Having wrapped up his work on "Star Trek: Nemesis,"
Patrick Stewart (
"Captain Jean-Luc Picard") is moving on to treks of different sorts around the race track, through Europe and back to the small screen.
First, Stewart moves from the captain's chair to the driver's seat by taking part in the 26th Annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, on Saturday, April 13. The race is part of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and has professional drivers and celebrities bumping fenders on the 10-lap Champ Car track.
Stewart will compete against the likes of ER's Goran Visnjic and former WCW champion wrestler Bill Goldberg. The race will be broadcast in its entirety on April 28 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN, and again May 12 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. As part of the event, Toyota will help raise more than $100,000 for the non-profit program "Racing for Kids," which benefits Southern California children's hospitals in Long Beach and Orange County. For more information and ticket order forms, check out the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach official site.
According to his official fan club, The Patrick Stewart Network, Stewart is also preparing to hit the road and tour Europe later this month to promote the release of the Star Trek: The Next Generation DVDs. Scheduled appearances include:
April 18: Hamburg, Germany
April 19: Space Expo in Noordwijk, Netherlands
April 23: Virgin Megastore on Champs-Elysees in Paris, France
Finally, Stewart makes a return of sorts to his Shakespearean roots later this year in TNT's original movie "King of Texas." According to a TNT press release, the film provides a Western twist on the tragedy "King Lear," with Stewart in the title role as rich, arrogant Texas rancher John Lear. The film is executive produced by Stewart, Wendy Neuss-Stewart (who produced Star Trek: Voyager and co-produced Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Robert Halmi Sr. It bows June 2 at 8 p.m. on TNT.
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