6 Things You Should Know About Brent Spiner

It's Brent Spiner's birthday today, and to celebrate StarTrek.com is pleased to present 6 Things You Should Know About Brent Spiner. Here they are:

• Spiner kicked off his career by acting on stage. In New York City, he appeared in such plays as A History of the American Film (1978), Sunday in the Park with George (1984-1985), The Three Musketeers (1984) and Big River (1985-1987).

• The actor's run as Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation spanned 15 years, from "Encounter at Farpoint" to Star Trek Nemesis. Unlike many of his co-stars, Spiner never directed an episode, but he did help develop the story for Nemesis and received a "story by" co-credit. 

• Spiner had a career year in 1996. He not only starred in the hugely successful Star Trek: First Contact, but he also memorably appeared as Dr. Okun in Independence Day and played a psychologist in the suprise hit, Phenomenon, with John Travolta. 

• Spiner, in 1991, released an album titled Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back. Joining him on the collection of 1930s and 1940s standards were his TNG co-stars Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton and Michael Dorn, who were jointly referred to as "The Sunspots."

• The actor has played himself several times over the years, including in his Web series Fresh Hell and also on an episode of The Big Bang Theory. In a 2011 interview with StarTrek.com, he discussed the challenges of playing Brent Spiner. "I've never been very good at playing myself. I'd done it before. I did it on Joey a few years ago. It's one of the most difficult characters to play. It's certainly easier in Fresh Hell because we've established all of the parameters of where I am in my life at that point. None of that is important at all when I appear as myself anywhere else. It's just a person who happens to be named Brent Spiner, who was on Star Trek." 

• The actor's most recent projects include Independence Day: Resurgence, in which he reprised the role of Dr. Okun; the horror series Outcast; and the Patrick Stewart comedy Blunt Talk. Spiner is also set to guest star as a villain, dubbed The Architect, on an upcoming episode of The Blacklist. His episode will air on Feb. 16. 

Please join us in wishing Spiner a happy birthday.

via Star Trek Latest News