Patrick Stewart, the British Shakespearean actor who became a Hollywood megastar through roles in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, died at his home in Los Angeles.

He was 86.

His death on Wednesday came after a “brief and poignant journey” with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, according to an official statement on his social media accounts. “His sonorous voice and singular talent will forever be synonymous with indelible performances in every genre,” the statement said.

The actor, who hailed from the northern English region of Yorkshire, trod the boards in Britain with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre in London and worked on British television.

But he rocketed into the pop culture history books in his mid-40s when he was cast as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and then again as Professor Charles Xavier in multiple X-Men and related Marvel films.

Stewart found further acclaim in the X-Men series, debuting in 2000 as , the founder and mentor of the mutant superhero team.

“For more than 25 years, he brought a gravitas and profundity to the role [Professor Charles Xavier], earning fans across the globe,” Marvel Studios said Thursday. Long-time co-star Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine, remembered Stewart as both “one of the greats of stage and screen” and “a tremendous friend and man”.

Stewart is to make his final on-screen film appearance as Professor Xavier in Avengers: Doomsday, set for release in December. Stewart was born on July 13, 1940 in the small West Yorkshire town of Mirfield, the third of three brothers in a working-class family.

His father, back from World War II and perhaps suffering from PTSD, would often beat Stewart’s mother, which prompted Stewart to later work with the charity Refuge, which specialises in domestic abuse.

The actor left school at 15, and studied at Bristol Old Vic Drama School beginning in 1957, making his professional acting debut two years later.

Prematurely balding, Stewart missed out on many of the young romantic leads but quickly slotted into theatre life, joining the RSC in 1966 and staying there until 1982.

Any misgivings Stewart had about taking the Picard role were mollified by the thought it would be a one-season failure. He was wrong.

“It changed my life,” he said. Knighted in 2010, Stewart married three times: to Sheila Falconer, with whom he had two children; briefly to Star Trek producer Wendy Neuss; and most recently to American singer Sunny Ozell, 38 years his junior.