Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen: A friendship that surpassed the stage and screen

To many, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen represent a formidable mutant rivalry in the “X-Men” films or two of theater’s pre-eminent Shakespearean actors, but behind the curtain the pair shared something even more enduring: a friendship that spanned decades.Stewart died Wednesday at age 86 following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.McKellen, Stewart’s artistic brother-in-arms, remembered him Thursday as “the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic.”“He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love,” McKellen said in a statement on social media.

The pair — about a year apart in age — met at England’s esteemed Royal Shakespeare Company, with Stewart joining in 1966 and McKellen in 1974.McKellen and Stewart at Theatre Royal Haymarket in London in 2009.Tim P.

Whitby / Getty Images“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions,” McKellen, 87, said Thursday.They starred in Tom Stoppard’s play “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour” in 1977 in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company but weren’t close at the time.For SubscribersFOR SUBSCRIBERSTop general fired by Hegseth amid leak investigationFOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump pushes his administration to ramp up investigations into the Alaska Senate raceFOR SUBSCRIBERSChinese hackers used DeepSeek and other AI tools in sweeping global cyberattacks, report findsFOR SUBSCRIBERSAn ugly, Islamophobic turn in Michigan’s Senate raceFOR SUBSCRIBERSIsrael’s Arab parties emerge from election as kingmakers and a focus of angerFOR SUBSCRIBERSCruise company had troubled history before abandoning passengers in CambodiaFOR SUBSCRIBERSDark money group seeks to undercut Republican candidates with pro-gun votersFOR SUBSCRIBERSAmy Acton’s mom, who called her a ‘liar’ in Ramaswamy ad, faced years of turm...