Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american actor”. Today it says “american actor best known for his role as the android data on the television series star trek”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Born to Jack and Sylvia Spiner on February 2 , 1949 in Houston, Texas , after the death of his father he was adopted by Sylvia's second husband, Sol Mintz, whose surname he used between 1955 and 1975 . Spiner attended Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas , where he had a very inspirational drama teacher, Cecil Pickett — the same drama teacher who coached such people as Cindy Pickett , Randy Quaid , Dennis Quaid , Trey Wilson , Robert Wuhl and Thomas Schlamme . After attending the University of Houston and performing in local theatre there, Spiner moved to New York City , where he became an established stage actor, performing in several Broadway and off-Broadway plays , most notably with the original cast of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George . At the same time, he also had a small part in the film Stardust Memories . In 1984 , Spiner moved to Los Angeles, appearing in several pilots and made-for-tv movies , and played a recurring character on Night Court named Bob Wheeler, patriarch of a family of West Virginia hicks. Since his success in Star Trek , he has also acted in film, including a notable minor role in the movie Independence Day . In 1991 , he recorded an album of 1940s pop standards entitled Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back . He has since had guest appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent , Friends , Deadly Games , Mad About You , Frasier , as well as movie roles in films such as Phenomenon , Out to Sea , South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut , Geppetto , Master of Disguise and The Aviator . Spiner currently lives in Los Angeles, California . He maintains a high level of privacy about his personal life. As such, his marital status is not certain; some sources have cited Loree McBride as his wife, while others maintain that the two are not married. He is not as active in the Star Trek convention scene as many of his co-stars, but he is nonetheless close to his Next Generation colleagues and counts Patrick Stewart , Gates McFadden and LeVar Burton amongst his best friends. In 2004 , Spiner returned to the world of Star Trek when he appeared as Dr. Arik Soong , an ancestor of Data's creator Dr. Noonien Soong , whom he'd also played, in a three-episode story arc of Star Trek: Enterprise in " Borderland ", " Cold Station 12 ", and " The Augments ". He also briefly reprised the role of Data for the series, providing a tongue-in-cheek voice-only cameo in the Enterprise finale, " These Are the Voyages...1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 15984437.
The opening as it stood in 2010 16 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Brent Jay Spiner (born February 2, 1949) is an American actor , best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films.Brackish Okun in Independence Day , both in 1996, earned him a Saturn Award and Saturn Award nomination respectively.He has also enjoyed a career in the theatre and as a musician.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 371177492.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Brent Jay Spiner ( / ˈ s p aɪ n ər / , born February 2, 1949) is an American actor, comedian, and singer best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films. Brackish Okun in Independence Day , both in 1996, earned him a Saturn Award and Saturn Award nomination respectively. He has also enjoyed a career in the theatre and as a musician.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668699685.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
American actor Brent Jay Spiner ( / ˈ s p aɪ n ər / ; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for his portrayal of the android Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films . In 1997, he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact , and was nominated in the same category for portraying Dr.Brackish Okun in Independence Day , a role he reprised in Independence Day: Resurgence . He has also enjoyed a career in the theatre and as a musician.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964007813.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Brent Jay Spiner ( / ˈ s p aɪ n ər / ; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the android Data on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994), four subsequent films (1994–2002), and Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023). In 1997, he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact , and was nominated in the same category for portraying Dr. Brackish Okun in Independence Day , a role he reprised in Independence Day: Resurgence . Spiner has also enjoyed a career in the theater and as a musician.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176936709.
The opening as it stood in 2025
American actor (born 1949) "Fresh Hell" redirects here. Brent Jay Spiner ( / ˈ s p aɪ n ər / ; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor best known for his role as the android Data on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994), four subsequent films (1994–2002), and Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023). In 1997, he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact , and was nominated in the same category for portraying Dr. Brackish Okun in Independence Day , a role he reprised in Independence Day: Resurgence . Spiner has also enjoyed a career in the theater and as a musician. He is also known for voicing The Joker in the animated series Young Justice (2011–2022).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296951335. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american actor”. Today it says “american actor best known for his role as the android data on the television series star trek”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
american actor
Now
american actor best known for his role as the android data on the television series star trek
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
