Brent Spiner

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American actorTemplate:SHORTDESC:American actor[[Category:**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Pagetype/config' not found.**s with short description]]

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**Brent Jay Spiner** (Template:IPAc-en; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for his portrayal of the android Data in the television series *Star Trek: The Next Generation* and four subsequent films. In 1997, he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Data in *Star Trek: First Contact*, and was nominated in the same category for portraying Dr. Brackish Okun in *Independence Day*, a role he reprised in *Independence Day: Resurgence*. He has also enjoyed a career in the theatre and as a musician.

## Early life

Brent Jay Spiner was born on February 2, 1949, in Houston, Texas, to Sylvia (*née* Schwartz) and Jack Spiner, a Jewish family, who owned a furniture store. Jack Spiner died when Brent was ten months old. After his father's death, Spiner was adopted by his mother's second husband, Sol Mintz, whose surname he used between 1955 and 1975.

He attended Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas. Spiner became active on the Bellaire speech team, winning the national championship in dramatic interpretation. He attended the University of Houston, where he performed in local theatre.

## Career

### Early work

Spiner moved to New York City in the early 1970s, where he became a stage actor, performing in several Broadway and off-Broadway plays, including *The Three Musketeers* and Stephen Sondheim's *Sunday in the Park with George*. He had a brief nonspeaking role in the film *Stardust Memories*, credited as "Fan in Lobby", the one with a Polaroid.

Spiner appeared as a media technician in "The Advocates", a second-season episode of the Showtime cable series *The Paper Chase*. In 1984, he moved to Los Angeles, where he appeared in several pilots and made-for-TV movies. He played a recurring character on *Night Court*, Bob Wheeler, patriarch of a rural family. In 1986, he played a condemned soul in "Dead Run", an episode of the revival of Rod Serling's series *The Twilight Zone* on CBS. He made two appearances in season three (1986) of the situation comedy *Mama's Family*, playing two different characters. Spiner's first and only starring film role was in *Rent Control* (1984). In the *Cheers* episode "Never Love a Goalie, Part II", he played acquitted murder suspect Bill Grand. Spiner also appeared in the *Tales from the Darkside* episode, "A Case of the Stubborns", as a preacher. He portrayed Jim Stevens in the made-for-TV movie *Manhunt for Claude Dallas*.

### *Star Trek*

In 1987, Spiner started his 15-year run portraying Lieutenant Commander Data on *Star Trek: The Next Generation*, which spanned seven seasons and four feature films. As a main character, he appeared in all but one of the series' 178 episodes. He reprised his role in the spin-off films *Star Trek Generations* (1994), *Star Trek: First Contact* (1996), *Star Trek: Insurrection* (1998), and *Star Trek: Nemesis* (2002). Although billed as the final *Trek* movie for the *TNG* cast, the ambiguous ending of *Star Trek: Nemesis* suggested a possible avenue for the return of Data. However, Spiner opined that he was too old to continue playing the part, as Data does not age, whereas Spiner had already aged considerably during the years in which he played the role. He reprised the role 18 years after last appearing as Data in the 2020 *Star Trek* series, *Star Trek: Picard*. In the Picard series, his character Data dies and Spiner has stated that he does not intend to play that role again, though he might be open to playing the role of Alton Soong.

In addition to the series and films, he voiced his character in several *Star Trek* video games, such as *Star Trek: Generations*, *Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity*, *Star Trek: Hidden Evil*, and *Star Trek: Bridge Commander*. After appearing in several episodes as Arik Soong, the ancestor of Data's creator, Dr. Noonien Soong, Spiner also recorded dialogue as Data that was heard in the final episode of *Star Trek: Enterprise*, "These Are the Voyages...", which aired in 2005.

#### Music and stage

In 1991, Spiner recorded an album of 1940s pop standards entitled *Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back*, the title of which was a play on the yellow contact lenses Spiner wore as Data, and the title of a Frank Sinatra record, *Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back*. In 1997, he returned to Broadway, playing John Adams in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of the musical *1776*. The production was nominated for a Tony Award. A cast recording was released of the revival production.

### After *Star Trek*

Spiner has appeared in the television series *Deadly Games*, *The Blacklist*, *Dream On*, *Frasier*, *Friends*, *Gargoyles*, *Law & Order: Criminal Intent*, *Mad About You* and *The Outer Limits*. In the series *The Big Bang Theory* and *Joey*, he appeared as himself. He has acted in the movies *The Aviator*, *Dude, Where's My Car?*, *I Am Sam*, *Independence Day*, *Independence Day: Resurgence*, *The Master of Disguise*, *Out to Sea*, *Phenomenon*, *The Ponder Heart* and *South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut*. His television-movie appearances during this period include the 2000 musical *Geppetto* and the role of Dorothy Dandridge's manager and confidant, Earl Mills, in the HBO production *Introducing Dorothy Dandridge*.

In 2004, Spiner returned to *Star Trek* when he appeared as Dr. Arik Soong, an ancestor of Data's creator Dr. Noonien Soong, whom he also played, in a three-episode story arc of *Star Trek: Enterprise*: "Borderland", "Cold Station 12", and "The Augments". Spiner guest-starred in *Friends* as a man who interviews Rachel for Gucci, and later cameoed as himself in the *Friends* spin-off *Joey*.

In 2005, Spiner appeared in a short-lived science-fiction television series *Threshold*, which was canceled in November of that year after 13 episodes. In 2006, he appeared in a feature film comedy, *Material Girls*, with Hilary and Haylie Duff.

During the 10th season of the situation comedy *Frasier*, in the episode "Lilith Needs a Favor", Spiner made two brief cameos as a fellow airline passenger with Frasier Crane's ex-wife, Lilith Sternin.

In March 2008, Spiner performed alongside Maude Maggart in a radio show/musical, *Dreamland*, which was released as a CD album.

In 2008, Spiner played Dr. Strom in the feature film parody *Superhero Movie*. In February 2009, he played William Quint in "The Juror #6 Job", an episode of the drama series *Leverage* directed by his *Next Generation* co-star Jonathan Frakes. That same year, he voiced himself in the *Family Guy* episode "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven".

 File:BrentSpinerWilliamShatnerLevarBurtonJuly2010.jpg
In 2010, Spiner and fellow *Star Trek: The Next Generation* actor LeVar Burton appeared on TWiT.tv's coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show.

In April 2011, Spiner began starring in *Fresh Hell*, a comic webseries in which he plays a version of himself, attempting to put his career back together after falling out of the limelight.

He appeared as Dr. Kern in the September 12, 2011, episode of the Syfy channel program *Alphas* entitled "Blind Spot". In October 2011, he appeared as himself in the episode "The Russian Rocket Reaction" of *The Big Bang Theory*. The day after his guest appearance, it was announced that Spiner would guest-star in the *Young Justice* episode "Revelation", providing the voice of the Joker. Spiner has also guest-starred on the Syfy program *Warehouse 13* as Brother Adrian in the third and fourth seasons.

Spiner's web site is at therealbrentspiner.com. He selected that domain name because someone else bought the domain name brentspiner.com before he could do so, and he was not amenable to paying the price the owners demanded for it, which Spiner called "inflated".

## References

1. ↑ Wills, Adam (May 7, 2009). "Top 5 Jewish moments in 'Trek'".
2. ↑ "Tweens : Celebrities : Brent Spiner". http://www.juf.org/tweens/celebrity.aspx?id=419333.
3. ↑ "Brent Spiner Biography (1949–)". Film Reference. http://www.filmreference.com/film/86/Brent-Spiner.html. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
4. ↑ "Brent Spiner". Yahoo! TV. February 2, 1949. https://tv.yahoo.com/brent-spiner/contributor/34538. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
5. ↑ Lipton, Michael A. (June 8, 1992). "Can Data Find a Mate-A?" *People*, vol. 37, No. 22.
6. ↑ Spelling, Ian (July 23, 2012). "Brent Spiner set to return to Warehouse 13". *Reading Eagle*.
"Distinguished HISD Alumni". Houston Independent School District. http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/32173.
8. ↑ "Before Brent Spiner was Famous". National Forensic League. Retrieved June 17, 2011
9. ↑ "Before Brent Spiner was Famous". National Forensic League. Retrieved June 17, 2011
10. ↑ P., Ken (December 9, 2002). "An Interview with Brent Spiner". http://uk.ign.com/articles/2002/12/09/an-interview-with-brent-spiner?page=2. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
11. ↑ Template:Cite episode
12. ↑ "". TrekMovie.com. June 29, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
13. ↑ Polowy, Kevin (June 23, 2016). "Brent Spiner on Reprising 'Star Trek' Data Role: 'I'd Look Ridiculous in That Makeup Now'". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
14. ↑ "Star Trek: Picard (Official Site) Watch on CBS All Access". https://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-picard/.
15. ↑ EDT, Samuel Spencer On 3/26/20 at 11:51 AM (2020-03-26). "What happened at the end of 'Star Trek: Picard' and what it means for Season 2" (in en). https://www.newsweek.com/star-trek-ending-explained-what-happened-end-episode-10-s01e10-1x10-et-arcadia-ego-1494454.
16. ↑ Staff, TrekMovie com. "Brent Spiner And Patrick Stewart: Saying Goodbye To Data On ‘Star Trek: Picard’—And Forever" (in en-US). https://trekmovie.com/2020/03/30/brent-spiner-and-patrick-stewart-saying-goodbye-to-data-on-star-trek-picard-and-forever/.
17. ↑ Lee, Luaine (January 9, 2003). "A Data with Star Trek again". Retrieved on December 9, 2010.
18. ↑ *1776: The New Broadway Cast Recording (1997).* Amazon.com. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
19. ↑ By Ken P. (2002-12-09). "An Interview with Brent Spiner". http://www.ign.com/articles/2002/12/09/an-interview-with-brent-spiner. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
20. ↑ "Brent Spiner". Behind The Voice Actors. http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Brent-Spiner/. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
21. ↑ Tenuto, John (April 27, 2008). "Review: Brent Spiner's Dreamland + Interview + Signed CD Giveaway." TrekMovie.com
22. ↑ Laporte, Leo. "TWiT Live Specials". TWiT. Archived from the original on April 25, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100425054747/http://www.twit.tv/ces7. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
23. ↑ "Celebrate Brent Spiner's Birthday With Every Episode of 'Fresh Hell'". TrekNews.net. February 2, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
24. ↑ Pascale, Anthony (March 22, 2012). "Exclusive Interview: Brent Spiner Talks Fresh Hell and Star Trek: TNG @25". TrekMovie.com. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
25. ↑ Sands, Rich (October 14, 2011). "Young Justice Recruits Brent Spiner and Alyssa Milano for the Injustice League". Retrieved on September 3, 2018.
26. ↑ Mattei, Mike (May 6, 2012). "Brent Spiner Interview". Cinemassacre.
27. ↑ Spiner, Brent. "Fresh Hell". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/freshhellseries. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
28. ↑ "Picard Dog: Patrick Stewart Reveals His Very Good Boy's Name - Comic Con 2019". IGN. July 20, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
29. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
30. ↑ Petski, Denise (May 20, 2019). "'Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels': Amy Madigan, Brent Spiner & Lin Shaye To Recur In Showtime Sequel Series". https://deadline.com/2019/05/penny-dreadful-amy-madigan-brent-spiner-lin-shaye-recur-showtime-sequel-1202618950/. Retrieved May 20, 2019.

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