Rare photos of physicist Stephen Hawking with world leaders and actors

In this Dec. 9, 2014 file photo Professor Stephen Hawking, front, with actress Felicity Jones, his former wife Jane and actor Eddie Redmayne, attend the UK Premiere of The Theory of Everything at the Odeon Leicester Square, London. (File| AP)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009 file photo President Barack Obama applauds after presenting the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Stephen Hawking, the renown theoretical physicist and Cambridge University professor, during ceremonies at the White House in Washington. (File | AP)

In this Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014 file photo actor Eddie Redmayne, right, and Professor Stephen Hawking arrive on the blue carpet for the UK premiere of The Theory Of Everything at the Odeon in Leicester Square, central London. (File| AP)

In this Monday, Nov. 28, 2016 file photo Pope Francis greets physicist Stephen Hawking during an audience with participants at a plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, at the Vatican. (File | AP)

In this March 3, 1989 file photo British astrophysicist Dr. Stephen Hawking, 47, answers newsmen with the help of his computer and the assistance of his then wife Jane, in Paris. (File | AP)

In this Thursday, May 15, 2008 file photo former South African President Nelson Mandela, right, meets with British scientist Professor Stephen Hawking, left, in Johannesburg. (File| AP)

Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking is assisted off the tarmac at the Kennedy Space Center by his caregiver, Monica Guy, as he is applauded by members of the flight crew after completing a zero-gravity flight, Thursday, April 26, 2007, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (File | AP)