David Duchovny

For the Bree Sharp song, see David Duchovny (song).
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**David William Duchovny** Template:IPAc-en (born August 7, 1960) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for playing FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series *The X-Files* and writer Hank Moody on the television series *Californication*, both of which have earned him Golden Globe awards.

Duchovny appeared in both *X-Files* films, the 1998 science fiction-thriller of the same name and the supernatural-thriller *The X-Files: I Want to Believe* (2008). He executive-produced and starred in the historically based cop drama *Aquarius* (2015–16). Duchovny earned a A.B. in English literature from Princeton University, and an M.A. in English literature from Yale University, and has since published three books, *Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale* (2015), *Bucky F\*cking Dent* (2016) and *Miss Subways* (2018).

## Early life

Duchovny was born in New York, in 1960. He is the son of Margaret "Meg" (*née* Miller), a school administrator and teacher, and Amram "Ami" Ducovny (1927–2003), a writer and publicist who worked for the American Jewish Committee. Duchovny's mother is a Scottish Presbyterian emigrant from Aberdeen, Scotland. His father was Jewish; Duchovny's paternal grandfather was a Jewish emigrant from Berdychiv, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine), and Duchovny's paternal grandmother was a Jewish emigrant from Russian Poland (now in Poland). His father dropped the *h* in his last name to avoid the sort of mispronunciations he encountered while serving in the Army.

Duchovny attended Grace Church School and The Collegiate School For Boys (from which he graduated as head boy in 1978); both are in Manhattan. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University in 1982 with an A.B. summa cum laude in English literature. He was a member of Charter Club, one of the university's eating clubs. In 1982, his poetry received an honorable mention for a college prize from the Academy of American Poets. The title of his senior thesis was *The Schizophrenic Critique of Pure Reason in Beckett's Early Novels*. He played junior varsity basketball at Princeton. He earned a Master of Arts in English Literature from Yale University and subsequently began work on a Ph.D. that remains unfinished. The title of his uncompleted doctoral thesis is *Magic and Technology in Contemporary Fiction and Poetry.*

## Career

Duchovny appeared in an advertisement for Löwenbräu beer in 1987. The next year he appeared in two scenes in *Working Girl* (1988). He had a recurring role as a transgender DEA agent on the series *Twin Peaks* and played the narrator and host in the long-running Showtime erotica/soft-core TV series *Red Shoe Diaries*. In 1992, he played the role of Rollie Totheroh, in the biographic film *Chaplin*, directed by Richard Attenborough and based on the life of Charlie Chaplin. In 1992 he had a small role in the family film Beethoven. In 1993, Duchovny began starring in the science fiction series *The X-Files*, as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder, a conspiracy theorist who believed his sister had been abducted by aliens. The show evolved into a cult hit and quickly became one of The Fox Network's first major television hits. According to *X-Files* creator Chris Carter, Duchovny turned out to be one of the best-read people he knew. After getting the role, Duchovny thought the show would not last for long or that it would not make as much impact as it did. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz called Duchovny "amazingly smart". Spotnitz further stated that Duchovny was behind some of the main characteristic ideas behind Mulder. Also in 1993, Duchovny was cast alongside Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis, in the Dominic Sena-directed thriller *Kalifornia*.

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During *The X-Files* run, in between the fifth and sixth seasons, Duchovny co-starred alongside Gillian Anderson in a 1998 film also titled *The X-Files* that continued the *X-Files* storyline. He remained with the series until quitting in 2001, partly because of a contract dispute that occurred after season seven finished filming. Duchovny appeared in half of the season eight episodes, but did not appear in season nine until the series finale in 2002. He also provided the voice for a parody of his Mulder character in the episode "The Springfield Files" of the animated comedy series *The Simpsons*. Duchovny has been nominated for four Emmy Awards.

Duchovny caused controversy when it became public that he was the primary reason for which filming of *The X-Files* series was moved from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Los Angeles in 1998. Many residents of Vancouver were upset with Duchovny over scripted jokes on *Late Night with Conan O'Brien* about the city's heavy rainfall; he joked, "Vancouver is a very nice place, if you like 400 inches of rainfall a day." (Duchovny's character Mulder would later reference this joke in the Season 5 episode "Schizogeny".) He also stated, "Of course, I'm tired of the rain. But if I wasn't married to a woman that lives in L.A. I'd stay in Vancouver. It's a lovely city." During the run of *The X-Files*, he also made several guest appearances in the cult TV satire *The Larry Sanders Show*, playing himself, but adding a strong attraction to Sanders. In the final episode of the series, he performed a parody of Sharon Stone's 'flashing' scene from *Basic Instinct* and a parody of Dr. Hannibal Lecter being introduced to Agent Clarice Starling in *The Silence of the Lambs*.

Duchovny has guest hosted *Saturday Night Live* twice (May 13, 1995 and May 9, 1998). Both shows were season finales. In 2000 he starred in the feature film *Return to Me*, a romantic comedy/drama directed by Bonnie Hunt and co-starring Minnie Driver and Carroll O'Connor. In 2001, Duchovny starred as Ira Kane in the sci-fi comedy film *Evolution*, alongside Seann William Scott, and had a cameo as hand model J.P. Prewitt in the Ben Stiller comedy *Zoolander*. He appeared in a celebrity edition of *Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?* in May 2000. He got to the $250,000 question, but answered his $500,000 question incorrectly and lost $218,000, leaving him with $32,000. He appeared on *Celebrity Jeopardy!* in 1995 and 2010.

Duchovny provided the voice of Ethan Cole in the 2005 video game *Area 51*, as well as that of the title character "XIII" in the 2003 video game *XIII*. In 2003 Duchovny starred in the 84th episode of the HBO show *Sex and the City*. He played the role of Jeremy, Carrie Bradshaw's high-school ex-boyfriend, who has committed himself to a Connecticut mental health facility. In 2005, Duchovny provided the voice-over for a PSA radio campaign for Act Against Violence, which was written, directed and produced by advertising agency, chemistri. In 2005, Duchovny, who had already made his directorial debut with an episode of *The X-Files*, wrote, directed, and appeared in the feature film *House of D*. The film starred Anton Yelchin, Robin Williams, and Duchovny's ex-wife Téa Leoni in a coming-of-age tale. It received mostly poor reviews and little box office success. Duchovny also directed "Judas on a Pole", an episode of *Bones*, during the show's second season.

Duchovny has played Hank Moody, a troubled, womanizing novelist in Showtime's series *Californication*. The portrayal landed him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Comedy or Musical in 2007. In March 2014, NBC announced that a new TV series, entitled *Aquarius*, would be produced starring Duchovny. Duchovny portrayed a 1960s police sergeant investigating small-time criminal and budding cult leader Charles Manson. In March 2015, Duchovny was announced as returning in a six-episode continuation of *The X-Files*. It premiered on January 24, 2016, on FOX.

In 2017, he made the decision to put his acting career on hold, so he could focus more on his career as a writer and a singer/songwriter. Duchovny’s last acting job was in the 11th season of *The X-Files*.

## Personal life

Duchovny married actress Téa Leoni on May 13, 1997. Their daughter Madelaine West Duchovny was born on April 24, 1999. Their son Kyd Miller was born on June 15, 2002. Duchovny is a former vegetarian and a pescetarian.

On August 28, 2008, Duchovny announced that he had checked himself in to a rehabilitation facility for treating sex addiction. On October 15, Duchovny's and Leoni's representatives issued a statement revealing that they had separated several months earlier. A week later, Duchovny's lawyer said that he planned to sue the *Daily Mail* over an article that it ran which claimed that he had an affair with Hungarian tennis instructor Edit Pakay while married to Leoni, a claim that Duchovny has denied. On November 15, 2008, the *Daily Mail* retracted their claims. Duchovny and Leoni reunited, then separated again on June 29, 2011. In 2012, he declared that he was still married to her, though they were separated. Their divorce was finalized in June 2014. Until their split, the couple lived on the Upper East Side. He then moved to Central Park West on the Upper West Side.

Duchovny is supportive of environmentalism and an enthusiast for electric vehicle technology. He appeared as a part of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival in support of the film *Revenge of the Electric Car*.

## Discography and Tours

### Tours

* The Hell of Highwater Tour (2015)
* The Hell of Highwater Europe Tour (2016)
* Every Third Thought Tour (2018)
* Every Third Thought Europe Tour (2019)

## Books

* 2015: *Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Template:ISBN.
* 2016: *Bucky F\*cking Dent*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Template:ISBN.
* 2018: *Miss Subways: A Novel*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Template:ISBN.

## Music

On May 12, 2015, Duchovny released his first music album entitled *Hell or Highwater*, which consists of 12 songs.

On February 9, 2018, Duchovny released his second album entitled *Every Third Thought*.

## Other works

* 2011: Introduction to *Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People Who Made a Difference* Template:ISBN.
* 2015: Audiobook *To Legend He Goes: A Tale from The Legend of Drizzt*
* 2017: Audiobook *X-Files - cold cases* - an Audible original
* 2017: Audiobook *X files - stolen lives* - an Audible original

## References

1. ↑ "Monitor" (Aug 9, 2013), pp. 22.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hecker, Don R. (September 2, 2003). "Amram Ducovny, 75, Late-Blossoming Novelist", *The New York Times*. Retrieved on May 1, 2010.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Stated in interview on *Inside the Actors Studio*
4. ↑ "David Duchovny Biography (1960-)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/65/David-Duchovny.html. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
5. ↑ "Craig Ferguson 8/10/10C Late Late Show David Duchovny". Youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAxE3-7IMGY#t=102s. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
> ... my father being a Russian Jew ...
>
>
>
6. ↑ "My Kind of Day - David Duchovny". Radio Times. Dec 1995. http://duchovny.net/articles/radiotimes2.htm.
> My relatives are Scottish, so I think my Scottish audience is important. Some are in Glasgow, but my mum's from Aberdeen. I hear it's grey there—like my mum. The name's Russian, but New York is my home. That's where I'm from.
>
>
7. ↑ "David Duchovny DuchovnyNet - Article: A Man and His 'X'". Duchovny.net. October 26, 1997. http://duchovny.net/articles/latimes1026.htm. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
> I like that I look like my father and mother put together—that's a Russian Jew and a Scottish Lutheran, and I like that it all looks mixed up. ... I'm sure my nose wasn't an asset until I was David Duchovny. Before that, it was, like, "Yeah, that kind of Jewish-looking guy with the kind of big nose."
>
>
8. ↑ "David Duchovny: 'My fantasy was to be Nietzsche'". *The Independent*. June 10, 2004. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/david-duchovny-my-fantasy-was-to-be-nietzsche-731728.html. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
9. ↑ Kozlov, Vladimir (July 29, 2014). "David Duchovny's Russian Beer Commercial Goes Viral (Video)". *The Hollywood Reporter*. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/video-david-duchovny-stars-russian-721915. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
10. ↑ Wild, David (May 16, 1996). "X-Files Undercover". *Rolling Stone*. https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/features/x-files-undercover-19960516. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
11. ↑ "Was David Duchovny's Family From Ukraine or Russia?", *The Huffington Post* (July 30, 2014).
12. ↑ "David Duchovny Interview for "Phantom"". *facebook.com*. https://www.facebook.com/notes/rcr-media-group/david-duchovny-interview-for-phantom/357122877670319.
13. ↑ "Five Minutes With David Duchovny". *Gothamist*. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130510151514/http://gothamist.com/2013/02/27/david\_duchovny.php.
14. ↑ "A Literary Classic of Coney Island Comes to Digital Life". *thebrooklynink.com*. http://thebrooklynink.com/2012/08/20/47060-a-literary-classic-of-coney-island-comes-to-digital-life/.
15. ↑ "David Duchovny DuchovnyNet - Article: Cult Times 1997". Duchovny.net. http://duchovny.net/articles/culttimes.htm. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
16. ↑ Peter Canavese. "Groucho Reviews: Interview: David Duchovny—House of D, Twin Peaks—03/30/05". *GrouchoReviews*. http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/84.
17. ↑ http://depts.washington.edu/uwpbk/famous.htm
18. ↑ Duchovny, David William. *The Schizophrenic Critique of Pure Reason in Beckett's Early Novels.* 1982.
19. ↑ Greenfield, Jimmy; Malcolm, Chris (February 25, 2004). "Athletes in Action". http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-02-25/news/0402260043\_1\_canadian-football-league-athletes-ucla-basketball-team. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
20. ↑ Motzkin, Lauren (March 2, 2009). "Duchovny delights". http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2009/03/02/duchovny-delights/. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
21. ↑ Carter, Chris. "Casting Mulder". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/xfiles/interviews/carter/clip0.shtml. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
22. ↑ Spotnitz, Frank. "Amazingly Smart". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/xfiles/interviews/spotnitz/page6.shtml. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
23. ↑ Schaefer, Glen (March 12, 2008). "Filming of the X-Files sequel wraps". *Vancouver Province*. Archived from the original on August 23, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120823050139/http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=3c696f83-c42f-4b57-9f7b-9372a358eea2&k=93084. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
24. ↑ "Duchovny quits X-Files", BBC News (May 18, 2001). Retrieved on March 19, 2015.
25. ↑ David Duchovny at Emmys.com
26. ↑ "Mike Roberts, Vancouver Province". Mjq.net. October 16, 1997. http://www.mjq.net/xfiles/dd-wet.htm. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
27. ↑ "Boy, Interrupted". Hbo.com. http://www.hbo.com/city/episode/season6/episode84.shtml. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
28. ↑ Template:Cite AV media
29. ↑ "House of D". Rotten Tomatoes. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/house\_of\_d/. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
30. ↑ Business info for *The House of D* at Internet Movie Database
31. ↑ "Hollywood Foreign Press Association 2008 Golden Globe Awards For The Year Ended December 31, 2007". HFPA. 2007. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071214020838/http://www.goldenglobes.org/news/id/81. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
32. ↑ Bibel, Sara (March 31, 2014). "NBC Greenlights 13 Episodes of 'Aquarius', Starring David Duchovny as a Cop Tracking Charles Manson (Updated)". *TV by the Numbers*. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/03/31/nbc-greenlights-13-episodes-of-aquarius-a-charles-manson-drama-starring-david-duchovny/249637/. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
33. ↑ "David Duchovny Calls Mulder "the Worst F.B.I. Agent of All Time"". https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3337929/david-duchovny-calls-mulder-worst-f-b-agent-time/. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
34. ↑ "Fox Confirms 'X-Files' Reboot Talks, David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson To Return: Update". https://deadline.com/2015/01/x-files-reboot-talks-fox-1201352465/. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
35. ↑ Gliatto, Tom (May 19, 1997). "Altared State: David Duchovny and Téa Leoni Tie the Knot", *People*. Retrieved on August 10, 2014.
36. ↑ He stated on the November 16, 2007 episode of *Live with Regis and Kelly* that he is no longer vegetarian but still does not consume red meat.
37. ↑ "David Duchovny's Sex Rehab Not Because Of Affair: Report" (February 10, 2008).
38. ↑ "Duchovny enters rehab for sex addiction" (August 28, 2008).
39. ↑ Fleeman, Mike (October 15, 2008). "David Duchovny & Téa Leoni Separated 'For Several Months'". People.com. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20233501,00.html. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
40. ↑ "The Ex Files: David Duchovny Sues Paper over Affair Story". *TV Guide*. October 21, 2008. https://www.tvguide.com/News/David-Duchovny-sues-27488.aspx. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
41. ↑ http://www.trend-chaser.com/celebrity/david-duchovny-ivy-league-x-files-and-more/12/?firefox=1
42. ↑ "Scoop – Vol. 76 No. 2". July 18, 2011. http://people.com/archive/scoop-vol-76-no-2/. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
43. ↑ Nepales, Ruben V. (August 17, 2012). "David Duchovny talks about 'Californication' and Marilyn Manson". https://entertainment.inquirer.net/54628/david-duchovny-talks-about-californication-and-marilyn-manson. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
44. ↑ Leon, Anya (August 9, 2014). "David Duchovny and Téa Leoni Are Divorcing", *People*. Retrieved on March 19, 2015.
45. ↑ "After Split From Duchovny, Leoni Buys Own UWS Pad For $5.1M", Curbed NY (April 18, 2013). Retrieved on March 7, 2019.
46. ↑ https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/me-and-my-motor-david-duchovny-9hh66t5dh
47. ↑ http://www.zimbio.com/photos/David+Duchovny/Carlos+Ghosen/Tribeca+Talks+After+Movie+Revenge+Electric/k7sg1SZ1IFz
48. ↑ Dawn, Randee (May 12, 2015). "David Duchovny excited for 'X-Files' return, 'heavily medicated' for music performance". NBC News. http://www.today.com/popculture/david-duchovny-reveals-x-files-shooting-date-rocks-out-today-t20641.
49. ↑ Farber, Jim (May 11, 2015). "David Duchovny's 'Hell or Highwater' album review: 'The X-Files' actor makes a credible rock album", Mortimer Zuckerman.
50. ↑ Lynch, Joe (May 6, 2015). "David Duchovny Premieres Self-Penned 'Let It Rain (Acoustic)': Exclusive". https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6554082/david-duchovny-let-it-rain-exclusive-hell-or-highwater.
51. ↑ Legaspi, Althea (January 4, 2018). "David Duchovny Details New Album 'Every Third Thought'". Retrieved on April 10, 2018.
52. ↑ "To Legend He Goes: A Tale from The Legend of Drizzt: R. A. Salvatore, David Duchovny: 9781501257933: Amazon.com: Books". *amazon.com*. https://www.amazon.com/Legend-He-Goes-Tale-Drizzt/dp/1501257935/ref=sr\_1\_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447364095&sr=1-4.

## External links

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* Template:IMDb name
* *Washington Post* Interview with David Duchovny, April 2007 David Duchovny and the Drama of Television
* David Duchovny at Emmys.com
* David Duchovny Central

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