard
His role in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is best known for most people. His origin into this phenomenom started when producer Robert Justman heard Stewart make a dramatic reading at UCLA and knew that this was the man for the role of Captain Jean Luc Picard. Gene Roddenberry disapproved of Justman's choice for Picard, saying that he wanted a frenchman to play the part of his french captain, and cast Patrick Stewart as Data. After the casting was complete, they couldn't find anyone as good of an actor as Stewart and Roddenberry gave in and cast Stewart as Captain Jean Luc Picard.
Star Trek: The Next Generation cast