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29th October 2026
A message from our School Principal, Stuart Harvey:
“The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School community mourns the passing of our distinguished alumnus and cherished supporter, Sir Patrick Stewart.
Before becoming an international icon on stage and screen, Patrick honed his craft right here at the School as a member of the class of 1959. His exceptional career, spanning decades with the Royal Shakespeare Company, landmark roles in Star Trek and X-Men, and countless acclaimed stage performances, stood as a testament to the power of rigorous classical training.
In recent years, we were deeply privileged to receive Sir Patrick’s support. He remained forever proud of his BOVTS heritage.
As Principal, and on behalf of our entire community of staff, students, and alumni, I extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and legions of admirers worldwide. His legacy as a master of his craft and a true champion of our School will endure always.
Rest in peace, Sir Patrick.”
Sir Gregory Doran remembers Sir Patrick Stewart:
Patrick Stewart created the best performance of Mark Antony in Antony and Cleopatra I have ever seen. Patrick understood the role of the triple pillar of the world, reduced to the ‘Strumpet’s fool’, the man no longer able to live up to his own PR, who feels himself dissolving like evaporating clouds. Patrick restored the magnificence of the role in a tragedy so often regarded as ‘her play’.
Having played Enobarbus twice for the RSC Patrick Stewart- a veteran RSC performer- agreed to play Antony and returned to the RSC in 2006.
It was like a homecoming for Patrick. He played Prospero in the same season for Rupert Goold, and then a magnificent double of Claudius and the Ghost in Hamlet with David Tennant. His genius was to play Claudius from his point of view, not the murderous uncle, but a man determined to restore order to Denmark after the instability of his belligerent brother’s reign.
Patrick was a true Shakespearian, and at heart (however much he flew round the galaxies in the Star Ship Enterprise) a theatre actor in his bones.
I shall miss him greatly – Greg Doran