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.

“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.

“I had admired him from the start of his career,” Stewart told The…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business