Editing Patrick Stewart (section)

===Early acting career (1959–1987)===
Stewart's first professional stage appearance was on 19 May 1959 at the Theatre Royal, Bristol (for the [[Bristol Old Vic|Bristol Old Vic Company]]), playing Cutpurse (a thief among the audience for the [[metatheatre|play-within-a-play]]) in ''[[Cyrano de Bergerac (play)|Cyrano de Bergerac]]'', directed by John Hale.<ref>{{cite news |last1=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Large-scale 'Cyrano' at Bristol Old Vic |date=28 May 1959|work=[[The Stage]] |page=17}}</ref> Following a period with [[Manchester Central Library|Manchester's Library Theatre]], Stewart became a member of the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] in 1966, remaining with them until 1982.<ref name=sbt/> He was an associate artist of the company in 1967.<ref name=ghost>{{cite web |url=http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/7514.aspx |title=Patrick plays the Ghost and Claudius in Hamlet |website=Royal Shakespeare Company |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409080926/http://www.rsc.org.uk/whatson/7514.aspx |archive-date=9 April 2010 |access-date=2 January 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He appeared with actors such as [[Ben Kingsley]] and [[Ian Richardson]]. In January 1967, he made his debut TV appearance on ''[[Coronation Street]]'' as a fire officer. In 1969, he had a brief TV cameo role as [[Horatio (Hamlet)|Horatio]], opposite Ian Richardson's [[Hamlet]], in a performance of the gravedigger scene as part of episode six of Sir [[Kenneth Clark]]'s ''[[Civilisation (TV series)|Civilisation]]'' television series.<ref>{{cite video |people=Kenneth Clark |title=Civilisation |medium=Television production |publisher=BBC |location=London, UK. |year=1969}}</ref> During the early 1970s, [[University of California, Santa Barbara|UCSB]] professor Homer Swander recruited him to help teach American university students about Shakespeare, which led to his breakthrough into Hollywood.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stewart |first1=Patrick |title=Homer Swander obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/mar/06/homer-swander-obituary |access-date=24 September 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=6 March 2018}}</ref> He made his Broadway debut as [[Tom Snout|Snout]] in [[Peter Brook]]'s [[RSC production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1970)|legendary 1970 production]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=Susan |title=Performing nostalgia: shifting Shakespeare and the contemporary past |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=1996 |page=[https://archive.org/details/performingnostal0000benn/page/18 18] |isbn=978-0-415-07326-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/performingnostal0000benn/page/18 }}</ref> of ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]],'' then moved to the [[Royal National Theatre]] in the early 1980s. 

Over the years, Stewart took roles in many major television series without ever becoming a household name. He appeared as [[Vladimir Lenin]] in ''[[Fall of Eagles]]''; [[Sejanus]] in ''[[I, Claudius (TV series)|I, Claudius]]'';<ref name="TNGComp18">{{cite book |last1=Nemecek |first1=Larry |editor1-first=Dave |editor1-last=Stern |title=The Star Trek The Next Generation Companion |year=1992 |publisher=Pocket Books |location=New York|isbn=978-0-671-79460-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/startreknextgene00neme/page/18 18] |chapter=Rebirth |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/startreknextgene00neme/page/18 }}</ref> [[Karla (character)|Karla]] in ''[[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (miniseries)|Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]]'' and ''[[Smiley's People (miniseries)|Smiley's People]]''; [[King Claudius|Claudius]] in a 1980 BBC adaptation of ''[[Hamlet]]''. He took the romantic male lead in the 1975 [[BBC]] adaptation of [[Elizabeth Gaskell]]'s ''[[North and South (1854 novel)|North and South]]''. He also took the lead, as psychiatric consultant Dr Edward Roebuck, in BBC's ''Maybury'' in 1981. He continued to play minor roles in films, such as [[Leondegrance|King Leondegrance]] in [[John Boorman]]'s ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'' (1981),<ref name="TNGComp18" /> the character [[Gurney Halleck]] in [[David Lynch]]'s ''[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune]]'' (1984),<ref name="TNGComp18" /> Dr. Armstrong in [[Tobe Hooper]]'s ''[[Lifeforce (film)|Lifeforce]]'' (1985) and [[Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk|Henry Grey]] in ''[[Lady Jane (1986 film)|Lady Jane]]'' (1986), the story of English Queen [[Lady Jane Grey]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robison |first1=William B. |last2=Parrill |first2=Sue |author2-link=Sue Parrill |title=The Tudors on Film and Television |date=2013 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-5891-2 |page=130}}</ref>

Stewart preferred classical theatre to other genres, asking ''[[Doctor Who]]'' actress [[Lalla Ward]] why she would work in science fiction or on television.<ref name="bbcward">{{cite interview |title=Lalla Ward |access-date=1 April 2016 |last=Ward |first=Lalla |subject-link=Lalla Ward |interviewer=McGann, Paul |work=K9 & Co. |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/webcasts/shada/interviews/ward/index.html}}</ref> In 1987, he nonetheless agreed to work in Hollywood on a revival of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', after [[Robert H. Justman]] saw him while attending a literary reading at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]].{{r|brady19920405}}<ref name="bbcjustman">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/justman/printpage.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021128164745/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/justman/printpage.html |archive-date=28 November 2002 |title=Robert Justman – Co-Producer Co-Creator of Star Trek |publisher=BBC |access-date=7 May 2011}}</ref> Stewart knew nothing about the [[cultural influence of Star Trek]] or its iconic status in American culture. He was reluctant to sign the standard contract of six years, but did so as he, his agent, and others with whom Stewart consulted, all believed the new show would quickly fail, and that he would return to his London stage career after making some money.{{r|lyall20080127}}<ref name="appleyard20071104">{{cite news |publisher=News Corp. |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article2785374.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511195800/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article2785374.ece |archive-date=11 May 2008 |title=Patrick Stewart: Keep on Trekkin' |work=The Sunday Times |date=4 November 2007 |access-date=27 April 2011 |last=Appleyard |first=Bryan |location=London}}</ref>{{r|bbcstewart}}{{r|day20121226}} Regardless, Stewart's trusted colleague, [[Ian McKellen]], was particularly vocal in advising Stewart not to throw away his theatrical career for this foray into television, which Stewart had to disregard considering the opportunity.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sharf |first1=Zack |title=Ian McKellen Told Patrick Stewart to Reject 'Star Trek' Offer and Stay in Theater, Admitted Later He Was Wrong: 'You Can't Throw That Away to Do TV. No!' |url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/ian-mckellen-patrick-stewart-reject-star-trek-stay-in-theater-1235743624/ |website=Variety.com |date=3 October 2023 |publisher=Variety |access-date=22 October 2023}}</ref> While in Hollywood, he spent 18 months using the professional name "Patrick Hewes Stewart" while negotiating the rights to his original name from an American actor who had already registered it with the [[Screen Actors Guild]].<ref name="var12">{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/features/thomas-middleditch-patrick-stewart-silicon-valley-blunt-talk-1201794682/ |title=Thomas Middleditch and Patrick Stewart on Doing Standup, Nicknames and Crazy Fan Encounters |first=Debra |last=Birnbaum |date=14 June 2016|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>