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Yesterday, we received the very sad news that acting legend Patrick Stewart had passed away at the age of 86.
A star of both stage and screen, Stewart will be remembered as Star Trek's Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a role he first played in 1987 and returned to in shows, movies, and video games throughout the rest of his career.
He began his acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966 and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Antony and Cleopatra in 1979. He would star in the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street in 1967, and would earn subsequent TV credits in series such as I, Claudius (1976), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979), Frasier (2003) and Extras (2005).
His glittering movie credits include Dune, Excalibur, X-Men, Ted and countless other films, and he lent his distinctive voice to a wide range of shows and movies – so it should come as no great shock to learn that Stewart was equally comfortable working in the realm of video games.
In fact, he was one of the first to see the potential of voice work in the world of interactive entertainment, and assumed the key role of King Richard in Westwood's 1994 RPG Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos. As an avid Dungeon Master fan, I was utterly consumed by this game when it launched, and hearing Stewart's regal tones elevated the experience to a whole new level.
I was lucky enough to chat with Lands of Lore producer Rick Gush and artist Joseph Hewitt many years ago for Retro Gamer magazine, and they recalled what a pleasure it was to work with such a Hollywood legend.
“At the recording in Hollywood, I remember that we were really impressed with how professional Patrick was,” recalls Gush. “We had spent $30,000 for three hours of his time, so we were worried about all the inevitable little delays at the studio, but in the end he finished everything with time to spare. As the writer of the dialogue, I was concerned that the context of the lines would not always be clear, but once he started reading, it was obvious that he would give us some wonderful stuff."
Hewitt told me that working with such a famous actor had other benefits:
“We got a cardboard cut-out of him dressed in his Star Trek uniform out of the deal somehow. For years it was common to be walking through the halls of Westwood to find him peering out from behind the snack machine, hanging upside down from an air-conditioner vent or even sitting at your desk.”
Stewart would also voice characters in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, as well as host of Star Trek video games.
I've been meaning to replay Lands of Lore for a while, and thankfully, it's available to purchase legally on GoG – so now is as good a time as any to revisit this PC classic and pay tribute to one of England's greatest ever acting talents.