Brent Jay Spiner (born February 2, 1949, in Houston, Texas) is an American actor, singer, writer, and comedian. He is best known for playing the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and in four subsequent feature films. Spiner's career, however, also includes substantial work in theater, television comedy, voice acting, music, and literary fiction.
Spiner developed an interest in acting while attending high school in Houston. He later studied at the University of Houston and began working professionally in regional theater before moving to New York. His early stage career included Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, among them A History of the American Film, Sunday in the Park with George, The Three Musketeers, and Big River. These appearances established him as a versatile performer with a strong musical and comic presence. He later returned to Broadway in the 1997 revival of 1776, playing John Adams, and appeared in the 2003 play Life (x) 3.
After moving to Los Angeles, Spiner worked in television films and guest roles before receiving the part that defined his career. In 1987, he was cast as Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Designed as a highly intelligent android seeking to understand human behavior, Data could have been a purely technical character, but Spiner gave him an unusual combination of precision, innocence, dignity, and understated humor. His performance became one of the central elements of the series.
Spiner also played several related characters within the Star Trek universe. He portrayed Lore, Data's unstable and antagonistic android brother, and later appeared as the human scientist Dr. Arik Soong in Star Trek: Enterprise. In the feature films Star Trek Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), he continued to explore Data's attempts to develop emotions and individuality. In Nemesis, he also played the prototype android B-4. Spiner won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for Star Trek: First Contact.
Outside science fiction, Spiner has taken on a broad range of character parts. His film credits include Independence Day (1996), in which he played the eccentric scientist Dr. Brackish Okun, Phenomenon, Out to Sea, The Master of Disguise, I Am Sam, The Aviator, and Independence Day: Resurgence. His television work has included appearances in Night Court, The Twilight Zone, Frasier, Friends, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Big Bang Theory, and The Blacklist. He also supplied the voice of the Joker in the animated series Young Justice.
Spiner is a singer as well as an actor. In 1991, he released Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back, an album of traditional pop standards whose title playfully referred to Data's distinctive eyes and Frank Sinatra's nickname. In 2021, he published Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir: Inspired by True Events, a fictionalized memoir blending Hollywood satire, noir mystery, and reflections on fame and fandom. He returned to the role of Data in Star Trek: Picard, which ran from 2020 to 2023, while also portraying additional figures connected to the character's history.