The world was saddened when the news of Sir Patrick Stewart‘s passing a few days ago. Although, in retrospect, this shouldn’t have been a surprise as the man was 86 years young, it’s still shocking as it seemed he still had a good amount of life in him. He even had the gusto to revive his role as Charles Xavier/Professor X in Marvel‘s upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. In fact, it will be his final acting job and I cannot fathom what kind of reaction the fandom will have when they see Patrick Steward on screen for the final time.

While there have been a lot of celebrities who have passed on, Sir Patrick Steward hit me particularly hard. Not like the others such as Tim Curry and Kevin Conroy‘s deaths didn’t make me feel sad. It’s more like I have a much stronger attachment to Patrick Stewart since I actually grew up watching him on TV and movies. So, indulge me while, like many others, I go reminisce about why the man became a huge part of my life.

Like most fans, I didn’t really know Patrick Steward from his Shakespearean stage roles. No, my first contact (pun intended) with the actor was when he became Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I’ve actually written an entire piece on my journey of becoming a Star Trek fan. But, to briefly summarize, when I was in high school, one of my friends was raving about a new show called, Star Trek: The Next Generation. I decided to give the show a chance and I fell in love with it.

But I would say the thing that really stuck out at me was how Captain Jean-Luc Picard would handle himself. Rather than being a captain who would go in guns a-blazing, he sought to use diplomacy instead. This was pretty different from a lot of the sci-fi shows I’ve been watching at that time. He would also carry himself with an air of dignity instead of the more brash heroes of the time. After watching a few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I was hooked. I was so hooked on the franchise that I even went back to go watch Star Trek: The Original Series. I know there has been a lot of debate for the longest time among Star Trek fans regarding who is the better Captain: James T. Kirk of TOS or Jean-Luc Picard of TNG. Well, for me, it always has and will always will be Captain Jean-Luc Picard, mainly because of his temperament.

But I do have to say, it’s not just the character of Jean-Luc Picard. A lot of it is because of Patrick Stewart’s performance as Jean-Luc Picard. He may be a classically trained Shakespearean actor before becoming a part of Star Trek. A lot of actors might have thought this was beneath them, acting out silly stories about aliens and spacemen. Not Patrick Stewart! In each of his scenes, he is definitely giving it his all, acting up a storm and making the viewer believe he is not someone just playing a role. No, he is indeed Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise-D!

Of course, when Star Trek: The Next Generation ended, they started to do movies based on these characters. And I will be the first to say the spark wasn’t quite there during this period. A lot of what made me like Captain Picard was stripped away as the film’s needed a stronger focus on action, which really didn’t mesh well with how I envisioned the character. They were fine, I suppose. But they don’t hold a candle to the stories they were telling on the small screen.

But that wasn’t the end of Patrick Stewart doing geeky roles.

Roughly around the time when they were doing the Star Trek: TNG movies, there was an announcement that they were going to make a live-action movie based on Marvel’s X-Men. This made a whole lot of sense since the X-Men cartoon had done very well and, thanks to movies like Tim Burton‘s Batman films and Blade, superhero movies were on the uptick. And when it came to who should be playing, Professor X, the headmaster of the X-Men, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind who should be playing the role: Patrick Stewart. There was a fear that Hollywood would bungle this very obvious casting choice but, lo and behold! They actually came true and gave the right person the right role!

Once again, if you were a classically trained actor, this would seem like a very silly role. I mean, you are playing a handicapped person who is based on a comic book character and he can control things with his mind and you have to wear a weird space helmet in some scenes. But, once again, much like with what he did with Captain Picard, Patrick Stewart took the role and he embodied the character. He gave Professor X a certain kind of dignity and inner strength. He was wise and patient and willing to give people a chance to better themselves.

Although the focus of the X-Men movies have always been on Wolverine as he is indeed the breakout character and Professor X isn’t in really a lot of scenes, Patrick Stewart still made a huge impact with the character. He was exactly how most people pictured Charles Xavier and his ongoing confusing friendship with Magneto was one of the major highlights of the original X-Men trilogy. Of course, it certainly helped that he was able to act against his close friend, Ian McKellen, in those scenes. Their real life friendship really helped sell the connection and the complicated history both Professor X and Magneto have with each other.

I’ve talked about him taking on silly roles and how, for most “serious” actors, they would be beneath them. But that never seemed to be the case with Patrick Stewart. He was always game when people would kind of make fun of him as he was generally okay with making fun of himself. Throughout Star Trek: TNG’s run, several memes have come out from the show, with a couple of them involving Picard’s reactions. And he himself has mentioned he’s more than just fine with them.

But there’s also the fact that Patrick Stewart knows how people think of him as this great and serious actor and he loves to show that he can be “uncouth” as well. After both Star Trek TNG and the X-Men movies moved along, he took on the role of Deputy Director Avery Bullock on American Dad! While Picard and Xavier were fountains of wisdom and good, Avery Bullock… wasn’t. He’s a bully who loves belittling the people he commands. He’s also a philandering drug addict, not beneath sleeping with the daughter of his subordinates.

But besides all of his roles, there’s also the fact that he’s never really shown disdain for being a geeky icon. I know there are actors who would like to shed off the idea of being just known for geeky roles and be more well-known for his more serious works. But I do think Patrick Stewart managed to balance it all out, having a foot both in the serious and and silly. While he will be a geek icon for playing roles like Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Professor X, he will also be known for being a really good stage actor. He managed to do both without compromising one or the other. And that really shows his range.

I will miss Patrick Stewart. While he is indeed gone from the world, I do think he’s left an indelible mark on a lot of people. Whether it be him spouting of words of advice as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, showing enormous restraint as Professor X or just being a giant douche as Avery Bullock, he’s going to be remembered and he’s going to be missed.

What are your memories of Sir Patrick Stewart? Let me know in the comments section below!