let us have a cup of earl grey, hot

when i found out the death today of sir patrick stewart my mind immediately replayed one scene of his from all the roles stewart has played.  stewart was a shakespearean-trained actor who brought wit & grace to even the smallest role.  he was better known as capt. jean-luc picard of the starship enterprise.  he was magnificent as picard but one must remember that the great speeches & lines of dialogue spoken by stewart as picard were penned by some of the finest writers of any TV series.  but you need a voice & presence to say them.  stewart had those in great abundance.  & as we remember sir patrick stewart as capt. jean-luc picard let's remember too his favorite drink, earl grey served hot.  i can list so many movies great & small, so many TV series as well that were lucky to have stewart play in them.  we all can, i believe, & we all have our favorites too.  stewart lived to a good age of 86.  not a bad run, indeed.  but it is his part as a maitre d' of the restaurant l'idiot in the steve martin vehicle, L.A. Story [1991] that i instantly thought of this afternoon when i read the news that sir patrick stewart passed away.  

stewart is simultaneously hilarious & menacing.  his exquisite voice gives this encounter just the right amount of absurd humor.  & he brilliantly balances menace with the other brilliant comedic actor in this scene, steve martin's wincing befuddlement.  these couple of minutes of this movie have tattooed itself onto my memory.  in short, stewart steals the show!

godspeed sir patrick stewart