Editing Brent Spiner (section)

=== Early work ===
Spiner moved to New York City in the early 1970s,<ref>{{cite web| last= P. | first= Ken| url= http://uk.ign.com/articles/2002/12/09/an-interview-with-brent-spiner?page=2 |title=An Interview with Brent Spiner |website=[[IGN]].com |date=December 9, 2002 |access-date=September 3, 2018}}</ref> where he became a stage actor, performing in several [[Broadway theater|Broadway]] and [[off-Broadway]] plays, including ''[[The Three Musketeers (musical)|The Three Musketeers]]'' and [[Stephen Sondheim]]'s ''[[Sunday in the Park with George]]''. As Brent Mintz, he appeared as an imposter on a 1972 episode of ''[[To Tell the Truth]]''.  He had a brief non-speaking role in the film ''[[Stardust Memories]]'', credited as Fan in Lobby, the one with a Polaroid. He can also be seen as a passenger on the train full of misfits that the Allen character is trapped on in one of the films-within-the-film.

Spiner appeared as a media technician in "The Advocates", a second-season episode of the Showtime cable series ''[[The Paper Chase (TV series)|The Paper Chase]]''.<ref>{{Cite episode|title= The Advocates|series  =[[The Paper Chase (TV series)|The Paper Chase]]|airdate=August 7, 1984|season=2|number=17}}</ref> In 1984, he moved to Los Angeles, where he appeared in several pilots and television films. He played a recurring character on ''[[Night Court]]'', Bob Wheeler, patriarch of a rural family. In 1986, he played a condemned soul in "[[Dead Run (The Twilight Zone)|Dead Run]]", an episode of the revival of [[Rod Serling]]'s series ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' on CBS. He made two appearances in season three (1986) of the situation comedy ''[[Mama's Family]]'', as two different characters. His first and only starring film role was in ''[[Rent Control (1984 film)|Rent Control]]'' (1984). In the ''[[Cheers]]'' episode "Never Love a Goalie, Part II", he played acquitted murder suspect Bill Grand. He also appeared in the ''[[Tales from the Darkside]]'' episode "A Case of the Stubborns" as a preacher, and portrayed Jim Stevens in the television film ''Manhunt for Claude Dallas''.

Spiner guest-starred in ''[[Friends]]'' as James Campbell, a man who interviews [[Rachel Green]] for [[Gucci]].<ref name="Brent Spiner- IMDb">{{cite web |title=Brent Spiner- IMDb |url=https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0000653/filmotype/actor?ref_=m_nmfm_1 |website=IMDb.com |publisher=IMDb, Inc. |access-date=March 6, 2021}}</ref>