Trivia
- In the late '90's, Spiner starred as John Adams in the Broadway revival of 1776.
- The 1997 documentary Trekkies included an interview with Spiner discussing a group of female fans who called themselves "Spiner Femmes." The documentary profiled Anne Murphy as an example of a Spiner Femme. Murphy kept several photo albums filled with pictures of Spiner and had bought a house specifically because it had a view overlooking Spiner's neighborhood.
- His friend and old schoolmate Thomas Schlamme directed him on a number of films.
- Brent was credited as one of the writers of the movie Star Trek: Nemesis. (2002)
- His salary in the movie Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) was $5,000,000 US.
- Brent's first movie in a starring role was Rent Control in 1984. He had previously appeared in a minor role in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories in 1980.
- His height is 5' 11" (1.80 m)
- He lent his voice talents to Gargoyles as character Puck along with fellow Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members; Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis and Star Trek Voyager Kate Mulgrew.
- He is of Jewish-American ancestry.
- Brent played a fictional character, James Campbell, in Friends (1994) and himself in the spin-off series Joey (2004).
- Brent has appeared with Erick Avari in three different productions: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Independence Day (1996) and The Master of Disguise (2002).
- In 1985, Brent played "The Duke" in the Broadway musical Deep River replacing original cast member Rene Auberjonois.
- In 1984, Brent co-starred as Aramis in the Broadway musical bomb The Three Musketeers. The revival closed after only nine performances.
- In 1978, Brent appeared in a Broadway revue called A History of American Film.
- In 1984, Brent appeared in the Broadway musical Sunday in the Park With George with Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters.
- Brent is a big fan of X-Files, particularly of the David Duchovny era.
- His favorite Star Trek film was Star Trek: First Contact (1996).
- In 2000, Brent portrayed Stromboli in Disney's musical live action version of Geppetto."
- Brent appeared in the play Every Good Boy Deserves Favor with Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes and Gates McFadden. Stewart directed the play.
- He is the only Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) regular to share scenes with all three Star Trek (1966) cast members who appeared on that series: DeForest Kelley, Leonard Nimoy and James Doohan.
- Along with Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Colm Meaney and Jeffrey Combs, Brent is one of only six actors to appear in the series finales of two different Star Trek series; Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Enterprise (2001).
- Brent is the only Houstonian, and for that matter, the only Texan, who appears in The Aviator (2004), whose subject, Howard Hughes, was born in Houston.
- In October 2004, Brent made three guest appearances on Star Trek: Enterprise (2001), as Arik Soong, an ancestor of Noonian Soong, the creator of Data, his character from Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). He had previously played Noonian Soong in the episodes "Brothers" and "Inheritance".
- Brent once claimed that he has seen only about twenty episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was quoted as saying:
Brent Spiner: Because I work on it so much, I've read all the episodes and I've acted on them -- I just think it would be redundant for me to sit down and watch them.
- Brent was never particularly a fan of science fiction or Star Trek, Spiner says he auditioned for the role of Data assuming the show would be quickly cancelled, but he needed the money.
- Brent has had a long career in Broadway musicals.
- Brent dated actress Swoosie Kurtz in the '70s, and actress Terry Farrell in the '90s.
Quotes
- Brent Spiner: All kinds of things are possible -- It's Star Trek for God sakes.
- Brent Spiner: Almost everyone has worked at Paramount at one time or another.
- Brent Spiner: As I get older and I get more of this dialogue and I lose more and more brain cells, it really does become the most difficult part of the job!
- Brent Spiner: Hollywood has more than its share of harsh and cruel stories. In fact, it's probably more the norm than the exception.
- (on acting)
Brent Spiner: I really think that success in this field is about tenacity and just sticking with it.
- Brent Spiner: People think that being on Star Trek is career suicide, but it's really just the opposite.
- (On similarities and differences between himself and Data)
Brent Spiner: Yes, Data is hairless but I am not. And we are both anatomically correct.
- Brent Spiner: If its good enough for Alec Guinness, its good enough for me.
