Patrick Stewart has a long and storied history with Family Guy, with the actor returning time and again to play roles old and new. As one of Seth MacFarlane’s most frequent collaborators, Stewart has lent his signature British accent to 10 Family Guy characters over the years. Perhaps unsurprisingly, all of Patrick Stewart’s personas have the same voice, which is where much of the comedy comes from. However, his delivery in each of his episodes also displays the actor’s impeccable comedic timing and sense of humor. Despite Stewart’s heartbreaking passing in October 2026, even his silliest performances live on for fans.
Stewart is most renowned for his live-action dramatic roles, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Captain Jean-Luc Picard and X-Men‘s Professor Charles Xavier. The English actor has built up an impressive portfolio during his decades-long career and has shared his talents and experience to help create some of the best episodes of Family Guy. While some of Stewart’s Family Guy characters are clever references to his acting past, many are just fun cameos with no real explanation, allowing the actor to flex different muscles than he was typically using. With many appearances on the series, Stewart’s time on Family Guy was exceptional.
10
“Patrick Stewart As A Water Bear”
Patrick Stewart isn’t beyond showing up for a non-sequitur. In Family Guy season 17, episode 4, “Big Trouble in Little Quahog,” Brian and Stewie shrink down and get lost among the fibers of Stewie’s bedroom carpet. They’re greeted by a cohort of tardigrades, also known as water bears, one of which introduces himself as, “Patrick Stewart, as a water bear.” The character certainly lives up to his name, as he is just the actor in tardigrade form. He doesn’t have much more dialogue beyond yelling out his own name again later in the episode.
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Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Family Guy‘s hilarious cutaway gags have become a major hallmark of the show, and many of them can be completely unrelated to the episode’s main story. While certain cutaways are completely random, others reference pre-existing shows and movies. As a known Star Trek fan, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has parodied the franchise countless times. This trend meant that Stewart briefly voices his character from Star Trek: The Next Generation in Family Guy season 4, episode 11, “Peter’s Got Woods.” The sequence is only brief, but also rewarding for Star Trek fans as well as being comical.
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Patrick Stewart
For all of Patrick Stewart’s outlandish Family Guy roles, one of his most memorable appearances on the show involves him playing himself. Family Guy season 7, episode 11, “Not All Dogs Go to Heaven” shows Stewie essentially abducting the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and spending the day with them. Stewart, along with the rest of his Star Trek cast mates, portrays himself as especially antagonistic and hard to deal with for comic effect. The rest of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation also voice themselves in “Not All Dogs Go To Heaven.”
7
Melvin Shivelman In Woody Allen’s “Bananas Over Broadway”
The extended cut of Family Guy season 7, episode 10, “FOX-y Lady,” which features only on the DVDs, shows Patrick Stewart in a role written by a fictional version of Woody Allen. The character was supposed to be played by the fake Allen himself within the world of Family Guy. Bananas Over Broadway is a parody of Allen’s 1994 movie, Bullets Over Broadway. Stewart’s Family Guy avatar is made to look like a poor imitation of Woody Allen due to the gag being a reference to questionable casting techniques.
6
Susie Swanson’s Internal Monologue
Patrick Stewart doesn’t tend to return to his Family Guy roles, but Susie Swanson is one of the exceptions. This is a rather unique role for Stewart as only the audience can hear his lines as Susie. The Swanson baby’s inner monologue makes a reappearance sporadically throughout Family Guy. It’s unclear whether the voice is canonically Susie’s or whether Patrick Stewart is interpreting for her. His first line as Susie is the fourth-wall-breaking, “This is Patrick Stewart, how are you liking the program so far?” However, later instances aren’t so meta.
5
The Narrator
Family Guy season 12, episode 2, “Vestigial Peter,” features Patrick Stewart without the actor ever needing an animated body. Instead, he simply gives a brief account of what becomes of Peter’s vestigial twin once he leaves the Griffins. Stewart doesn’t introduce himself before his smattering of dialogue in the episode, but his recognizable voice makes it clear he has returned to the show in a minor capacity.
4
Peter Griffin
The cutaways in Family Guy allow viewers to take a look into the musings of a great many of its characters, even for incidents that don’t actually happen. The show’s comedic device shows a reverie of Peter’s in Family Guy season 5, episode 14, “No Meals on Wheels” where he imagines what it would be like to swap vocal cords with Patrick Stewart in the wake of his new-found fortune. Seeing Patrick Stewart’s voice leaving Peter Griffin’s mouth is jarring at first, but it becomes fairly normal in a suspiciously short space of time.
3
Richard “Dick” Pump
Dick Pump is surprisingly one of Stewart’s most fleshed-out original Family Guy characters, which isn’t saying much because little is known about him beyond his unfortunate name and unusual running style. Dick’s sole appearance comes in Family Guy season 9, episode 4, “Halloween on Spooner Street”, when he collects a package with his name on it that has been mistakenly delivered to Quagmire. As with the actor’s other Family Guy roles, Dick Pump sounds very similar to Patrick Stewart.
2
Avery Bullock
Patrick Stewart’s working relationship with Seth MacFarlane goes beyond the occasional Family Guy role. Stewart is part of the main cast of American Dad!, which is another of MacFarlane’s animated sitcoms. Stewart’s American Dad! character of Avery Bullock crosses over to Family Guy in season 6 episode 5, “Lois Kills Stewie (Part 2).” Ultimately, Bullock’s brief cameo in Family Guy is revealed to be part of a much larger simulation being run by Stewie, but it’s still a fun moment for American Dad! fans. Stewart lends his likeness as well as his voice to Bullock in both shows.
1
An Unnamed Talking Cat
Patrick Stewart isn’t against taking on more thankless roles, such as voicing a cat with no name. At first glance, the cat in the Family Guy season 9 opener, “And Then There Were Fewer,” appears to be a run-of-the-mill domestic pet, but it quickly transpires that the cat speaks perfect English and even holds the title of professor. The strangeness of the exchange perfectly captures the willingness of Patrick Stewart to take any Family Guy role he believes he can do justice, regardless of the character’s species.
- Release Date
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January 31, 1999
- Network
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FOX
- Showrunner
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Seth MacFarlane
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Seth MacFarlane
Peter Griffin / Brian Griffin / Stewie Griffin / Glenn Quagmire / Tom Tucker (voice)
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Alex Borstein
Lois Griffin / Tricia Takanawa / Loretta Brown / Barbara Pewterschmidt (voice)
