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Gates McFadden
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Getty Images On Oct. 28, Patrick Stewart died in his wife’s arms. How perfect, I thought. That is how Patrick would have wanted to die: in the arms of his beloved Sunny Ozell. Quite a beautiful, peaceful way to die. Other than his wife, Patrick loved the theater more than anything. I could easily envision Patrick’s final moments on planet Earth occurring while acting in a play, dying on stage in the middle of a performance.
There have been precedents. The great French playwright Molière died in front of an audience during the middle of a scene from his play, “The Imaginary Invalid.” He died doing what he loved: acting in a play. Everyone in the audience was laughing and applauding, thinking Molière’s intense coughing fit was comedic gold, until their laughter turned to horror. The audience was left reeling, but I suspect Molière went out thinking it was one of the best performances he’d ever given.
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