Marina Sirtis’ Heartbreaking Tribute To Patrick Stewart: “We Will Hold Him Forever In Our Hearts”

Marina Sirtis shared her emotional and heartbreaking tribute to her Star Trek: The Next Generation captain and friend, Patrick Stewart.

Stewart passed away on October 28, 2026, at 86 years old. The outpouring of sympathy from Sir Patrick Stewart’s peers and legions of fans, within and beyond the Star Trek community, shows what a beloved talent he was, whose unforgettable performances touched millions of lives. Stewart’s Star Trek: The Next Generation cast, however, was like a second family that was famously close for nearly 40 years.

On her Instagram, a tearful Marina Sirtis gave Patrick Stewart his flowers, calling it “the privilege of my life to work with him,” and sending her love to Stewart’s wife, Sunny, and children, Sophie and Daniel. “Patrick, I loved you with all my heart,” Marina says. You can watch her reel below:

It must be especially difficult for Marina Sirtis, who lives in London, and had a special bond with Patrick Stewart as British actors who moved to Hollywood in the 1980s and became icons in Star Trek: The Next Generation. As Marina says, Stewart wasn’t just her captain and dear friend, but also a fellow lover of football.

Marina has also said that Patrick was one of the few who invited her to his home for socially distanced tea during COVID lockdown, when Sirtis was at her loneliest point after the death of her husband. This speaks to the quality of the person Sir Patrick Stewart was.

Earlier in the week, the Star Trek community also lost Walter Koenig, who passed away at 90. Marina was already devastated over Koenig’s death, and she shared a reel honoring the legendary Pavel Chekov actor from Star Trek: The Original Series. Sirtis called Walter “an absolutely wonderful human being… a real gentleman.”

Sirtis and Stewart last worked together in Star Trek: Picard season 3, which reunited the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation for one last critically acclaimed adventure. Due to the logistics of living in London and COVID restrictions during the filming of Picard, Marina was only able to appear in a few later episodes, but Counselor Deanna Troi was with her USS Enterprise-D crew at the end.

Patrick Stewart is the first Star Trek: The Next Generation main actor to pass away, and also the first who was a captain and led a Star Trek series. Beyond Star Trek, Sir Patrick was beloved for playing Professor X in the X-Men movies, his many other film and TV roles, and his legacy with the Royal Shakespearean Company. There will never be another to equal Patrick Stewart.

Star Trek: The Next Generation’s seven seasons, movies, and Star Trek: Picard are streaming on Paramount+

Star Trek: The Next Generation