Brent Spiner mini-bio: Brent Spiner, whose primary claim to fame is his portrayal of the beloved android Data on the television series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), was born and raised in Houston, Texas. His parents, Jack and Sylvia Spiner, owned and operated a furniture store. Jack died of kidney failure at age 29, when Brent was 10 months old. When he was 6 years old, his mother married Sol Mintz, who adopted Brent and his older brother Ron. Although his mother divorced Mintz after 7 years of marriage, Brent retained his adopted father's last name until 1975 when he took back his birth name. Spiner first began pursuing his interest in acting while in high school.
In 1986, after a number of character parts in television series and movies, such as "Robert Kennedy & His Times" (1985) (mini), Crime of Innocence (1985) (TV), Manhunt for Claude Dallas (1986) (TV), and Family Sins (1987) (TV), Spiner snagged the role that would bring him international fame: Data, the endearing android, whom Spiner played "by tapping into his inner child." "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), the sequel to the original television series "Star Trek" (1966), became hugely popular, moving to the big screen for four films (so far) after its 7-year run on television. Aside from these films, Spiner has made cameo appearances in a number of films directed by his friend and old schoolmate Thomas Schlamme, such as Miss Firecracker (1989), Crazy from the Heart (1991) (TV), and Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995) (TV), and has appeared in small roles in more recent films, such as Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) and The Master of Disguise (2002). Arguably his most popular film portrayal was Dr. Brakish Okun in Independence Day (1996), a role that elicited his unique eccentricity and sense of humor. He also starred in Night Court in the 80's as 'Bob Wheeler' and recently appeared on the TV series 'Threshold' as 'Dr. Nigel Fenway'.
terris85017posted 706 days ago
