Actor Brent Spiner has made a rare public appearance while out for a stroll in Los Angeles at the age of 77.
The veteran performer was spotted walking through the city dressed casually in a black hoodie and shorts.
He appeared sprightly as he took a stroll in the California sunshine.
Representatives for Spiner were contacted by Daily Mail for further comment following his outing.
Rise to fame on Star Trek
Spiner gained global recognition for his portrayal of Data, a sentient android crew member on the science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
He won fans around the world with his earnest performance as the intelligent synthetic officer serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise-D.
The series, created by Gene Roddenberry, was set in the 24th century and followed space explorers seeking out new worlds and civilizations.
Data served alongside Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by Patrick Stewart, as well as main cast members Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Whoopi Goldberg, LeVar Burton, and Michael Dorn.
The keen intelligence and inscrutability of Data allowed the character to fulfill a similar dramatic role to Leonard Nimoy's Dr. Spock on the original 1960s Star Trek television show.
Film roles and guest appearances
Spiner remained on Star Trek: The Next Generation throughout its seven-season run from 1987 to 1994.
He went on to star as Data in four feature film spin-offs released between the 1990s and the early 2000s, including Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis.
Diehard fans were able to catch him reprising the role on the television series Star Trek: Picard from 2020 to 2023. He also lent his voice to the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks in 2024.
Outside the Star Trek franchise, Spiner memorably portrayed Dr. Brackish Okun, the eccentric and wild-haired director of research at Area 51, in the 1996 alien blockbuster Independence Day starring Will Smith.
In that film, he shared scenes with co-stars Bill Pullman and James Rebhorn. Independence Day was directed by Roland Emmerich and became one of the highest-grossing films of the decade.
Spiner also appeared in films such as Dude, Where's My Car?, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, and the Martin Scorsese picture The Aviator.
On television, he secured guest spots across a range of series, including Friends, Mad About You, The Blacklist, The Big Bang Theory, Night Court, and Cheers.
Stage roots and new podcast project
Before achieving screen fame, Spiner established his career on the New York stage starting in the 1970s.
By 1984, he appeared in the original Broadway cast of the musical Sunday in the Park with George.
The production featured music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. It starred Mandy Patinkin as pointillist painter Georges Seurat and Bernadette Peters as his muse Dot, with Spiner performing a pair of supporting roles.
In 1984, the year Sunday in the Park with George opened on Broadway, Spiner moved to Los Angeles to pursue television and film opportunities.
After working on shows such as Night Court and Cheers, he landed his breakthrough role as Data in 1987.
His stage work also includes Broadway revivals of 1776, a musical centered on the American Revolution, and Man of La Mancha, based on the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.
Looking ahead, Spiner announced earlier this year that he and his former Star Trek: The Next Generation co-star Jonathan Frakes, who played Commander Riker, are launching a celebrity interview podcast.
The show is titled Dropping Names with Brent and Jonny. In their introductory YouTube video, the pair insisted that "this is not a Star Trek podcast."
However, they noted that they have "surrendered to fate" and accepted that the franchise that brought them stardom will feature in their discussions.
