Brent Spiner

Brent Jay Spiner (/ˈspaɪnər/; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor who portrayed the android Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as four subsequent films. In 2019, he reprised the role for Star Trek: Picard. 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. Spiner has also enjoyed a career in the theater and as a musician.

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.[1][2][3][4] At age 29, Jack Spiner died of kidney failure when his son 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