Patrick Stewart, 86, spoke openly about his fractured family ties in an October 2023 interview with the Irish Independent, three years before his death this week.
The “Star Trek: The Next Generation” actor shared that his relationship with his two adult children had become “practically non-existent,” a reality that brought him daily anguish.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not pained by the memory of my children, who they were and by a sense of responsibility that they became who they are in part because of me and my influence or lack of influence on them,” he confessed to the newspaper. “I always put my acting work first, before my family.”
Stewart shared son Daniel, 58, and daughter Sophie, 54, with his first wife, Sheila Falconer, 83, whom he married in 1966 and divorced in 1990.
The actor drew a direct line between his professional obsession and his parental failures. “I was just obsessed with my work and everything else took second place,” he had said in a 2009 interview with the same outlet, years earlier.
At that time, Stewart believed he had begun repairing the damage. “I’m trying to correct that now whenever possible with my grandchildren,” he said then, adding that “my own children seem to have forgiven me.”
But by 2023, the distance had only grown. “Given that I’m separated from my children now, we don’t have relationships, they have become very important,” he told the Irish Independent.
“I never thought that this would happen, but both my children are in their 50s, they’re not children anymore, they’re adults. And my relationship with them is practically non-existent.”
The interviewer asked whether his portrayal of the measured Captain Jean-Luc Picard reflected the father he wished he had experienced. “I think it might have been more the one I wished I was,” Stewart replied.
He confirmed it had been difficult to be the “kind of father he wanted to be.”
Stewart died Wednesday at his Los Angeles home following a brief battle with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia, according to a Thursday social media statement. He was held in the “loving care” of his third wife, Sunny Ozell, 45, whom he married in 2013.
“He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter, and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all,” the statement read. “We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.”
The actor had wed producer Wendy Neuss, 68, in 2000, though that marriage ended three years later.
Even as his health declined, Stewart remained fixated on work. He told TV Insider in July that “there are fewer and fewer available roles as we get older,” though he continued “to receive interesting offers” and loved “being challenged by new work.”
“I can’t imagine ever officially ‘retiring,'” he said. “I’ll always and forever be an actor.”
Reps for Sophie and Daniel were not immediately available for comment.
