There is a particular kind of silence that falls over a theatre when an actor of real authority begins to speak, and for six decades that silence was Sir Patrick Stewart's to command. News of his death on Wednesday, in the loving care of his wife, set off a wave of tribute that travelled from the stages of London to the film lots of Hollywood, and it was striking how many of those who spoke reached first for the same word: commitment. Dame Judi Dench, shocked and very sad, remembered a colleague who was never one of those actors who privately admitted that he did not feel like performing that night; he was, she said, always very, very committed, and would be much missed and much admired. George Takei, who served as Sulu in the Star Trek universe, credited him with inspiring a generation of star-gazers who looked longingly ahead to a brighter future for all humanity.

Hugh Jackman, who stood beside him through the X-Men films, called him a tremendous friend and man, and one of the greats of stage and screen. It fell to Sir Ian McKellen, a friend since their early days in the Royal Shakespeare Company, to place him where he began. Stewart was, he said, defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire: you could hear it in the voice, and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he felt, for Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths. McKellen recalled that the young actor had been cautious about accepting the Star Trek role, and that he took the risk, thank goodness for us all.

America became his adopted home, yet his proudest achievement, McKellen suggested, was becoming chancellor of Huddersfield University. His final screen appearance, as Professor X, will arrive in Avengers: Doomsday. His family spoke of the peaceful ease on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.