this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023
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26
Brent Mintz, professional dog, duck and squirrel photographer, as played by a young, bearded Data in 1972, on the show To Tell the Truth. (skip to 1:46 for his entrance) (www.youtube.com)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by JohnnyEnzyme@lemm.ee to c/startrek@startrek.website
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His birth father died when Brent was less than a year old, so he took his adopted father's name "Mintz" from 1955-1975 before finally reverting back to "Spiner."

AFAIK Spiner wasn't actually a photographer as he claimed, but a stage actor living in NYC at the time. Twelve years after the above appearance, he moved to LA and began playing a recurring character on Night Court, "Bob Wheeler," as well as other roles.

This game show is definitely showing its age, and I do find it amusing that they used not just such an ordinary-looking host, but one who also looked about ready for the retirement home. But he does in fact do a fine job I think, and the show itself has a very interesting premise, one in which a panel must try to pick between two imposters and a genuine person.

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[–] DharmaCurious@startrek.website 4 points 1 year ago

Mintz is my family's name. You don't see it a whole lot. Crazy to know Data is a Mintz.

[–] aeronmelon@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

One of the things that makes TNG so good is that they had, not one, but two main actors trained in classical theater. Spiner being one of them.

Difficult to tell when he's playing an android, but every single time he was allowed to express emotion it filled the screen.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

Difficult to tell when he’s playing an android

I thought that was a big part of how Spiner made Data just about the most interesting character in the series-- the understated little flourishes, tics, and burblings of emotion showing through.

To me a very clever variation on Nimoy's amazing work on Spock in the series before, but of course Brent made the character wholly his own to the point that it barely registered that he was cut from the 'Spock template.'