I mean, let’s be clear, here. There are plenty of things I think of Sir Patrick Stewart from. Things where he’s played historical figures, great characters from literature, comic book heroes, and more. One where he even had hair! But I was ten and already a Trekkie when Star Trek: The Next Generation aired. He is, was, and ever shall be my captain, and the only struggle was whether I was going to go with Giddy Picard or Facepalm Picard.

Actually, it turns out that it was a wig in I, Claudius. They wanted him to wear one for Next Gen, initially, too. There was this belief that a bald man wouldn’t be believable as a Starfleet captain, and indeed, I’ve had it speculated that it’s odd that they can’t cure hair loss in the twenty-fourth century. But honestly, I think he looks pretty good with no hair and have no idea why people make such a fuss about it. He lost his hair at eighteen and apparently pretty well believed that his life was over from there. However, I think it’s at least part of what makes him so distinctive.

There’s also that beautiful voice of his. I once bought his reading of A Christmas Carol on audio book even though I don’t actually like Dickens, because I could listen to Patrick Stewart read anything. He’s on my list of artists who could make a fortune reading bedtime stories. Adults would buy those audio books, and not in an ironic way, either. Just for the sheer pleasure of the listening.

It’s a long-acknowledged fact that it’s hard to break free from an identity in Star Trek once you’ve appeared on the show, even if it’s only a few episodes. This is less true than it used to be, I think, but I’d say it probably holds true to at least a certain extent through Voyager at least. Certainly the captains are the captains, world without end, amen. And yet Patrick Stewart can be remembered for other things. Oh, I suspect it helps that one of the other things he’s done is Professor Charles Xavier; while there’s a certain amount of Dueling Geeks involved there, there’s also an awful lot of crossover. A lot of us went from “he’s Captain Picard as always” to “okay, he’s Captain Picard and Professor X,” and I think that made it easier to let him do all sorts of other things.

And, I mean, Next Gen was still on the air when I first saw the David Lynch Dune, which I actually like. Honestly, his Gurney Halleck is on my list of “miscast and I don’t care.” Gurney Halleck is supposed to be ugly. It’s fine; I’ll deal with that. He still works in the role for me. It’s a small part, but Dune is full of small parts, and he was still relatively obscure at the time. Mostly, I think, known for his work on the stage. After all, he’s done a lot of great work on the stage, even if about the only things I’ve ever seen are the filmed versions of Hamlet and Macbeth, which don’t entirely count as seeing him on the stage.

I’d also like to mention that he’s a heck of a guy personally. He’s an outspoken feminist. He is a strong opponent of domestic violence. He’s an ardent advocate for veterans, especially having discovered that much of his father’s terrible behaviour after returning from World War II was as a result of untreated PTSD. He does blame himself for the failure of his marriages, and for all I know, he’s right; I’m not privy to anything on the inside, obviously. But he seems to be a pretty decent sort, and his friendship with Sir Ian McKellan is ridiculously adorable.