Early life and education

Duchovny was born in New York, New York, in 1960. He is the son of Margaret "Meg" (née Miller), a school administrator and teacher, and Amram "Ami" Duchovny (1927-2003), a writer and publicist who worked for the American Jewish Committee. Duchovny's mother is a Lutheran emigrant from Aberdeen, Scotland. His father was Jewish; Duchovny's paternal grandfather was from Berdychiv, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine), and Duchovny's paternal grandmother was born in 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; both are in Manhattan. He graduated from Princeton University in 1982 with a B.A. 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. Duchovny played a season of junior varsity basketball as a shooting guard and centerfield for the varsity baseball team.

He received 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 was Magic and Technology in Contemporary Poetry and Prose. At Yale, he was a student of popular literary critic Harold Bloom.

Acting

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 transvestite 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 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 wouldn't 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.

During The X-Files run, in between the fifth and sixth seasons, Duchovny co-starred alongside Gillian Anderson in The X-Files: Fight the Future, a 1998 motion picture 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, 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 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 portrays 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.

Writing

Duchovny wrote his first book in 2015, titled Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale ISBN 0-37-417207-2.

His second novel is Bucky F*cking Dent (Spring 2016)

Music

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

Personal life

Duchovny married actress Téa Leoni on May 13, 1997. In April 1999, Leoni gave birth to a daughter, Madelaine West Duchovny. Their second child, a son, Kyd Miller Duchovny, was born in June 2002. Duchovny is a former vegetarian and, as of 2007, is a pescetarian.

On August 28, 2008, Duchovny announced that he had checked himself into a rehabilitation facility for treating sex addiction. On October 15, Duchovny's and Leoni's representatives issued a statement revealing they had separated several months earlier. A week later, Duchovny's lawyer said that he planned to sue the Daily Mail over an article it ran that claimed he had 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. After getting back together, Duchovny and Leoni once again split on June 29, 2011. In 2012, he declared he was still married to her, though they were separated. Their divorce was finalized in June 2014.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Working Girl	Tess's Friend
1989	New Year's Day	Billy
1990	Denial	John
1990	Bad Influence	Club Goer
1991	Julia Has Two Lovers	Daniel
1991	Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead	Bruce
1991	The Rapture	Randy
1992	Ruby	Officer Tippit
1992	Beethoven	Brad
1992	Red Shoe Diaries	Jake Winters
1992	Venice/Venice	Dylan
1992	Chaplin	Roland "Rollie" Totheroh
1993	Kalifornia	Brian Kessler
1997	Playing God	Dr. Eugene Sands
1998	The X-Files: Fight the Future	FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder
2000	Return to Me	Bob Rueland
2001	Evolution	Dr. Ira Kane
2001	Zoolander	JP Prewitt
2002	Full Frontal	Bill / Gus
2004	Connie and Carla	Jeff
2004	House of D	Tom Warshaw	Writer, director
2005	Trust the Man	Tom
2006	Queer Duck: the Movie	Tiny Jesus
2006	The TV Set	Mike Klein
2007	Things We Lost in the Fire	Brian Burke
2007	The Secret	Dr. Benjamin Marris
2007	Quantum Hoops	Narrator
2008	The X-Files: I Want to Believe	FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder
2009	The Joneses	Steve Jones
2012	Goats	The Goat Man
2013	Phantom	Bruni
2013	Louder Than Words	John Fareri

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990-1991, 2017	Twin Peaks	DEA Agent Denise/Dennis Bryson	3 episodes
1992	Baby Snatcher	David Anderson	Movie
1992-1997	Red Shoe Diaries	Jake Winters	10 episodes
1993-2002, 2016	The X-Files	FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder	182 episodes (seasons 1-9) 6 episodes (season 10)
1995, 1996	The Larry Sanders Show	Himself	2 episodes
1995, 1998	Saturday Night Live	Host / himself	2 episodes
1995	Eek! The Cat	FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder	Episode: "Eek Space 9"
1996	Frasier	Caller	Episode: "Frasier Loves Roz"
1996	Space: Above and Beyond	Handsome Alvin	Episode: "R&R"
1997	The Simpsons	FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder	Episode: "The Springfield Files"
1997	Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man	Richard	Episode: "The Girls of Route Canal"
1998	Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist	Himself	Episode: "Metaphors"
2001	The Lone Gunmen	FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder	1 Episode: #12 All About Yves
2002	Primetime Glick	Himself	2 episodes
2002	Life with Bonnie	Johnny Volcano	2 episodes
2003	Sex and the City	Jeremy	Episode: "Boy, Interrupted"
2007-2014	Californication	Hank Moody	84 episodes (season 1-7)
2015-present	Aquarius	Sam Hodiak	13 episodes (season 1-present)

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	The X-Files Game	Fox Mulder
2003	XIII	Jason Fly
2004	The X-Files: Resist or Serve	Fox Mulder
2005	Area 51	Ethan Cole
2015	Call of Duty: Black Ops III	Echo Squad Walter

Other works

• 2011: Introduction to Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People Who Made a Difference
• 2015: Audiobook To Legend He Goes: A Tale from The Legend of Drizzt
• 2015: Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale, Farrar, Straus and Giroux ISBN 978-0374172077
• 2016: Bucky F*cking Dent, Farrar, Straus and Giroux ISBN 978-0374110420

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1995	Sci-Fi Universe	Best Actor in a TV Series	The X-Files	Won
	Viewers for Quality Television	Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
1996	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Drama	The X-Files	Nominated
	National TV Awards	Most Popular Actor	The X-Files	Won
	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
1997	Aftonbladet TV Prize	Best Foreign TV Personality	The X-Files	Won
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Drama	The X-Files	Won
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	The Larry Sanders Show	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Drama	The X-Files	Won
	Saturn Awards	Best Actor on Television	The X-Files	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
	Television Critic Association	Individual Achievement in Drama	The X-Files	Nominated
1998	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Drama	The X-Files	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Drama	The X-Files	Nominated
	Saturn Awards	Best Actor on Television	The X-Files	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
1999	American Comedy Awards	Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a Television Series	The Larry Sanders Show	Won
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Drama	The X-Files	Nominated
	Saturn Awards	Best Actor on Television	The X-Files	Nominated
		Best Actor (film)	The X-Files	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
2000	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Television Friends	The X-Files	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series	The X-Files	Nominated
2003	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Life with Bonnie	Nominated
2008	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Californication	Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Californication	Nominated
2009	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Californication	Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series	Californication	Nominated
2010	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Californication	Nominated
2012		Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Californication	Nominated
2016	Saturn Awards	Best Actor on Television	The X-Files	Pending

[ Source: Wikipedia ]