PATRICK STEWART DEAD AT 86

Sir Patrick Stewart died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86. His longtime spokesperson said he went after a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, in the care of his wife Sunny Ozell, surrounded by family and friends, live music, prayer, tears and laughter. The family asked for donations to Alzheimer's research instead of flowers. The resume is ridiculous. Yorkshire kid, bald by 19, spent a year at a local paper writing obituaries before his boss made him choose journalism or acting. According to one of his brothers, he used to skip work for theater rehearsals and then invent the stories he was supposed to be covering. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and spent the next six decades getting paid to deliver absurd science fiction dialogue in the most serious voice in England. He never took the graceful exit. In a July interview with TV Insider he said he couldn't imagine retiring. One of his last credits was voicing a talking pig's head called Pigtrick Stewart in the Riz Ahmed comedy Bait. And Marvel, a company that does not process resignations, has him back as Professor X in Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, his final completed film. Variety counted it as his ninth turn as Charles Xavier. Hugh Jackman called him one of the greats of stage and screen. Marvel Studios called him a singular talent and a true gentleman. Sixty-odd years in that business and nobody had a bad word.

Why you should give a shit: He started out writing obituaries for a Yorkshire paper and ended up with every outlet on earth writing his, with one last performance still landing December 18, which beats the hell out of going quietly.