Sir Patrick Stewart Boldly Goes Under the SwordCaptain's log: let it be known his name is Sir Patrick Stewart now.
The thespian best known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation, earned a major promotion today, after Queen Elizabeth II officially made him a knight in a ceremony at Buckingman Palace.
The 69-year-old Stewart earned his title for doing more than dealing with Klingons and the Borg.
Considered one of Britain's greatest stage actors of his generation, Stewart is a core member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, which he joined when he was 26. He has appeared in more than 60 productions and like many of his legendary forebears at the company, the residency helped launch an enterprising career in TV and movies.
"It was an unlooked-for honor but as I grew up as a child, falling in love with the theatre and Shakespeare, my heroes were Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Alec Guinness," said Stewart.
"The knights of the theater represented to me not only the pinnacle of the profession but the esteem in which the profession was held. And now to find myself, to my astonishment, in that company is the grandest thing that has professionally happened to me."
Which is saying a lot, considering his Emmy and Tony Award nominations and such acclaimed roles stateside as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies and the leads in the TV movies A Christmas Carol and Moby Dick.
Keep going boldly, Sir Patrick!
