Brent Spiner

Brent Jay Spiner (/ˈspaɪnər/; 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.

"Fresh Hell" redirects here. For the Penny Dreadful episode, see List of Penny Dreadful episodes § Season 2 (2015).

Brent Spiner
Spiner at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con International promoting Star Trek: Picard
Born	Brent Jay Spiner (1949-02-02) February 2, 1949 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Other names	Brent Jay Mintz (1955–1975)
Alma mater	University of Houston
Occupation	Actor, comedian, musician, singer
Years active	1970–present
Notable credit(s)	Lt. Cdr. Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films
Spouse(s)	Loree McBride
Children	1
Website	www.therealbrentspiner.com

Early life

Brent Jay Spiner was born on February 2, 1949, in Houston, Texas, to Sylvia (née Schwartz) and Jack Spiner, a Jewish family,[1][2] who owned a furniture store.[3][4] 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.[5][6]

He attended Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas.[7] Spiner became active on the Bellaire speech team, winning the national championship in dramatic interpretation.[8] He attended the University of Houston, where he performed in local theatre.[9]

Career

Early work

Spiner moved to New York City in the early 1970s,[10] 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.[11] 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.[12][13] 18 years after last appearing as Data, he reprised the role in the 2020 Star Trek series Star Trek: Picard, in which the character dies.[14] 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.[15][16]

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.[17] 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.[18]

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,[19] Out to Sea, Phenomenon, The Ponder Heart and South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.[20] 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.[21]

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".

Spiner with William Shatner and LeVar Burton in July 2010

In 2010, Spiner and fellow Star Trek: The Next Generation actor LeVar Burton appeared on TWiT.tv's coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show.[22]

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.[23][24]

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.[25] 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".[26]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	My Sweet Charlie	Local	Uncredited
1980	Stardust Memories	Fan in lobby
1981	Rent Control	Leonard Junger
1982	Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains	Corinne Burns's Boss	Uncredited
1985	Crime of Innocence	Hinnerman
1986	Sunday in the Park with George	Franz/Dennis
1986	Sylvan in Paradise	Clinton C. Waddle
1986	Manhunt for Claude Dall	Jim Stevens
1987	Family Sins	Ken McMahon
1989	Miss Firecracker	Preacher Mann
1994	Corrina, Corrina	Brent Witherspoon
1994	Star Trek Generations	Lt. Commander Data
1995	Kingfish: A Story of Huey Long	N/A	Uncredited
1995	Pie in the Sky	Upscale Guy
1996	Phenomenon	Dr. Rob Niedorf
1996	Independence Day	Dr. Brackish Okun	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1996	Star Trek First Contact	Lt. Commander Data	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1997	Out to Sea	Gil Godwyn
1998	Star Trek Insurrection	Lt. Commander Data
1999	South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut	Conan O'Brien	Voice
2000	Dude, Where's My Car?	Pierre	Uncredited
2001	I Am Sam	Shoe Salesman
2002	The Master of Disguise	Devlin Bowman
2002	Star Trek: Nemesis	Lt. Commander Data/B-4
2004	The Aviator	Robert Gross
2006	Material Girls	Tommy Katzenbach
2008	Superhero Movie	Dr. Strom
2010	Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey	Coach Mackey	Voice
2016	The Midnight Man	Ezekiel
2016	Independence Day: Resurgence	Dr. Brackish Okun

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	The Dain Curse	Tom Fink	Unknown episodes
1979	Family	Fred	Episode: "Prelude"
1981	Ryan's Hope	Kim's Doctor	Episode: "#1.1442"
1984	The Paper Chase	Student in Reeve's Class	Episode: "The Advocates"
1984	Tales from the Darkside	Reverend Peabody	Episode: "A Case of the Stubborns"
1984	One Life to Live	Ralph Harley	Episode: "17 December 1984"
1985	Robert Kennedy and His Times	Allard Lowenstein	Unknown episodes
1985	Hill Street Blues	Larry Stein	Episode: "The Life and Time of Domonic Florio Jr"
1985–1987	Night Court	Bob Wheeler	6 episodes
1986	The New Twilight Zone	The Draft Dodger	Episode: "The Leprechaun-Artist/Dead Run"
1986	American Playhouse	Dennis/Franz	Episode: "Sunday in the Park with George"
1986	Hunter	Willie Vaughn	Episode: "The Contract"
1986–1987	Mama's Family	Billy Bob Conroy	2 episodes
1987	Cheers	Bill Grand	Episode: "Never Love a Goalie (Part 2)"
1987	Sledge Hammer!	Soldier	Episode: "The Spa Who Loved Me"
1987–1994	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Lt. Commander Data/Lore/Dr. Noonien Soong	175 episodes Nominated—Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series
1988	Reading Rainbow	Himself	Episode: "The Bionic Bunny Show"
1991	Crazy from the Heart	N/A	Television movie; uncredited
1995	Mad About You	Bob, The Dog Agent	Episode: "Just My Dog"
1995	Deadly Games	Danny Schlecht	Episode: "The Practical Joker"
1995–1996	Gargoyles	Puck	4 episodes
1996	Dream On	Dr. Strongwater	Episode: "The Spirit of 76th & Park"
1996	The Outer Limits	Professor Trent Davis	Episode: "The Deprogrammers"
1999	Introducing Dorothy Dandridge	Earl Parks	Television movie Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
2000	Geppetto	Stromboli	Television movie
2001	A Girl Thing	Bob	Television movie
2001	The Ponder Heart	Dorris Grabney	Television movie
2003	Frasier	Albert	Episode: "Lilith Needs a Favor"
2003	An Unexpected Love	Brad	Television movie
2004	Jack	Vernon	Television movie
2004	Friends	James Campbell	Episode: "The One with Princess Consuela"
2004	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Graham Barnes	Episode: "Shrink-Wrapped"
2004–2005	Star Trek: Enterprise	Dr. Arik Soong/Lt. Commander Data	4 episodes
2005	Joey	Himself	Episode: "Joey and the Premier"
2005–2006	Threshold	Dr. Nigel Fenway	13 episodes
2009	Leverage	William Quint	Episode: "The Juror #6 Job"
2009	Family Guy	Himself (voice)	Episode: "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven"
2010–2013	Generator Rex	Dr. Gabriel Rylander (voice)	4 episodes
2011	The Guild	Himself	Episode: "Ends and Begins"
2011	Alphas	Dr. Kern	Episode: "Blind Spot"
2011	The Big Bang Theory	Himself	Episode: "The Russian Rocket Reaction"
2011	Young Justice	The Joker (voice)	Episode: "Revelation"
2011	Fresh Hell[27]	Brent Spiner	15 episodes
2012	The Simpsons	Robots (voice)	Episode: "Them, Robot"
2012	The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes	Purple Man (voice)	Episode: "Emperor Stark"
2012	Warehouse 13	Brother Adrian	6 episodes
2013	Robot Chicken	Dr. Noonien Soong, Gondola Jack, Medic (voice)	Episode: "Caffeine-Induced Aneurysm"
2013	Wendell & Vinnie	Himself	Episode: "Swindle & Vinnie"
2014	Ray Donovan	Therapist	3 episodes
2014	Star Wars Rebels	Gall Trayvis (voice)	2 episodes
2014	Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.	Silver Surfer (voice)	Episode: "Fear Itself"
2015	Comedy Bang! Bang!	The Sandman	Episode: "Zach Galifianakis Wears Grey Corduroys and Brown Leather Shoes"
2015–2016	Blunt Talk	Phil	4 episodes
2016–2018	Outcast	Sidney	17 episodes
2016	The Blacklist	The Architect	Episode: "The Architect"
2017	Justice League Action	Edward Nygma / The Riddler (voice)	Episode: "E. Nigma, Consulting Detective"
2019	The Goldbergs	Dr. Emry	Episode: "This is This is Spinal Tap"
2020	Star Trek: Picard	Lt. Commander Data/B-4/Dr. Altan Inigo Soong	4 episodes[28][29]
2020	The Ready Room	Himself	Aftershow Episode: "Episode 20"
2020	Penny Dreadful: City of Angels	Ned Vanderhoff	Recurring role[30]

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	A History of the American Film	Hank
1984–1985	Sunday in the Park with George	Franz/Denis
1984	The Three Musketeers	Aramis
1985–1987	Big River	The Duke
1997–1998	1776	John Adams	Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical
2003	Life × 3	Hubert

Discography

Year	Title	Artist	Notes
1991	Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back	Himself
2010	Dreamland	Brent Spiner and Maude Maggart

References

1. Wills, Adam (May 7, 2009). "Top 5 Jewish moments in 'Trek'". The Jewish Journal. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
2. "Tweens : Celebrities : Brent Spiner". Jewish United Fund. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
3. "Brent Spiner Biography (1949–)". Film Reference. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
4. "Brent Spiner". Yahoo! TV. February 2, 1949. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. 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" Archived November 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Reading Eagle.
7. "Distinguished HISD Alumni". www.houstonisd.org. Houston Independent School District. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
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". IGN. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
11. "The Advocates". The Paper Chase. Season 2. Episode 17. August 7, 1984.
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".
15. EDT, Samuel Spencer On 3/26/20 at 11:51 AM (March 26, 2020). "What happened at the end of 'Star Trek: Picard' and what it means for Season 2". Newsweek. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
16. Staff, TrekMovie com. "Brent Spiner And Patrick Stewart: Saying Goodbye To Data On 'Star Trek: Picard'—And Forever". TrekMovie.com. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
17. Lee, Luaine (January 9, 2003). "A Data with Star Trek again". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
18. 1776: The New Broadway Cast Recording (1997). Amazon.com. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
19. By Ken P. (December 9, 2002). "An Interview with Brent Spiner". IGN. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
20. "Brent Spiner". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
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. 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". TV Guide. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
26. Mattei, Mike (May 6, 2012). "Brent Spiner Interview". Cinemassacre.
27. Spiner, Brent. "Fresh Hell". YouTube. Retrieved March 15, 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. Otterson, Joe (July 20, 2019). "'Star Trek: Picard' to Feature Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan". Variety. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
30. Petski, Denise (May 20, 2019). "'Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels': Amy Madigan, Brent Spiner & Lin Shaye To Recur In Showtime Sequel Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 20, 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Brent Spiner on IMDb
• Brent Spiner at the Internet Broadway Database
• Brent Spiner at the TCM Movie Database
• Brent Spiner at AllMovie