How Patrick Stewart got his start in South Yorkshire acting school with Mexborough's Brian Blessed
The legendary actor took on “a true haul” every week to attend acting classes in South Yorkshire
Sir Patrick Stewart’s acting legacy may have taken him from the depths of Cawdor Castle all the way to the planet Klingon, but most people may not realise how it all started in a small South Yorkshire village.
The nation lost one of its greatest acting talents on Thursday, October 29, when the renowned Sir Patrick Stewart died in his home in Los Angeles.
And while he won over millions across the globe with portrayals of Shakespeare’s greatest characters, and leading roles in blockbuster franchises like Star Trek and X Men, his acting skills were first developed in South Yorkshire.
In his memoir, ‘Making it So’, Sir Patrick explains how at just 12 years old in 1953 he went on an eight-day “residential drama course” in the West Yorkshire village Mytholmroyd.
It was there that the man who would someday bring characters like Captain Jean-Luc Picard to life would cross paths with fellow acting talent Brian Blessed, who hails from Mexborough, and drama teacher Ruth Wynn Owen.
“She wondered if I might like to continue to work with her. Would I ever,” Sir Patrick wrote.
Ruth lived in South Yorkshire, and to continue his acting lessons she asked Sir Patrick to travel to her home very weekend where he would take classes alongside other youngsters.
This was no easy trip for a young lad in Mirfield, near to Huddersfield.
His memoir continues: “I would have to take one bus from Mirfield to Dewsbury and another from Dewsbury to a town north of Sheffield called Hoyland.
“From there, it was a mile-and-a-half walk to her house, which sat in the wilds of the county.
“In total, it was a three-hour trip each way, and I had just enough pocket money for the bus fares - a true haul, but one I was up for.”
Sir Patrick’s memoir explains how it was during these classes - which Brian Blessed also took part in - he developed his acting skills and even the iconic voice that would someday ring through the Royal Shakespeare Company, with him describing Ruth as “the first in a series of great vocal coaches.”
Paying tribute after his death, fellow Shakespearean actor Sir Ian McKellen said: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end.
“You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt.
“Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.”