Biography

Best known for playing the android Data on the syndicated television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and in its feature film spin-offs, Brent Spiner is also a talented singer. Before agreeing to play Data, Spiner had spent a decade on the New York stage. A native of Houston, TX, he was raised by his mother and her second husband (Spiner's real father died when he was a baby). The Quaid brothers Randy and Dennis were among his high school classmates and the three learned about acting under Cecil Pickett. Eventually Pickett would leave the school to take a teaching job at the University of Houston. Spiner enrolled there soon after graduation, but only remained at the university through 1974 when he decided to become a professional actor in New York City.

Like many other aspiring thespians, Spiner had dues to pay in the form of taking a job as a cab driver before launching his career off-Broadway. He made his Broadway debut with Sunday in the Park With George opposite Mandy Patinkin. He made his television debut in a miniseries, The Dain Curse, and first appeared in films with a bit part in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980). Spiner had a rare starring role in Rent Control (1981). He moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and launched a career as a television guest star on series and as a supporting actor in telemovies and miniseries. He most frequently appeared on the sitcom Night Court as the man who establishes a snack bar in the courthouse. He then successfully auditioned for the role of Data. Interestingly, Spiner claims no particular love for science fiction and was not a big fan of the original Star Trek. He says he mainly took the job because he didn't think the new series would last and because he needed to pay a few bills. The show lasted seven years also spawning a successful film series, and from the start, his was the most popular character on the show. In an effort to capitalize and satirize his nonhuman role on the show -- and perhaps to poke fun at actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy who capitalized on their Star Trek fame by each recording equally awful albums (can anyone forget Nimoy's bouncy rendition of "Bilbo Hobbitt"?) -- Spiner recorded his own album, Old Yellow Eyes Is Back (1991), with an 80-piece orchestra and fellow castmates Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and Michael Dorn.

Though the bulk of his fame comes from being Data, Spiner is not content to spend the rest of his career typecast and so occasionally plays other characters. His portrayal of prissy singing cruise director Gil Godwin was the funniest thing about Martha Coolidge's waterlogged Out to Sea (1997). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmography

This Much I Know (2003) (TV)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) .... Data/B-4
Master of Disguise, The (2002) .... Devlin Bowman
Star Trek: Bridge Commander (2002) (VG) .... Starfleet Lieutenant Commander Data
Dating Service (2001)
I Am Sam (2001) .... Shoe Salesman (Skylar)
Ponder Heart, The (2001) (TV) .... Dorris Grabney
Ask Me No Questions (2001) (TV)
Star Trek: Away Team (2001) (VG)(voice) .... Commander Data
My Favorite Broadway: The Love Songs (2001) (TV) .... Himself
"Girl Thing, A" (2001) (mini) TV Series .... Bob
Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)(uncredited) .... Pierre
Geppetto (2000) (TV) .... Stromboli
Star Trek: Hidden Evil (1999) (VG) .... Commander Data
Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (1999) (VG)(archive footage) .... Lt. Commander Data
Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments (1999) (TV)(archive footage)
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) (TV) .... Earl Mills
South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)(voice) .... Conan O'Brien
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) .... Starfleet Lieutenant Commander Data
... aka Star Trek 9 (1998) (USA: informal alternative title)
Star Trek: Generations (1997) (VG)(voice) .... Lt. Cmdr. Data
Trekkies (1997) .... Himself
Out to Sea (1997) .... Gil Godwyn
Star Trek: First Contact (1996) .... Starfleet Lieutenant Commander Data
... aka Star Trek 8 (1996) (USA: informal alternative title)
Phenomenon (1996) .... Dr. Bob Niedorf
Independence Day (1996) .... Dr. Brackish Okun
... aka ID4 (1996) (USA: promotional abbreviation)
Pie in the Sky (1996) .... Upscale Guy
Chronomaster (1995) (VG)(voice) .... Milo
"Deadly Games" (1995) TV Series .... Danny Schlecht
Journey's End - The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1995) (V) .... Himself
Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity (1995) (VG)(voice) .... Lt. Commander Data
Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995) (TV)(uncredited)
Star Trek: Generations (1994) .... Starfleet Lieutenant Commander Data
... aka Star Trek 7 (1994) (USA: informal alternative title)
"Gargoyles" (1994) TV Series(voice) .... Puck
Corrina, Corrina (1994) .... Brent Witherspoon
Star Trek: The Next Generation - All Good Things... (1994) (TV) .... Lt. Commander Data
... aka All Good Things... (1994) (TV)
Comic Relief VI (1994) (TV) .... Starfleet Lieutenant Commander Data
Crazy from the Heart (1991) (TV)(uncredited)
Shocker (1989)(uncredited) .... Talkshow guest
... aka Shocker: No More Mr. Nice Guy (1989) (USA: alternative title)
Miss Firecracker (1989) .... Preacher Mann
What's Alan Watching? (1989) (TV) .... Brentwood Carter
Family Sins (1987) (TV) .... Ken McMahon
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987) TV Series .... Data
... aka "Star Trek: TNG" (1987) (USA: promotional abbreviation)
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Encounter at Farpoint (1987) (TV) .... Lt. Commander Data
... aka Encounter at Farpoint (1987) (TV)
Sunday in the Park with George (1986) (TV) .... Franz & Dennis
Manhunt for Claude Dallas (1986) (TV) .... Jim Stevens
Crime of Innocence (1985) (TV) .... Hinnerman
"Robert Kennedy & His Times" (1985) (mini) TV Series .... Allard Lowenstein
Rent Control (1984) .... Leonard Junger
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1981)(uncredited) .... Corinne Burns's boss
... aka All Washed Up (1981)
Stardust Memories (1980) .... Fan in Lobby
"Dain Curse, The" (1978) (mini) TV Series .... Tom Fink
... aka "Dashiell Hammett's 'The Dain Curse'" (1978) (mini)
My Sweet Charlie (1970) (TV)(uncredited)