Actor Patrick Stewart has died

British actor Sir Patrick Stewart has died at the age of 86 at his home in Los Angeles, his Instagram account announced. The actor had Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

"He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter," the statement said.

Stewart was born in Mirfield in Yorkshire. He began at the Royal Shakespeare Company and went on to work on Broadway, in film and on television for six decades.

He won worldwide fame as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films.