How Patrick Stewart Rose From Obscurity, Boldly and Baldly Going Where No Yorkshireman Had Gone Before

A surprising choice for Picard

Gene Roddenberry, creator of the original Star Trek, objected when his deputies proposed Stewart for The Next Generation. He reportedly said Stewart’s name should not be mentioned to him again. Stewart was eventually cast as Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the USS Enterprise. His measured, thoughtful manner gave the character a distinct presence, and his familiar command was “Make it so.”

Fame arrived later

Stewart received the role at 46 and was nearly 50 when The Next Generation made him known around the world. Before that, he had built his career on the Shakespearean stage. He later portrayed Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies and toured in Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen. His public image also embraced comedy, including playful social media posts and a video demonstrating what he called the “quadruple take.”

Making peace with baldness

Stewart began losing his hair at 17 while studying acting at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He tried a hair treatment that did not work, then used a comb-over, until director and classmate George Kishvalvi urged him to accept his natural appearance.

Stewart recalled that Kishvalvi’s wife cut his hair short after Kishvalvi held him still. Later, Stewart sometimes brought a hairpiece to auditions and removed it to show directors that he could play both a young actor and a character role.

A memoir shaped in lockdown

During the Covid lockdown, Stewart began writing his autobiography without an outline. The manuscript grew to more than a thousand pages, and his collaborator helped shape it into the memoir Make It So.

The collaborator said Stewart’s baldness deserved attention because it had become part of his public image. The account describes how a feature he once tried to hide became associated with his best-known role.