Stewart was born on July 13, 1940 in Mirfield, West Yorkshire. His childhood was not particularly happy. He began performing in several local theater groups when he was 12. He left school at age 15 and began working as a journalist. He received a scholarship that allowed him to attend the Old Vic Theater School in Bristol, and in 1959 at the age of 19, his extraordinary stage career began with his first professional role.
Stewart began losing his hair at 19. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for 25 years and is at home on the stage in London, New York and Los Angeles. Critics have praised Stewart for his performances as Claudius in "Hamlet" and King Henry IV in the "Merchant of Venice," as well as in other important roles. He even won an "Olivier Award" for his performance in the play "Shylock". His television appearences include the BBC-productions of "I Claudius," "Smileys People," and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy."
Patrick Stewart was discovered by producer Robert Justman for the role of the Captain of the Enterprise. During pre-production for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Justman and his wife visited a dramatic reading at UCLA (University of California: Los Angeles) that Stewart was participating in. He was so impressed by the Englishman's presentation that he remarked to his wife, "I think we've just found our Captain." He later said that he hadn't thought about Stewart before, but when he saw him on stage he was very sure that Stewart was the only one who was right for the part. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry wanted a Frenchman to play the part, so Justman arranged a meeting with Stewart, Roddenberry and Miklis. On October 10, 1986, Justman assigned the role of Data to Stewart. He still believed, however, that Stewart should be the Captain, and that no other actor could convince him or even Roddenberry otherwise. Roddenberry gave in after casting was completed and decided on Stewart after all, even though he did not fit Roddenberry's ideal image of who should play the role. The part was then tailored to Stewart. Today, Stewart says that he had no idea at the time that to many Americans, who sits in the Captains chair on the Enterprise is more important than who occupies the throne of England.
On January 2, 2004, Stewart made himself even more succesful by joining the Agnes regime, a powerful group hellbent on taking over an internet wrestling message board known as "The Smart Marks".
