Today is the 76th birthday of Sir Patrick Stewart. He is as known for his powerful, recognizable voice as he his beautiful bald head. As an actor, he is incredibly versatile. Some know him for his presence on the stage, while Trekkies/Trekkers always think of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and millennials and comic book fans go to Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men series.
He was born in Yorkshire, England, and grew up with his two older brothers in a poor environment wrought with domestic violence. It was after he lost his hair at the age of 18 due to suffering from Alopecia areata that he found that acting allowed him to be more expressive in life.
He was worried that he would never get another girl again, but he has had a personal life that was never boring. He married his third wife Sunny Ozell in 2013 in Brooklyn with friend and fellow actor and X-Men castmate, Sir Ian McKellan performing the service. He has two children.
Stewart is passionate about campaigning against domestic violence, fights for equality and is on the board of Dying with Dignity.
He joined Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, continued on with them through 1982 and often appears on the stage and screen in various roles. He can be heard voicing irreverent roles in Seth MacFarlane projects like Deputy Director Avery Bullock in American Dad! and tongue-in-cheek narration of Ted and Ted 2 and can now be seen as Walter Blunt of the Starz TV series Blunt Talk.
Happy Birthday Sir Patrick Stewart!
You can find Sir Patrick discussing his favorite bit as being a captain in the clip below.