Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Categories: Cinema actors | Television actors | American actors | Star Trek actors | People from Texas | 1949 births
Brent Spiner
Brent Jay Spiner is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the android "Data" on the television and movie series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Born to Jack and Sylvia Spiner on February 2, 1949 in Houston, Texas, after the death of his father he was adopted by Sylvia's second husband, Sol Mintz, whose surname he used between 1955 and 1975.
Spiner attended Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas, where he had a very inspirational drama teacher, Cecil Pickett - the same drama teacher who coached such people as Cindy Pickett, Randy Quaid, Dennis Quaid, Trey Wilson , Robert Wuhl and Thomas Schlamme. After attending the University of Houston and performing in local theatre there, Spiner moved to New York City, where he became an established stage actor, performing in several Broadway and off-Broadway plays, most notably with the original cast of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George. At the same time, he also had a small part in the film Stardust Memories. In 1984, Spiner moved to Los Angeles, appearing in several pilots and made-for-tv movies, and played a recurring character on Night Court named Bob Wheeler, patriarch of a family of West Virginia hicks.
Since his success in Star Trek, he has also acted in film, including a notable minor role in the movie Independence Day. In 1991, he recorded an album of 1940s pop standards entitled Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back. He has since had guest appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Friends, Deadly Games, Mad About You, Frasier, as well as movie roles in films such as Phenomenon, Out to Sea , South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut, Geppetto, Master of Disguise and The Aviator.
Spiner, not quite as active in the Star Trek convention scene as many of his co-stars, currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, Loree McBride, and his son, Jackson Brent Spiner. He is nonetheless close to his Next Generation colleagues, counting Patrick Stewart, Gates McFadden and LeVar Burton - the latter of whom acted as his best man - amongst his best friends.
In 2004, Spiner returned to the world of Star Trek, appearing as Dr. Arik Soong, an ancestor of Data's creator, in a three episode story arc of Star Trek: Enterprise in "Borderland", "Cold Station 12", and "The Augments".
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