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David William Duchovny (born August 7, 1960 in New York City, New York) is a Golden Globe Award-winning American television and film actor most famous for playing the character of FBI agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files TV series in the 90s.

Biography

Early life

Duchovny's father, Amram Ducovny (different spelling), was a writer of Jewish heritage, and his mother, Margaret, is a Scottish-born teacher; Duchovny speaks Hebrew. His siblings are Daniel and Laurie Duchovny. Duchovny attended the The Collegiate School For Boys in Manhattan, moved on to graduate from Princeton University. He also holds a Master's degree in English Literature from Yale University and almost completed his Ph.D. (but quit before finishing his dissertation). At Princeton, he was a member of the Charter Club, one of the University's eating clubs, where upperclassmen take their meals. The title of his senior thesis is The Schizophrenic Critique of Pure Reason in Beckett's Early Novels (1982).

Career

Duchovny appeared in an advertisement for Löwenbräu beer in 1987. He had a memorable recurring role as a transvestite DEA agent on the series Twin Peaks. In 1993, Duchovny starred in the sci-fi series The X-Files, in a lead role as FBI agent Fox Mulder- a conspiracy theorist who believed his sister was abducted by aliens. The show started as a cult hit but quickly became one of The FOX Network 's first major hits. Duchovny starred in the X-Files movie and remained with the series until he quit the show after the seventh season following a contract dispute.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1337685.stm BBC News Duchovny reprised his role in the series finale in 2002, and an episode of the animated series The Simpsons.

Duchovny caused controversy when he was the primary reason filming of The X-Files was moved from Vancouver, British Columbia to Los Angeles in 1998. Many residents of Vancouver were upset with Duchovny over comments about the city's heavy rainfall. "Vancouver is a very nice place if you like 400 inches of rainfall a day," Duchovny said on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. "It is kind of like a tropical rain forest without the tropics. More like an Ice Age rain forest." Duchovny claimed it was just a joke. "Of course, I'm tired of the rain. But if I wasn't married to a woman that lived in L.A. I'd stay in Vancouver. It's a lovely city." http://www.mjq.net/xfiles/dd-wet.htm Mike Roberts, Vancouver Province

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 homosexual attraction to Sanders. He featured memorably in the final episode of the series, performing a parody of Sharon Stone's infamous 'flashing' scene from Basic Instinct. He also played the role of the narrator/host in the long-running Showtime erotica/softcore TV series Red Shoe Diaries.

Singer Bree Sharp released a song named for the actor, "David Duchovny," in 1999. The song in which Sharp sings, "David Duchovny, why won't you love me?" is both a tribute to Duchovny and a parody of celebrity-worshipping in general; the record became a novelty hit. He has also been a guest host on Saturday Night Live (May 13, 1995; May 9, 1998).

Duchovny provided the voice of Ethan Cole in the 2005 video game "Area 51", as well as the title character XIII in the 2003 video game XIII.

Starting in the Summer of 2006, Duchovny performed voiceover work for Pedigree brand Dog Food commercials.

Personal life

Duchovny married actress Téa Leoni on May 6, 1997. On April 24, 1999, Leoni gave birth to a daughter, Madelaine West Duchovny. Their second child, a son, Kyd Miller Duchovny, was born June 15, 2002. The Duchovnys make their home in Malibu, California.

Duchovny is a vegetarian and wears contact lenses. He suffered an eye-injury due to a basketball accident years ago, which caused one pupil to be enlarged.

Filmography

References

Footnotes

Web sites

• David's Fan Site http://www.duchovny.net/
• David's current blog for Trust The Man http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/trusttheman/blog/

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