Editing Brent Spiner (section)

== Early life ==
Brent Jay Spiner was born on February 2, 1949, in [[Houston]], Texas, to [[American Jews|Jewish]] parents Sylvia (''née'' Schwartz) and Jack Spiner, who owned a furniture store.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Wills | first = Adam | date = May 7, 2009 | url = http://jewishjournal.com/uncategorized/70244/ | title = Top 5 Jewish moments in 'Trek' | newspaper = [[The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles|The Jewish Journal]] | access-date = August 9, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.juf.org/tweens/celebrity.aspx?id=419333 | title = Tweens : Celebrities : Brent Spiner | website = [[Jewish United Fund]] | access-date = June 28, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160514020404/http://www.juf.org/tweens/celebrity.aspx?id=419333 | archive-date = May 14, 2016 | url-status = dead }}</ref><!-- This website is now disallowed <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/86/Brent-Spiner.html|title=Brent Spiner Biography (1949–)|publisher=Film Reference|access-date=December 9, 2010}}</ref> --><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tv.yahoo.com/brent-spiner/contributor/34538|title=Brent Spiner|publisher=[[Yahoo! TV]]|date=February 2, 1949|access-date=December 9, 2010|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723183826/http://tv.yahoo.com/brent-spiner/contributor/34538|archive-date=July 23, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> When Spiner was ten months old, Jack Spiner died of kidney failure at age 29. Subsequently, he was adopted by his mother's second husband, Sol Mintz, whose surname he used between 1955 and 1975.<ref>Lipton, Michael A. (June 8, 1992). [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20112854,00.html "Can Data Find a Mate-A?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513134008/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20112854,00.html |date=May 13, 2016 }} ''[[People magazine|People]]'', vol. 37, No. 22.</ref><ref>Spelling, Ian (July 23, 2012). [http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=401949 "Brent Spiner set to return to Warehouse 13"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109225435/http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=401949 |date=November 9, 2013 }}. ''[[Reading Eagle]]''.</ref>

Spiner attended [[Bellaire High School (Texas)|Bellaire High School]] in [[Bellaire, Texas]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url = http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/32173
 |title = Distinguished HISD Alumni
 |website = www.houstonisd.org
 |publisher = [[Houston Independent School District]]
 |access-date = June 5, 2019
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180727011844/http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/32173
 |archive-date = July 27, 2018
|url-status = live
}}</ref> He became active on the Bellaire [[Individual events (speech)|speech team]], winning the national championship in dramatic interpretation.<ref name="auto">[https://web.archive.org/web/20110103102527/http://www.nflonline.org/Main/BSpiner "Before Brent Spiner was Famous"]. National Forensic League. Retrieved June 17, 2011</ref> He attended the [[University of Houston]], where he performed in local theater.<ref name="auto" /> In 1968, he worked as a performer at [[Six Flags AstroWorld|Six Flags Astroworld]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 24, 1968 |title=The Cuero Record (Cuero, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 228, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 24, 1968 |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth701691/m1/2/ |access-date=February 26, 2022 |website=The Portal to Texas History |language=English}}</ref> first as a gunfighter, then in Dr. Featherflowers' Medicine Show with his friend [[Trey Wilson]], with whom he alternated as Dr. Featherflowers. Spiner also performed the role in the 1968 TV special ''The Pied Piper of Astroworld''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dansby |first=Andrew |date=September 5, 2021 |title=Q&A: Houston's Brent Spiner talks 'Star Trek,' fans and fiction |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/article/Q-A-Houston-s-Brent-Spiner-talks-Star-16519725.php |access-date=February 26, 2022 |website=Houston Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref>