David Duchovny

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David Duchovny

David Duchovny, October 2007
Born David William Duchovny
August 7, 1960 (1960-08-07) (age 47)
New York City, New York
Spouse(s) Téa Leoni (1997 - present)
For the Bree Sharp song, see David Duchovny (song).

David William Duchovny (born August 7, 1960) is a two-time Golden Globe Award-winning American television and film actor, best known for his roles as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Duchovny was born in New York City, New York, the son of Margaret "Meg" (née Miller), a school administrator and teacher, and Amram Ducovny (Duchovny), a writer and publicist who worked for the American Jewish Committee.[1][2][3] Duchovny's father was a son of Russian Jews and his mother a Lutheran immigrant from Scotland.[4][5][6] His father dropped the "h" in his surname because of frequent mispronunciations of the name.[1] Duchovny's siblings are Daniel and Laurie Duchovny. He attended The Collegiate School For Boys in Manhattan and ultimately graduated from Princeton University.[2] He also holds a Master's degree in English Literature from Yale University and began work on a Ph.D. that remains unfinished.[2] The title of his uncompleted doctoral thesis was "Magic and Technology in Contemporary Poetry and Prose." At Princeton, Duchovny was a member of the Charter Club, one of the University's eating clubs, where upperclassmen take their meals. In 1982, while at Princeton, his poetry received an honorable mention for a college prize from the Academy of American Poets and the title of his senior thesis was The Schizophrenic Critique of Pure Reason in Beckett's Early Novels.

[edit] Career

Duchovny appeared in an advertisement for Löwenbräu beer in 1987. He had a recurring role as a transvestite DEA agent on the series Twin Peaks and played the narrator/host in the long-running Showtime erotica/softcore TV series Red Shoe Diaries. In 1993, Duchovny began starring in the sci-fi series The X-Files as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder, a conspiracy theorist who believed his sister was abducted by aliens.[2] The show emerged as a cult hit and quickly became one of The FOX Network's first major hits. During the show's run, in between the fifth and sixth seasons, Duchovny co-starred alongside Gillian Anderson in a 1998 motion picture that continued the X-Files storyline, titled The X-Files: Fight the Future.[2] He remained with the series until quitting in 2001, partly due to a contract dispute that occurred after season seven finished filming.[7] 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 Fox Mulder character in an episode of The Simpsons, entitled The Springfield Files.

Duchovny caused controversy when it became public that he was the primary reason that 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 Conan O'Brien's late night show about the city's heavy rainfall; he joked that "Vancouver is a very nice place, if you like 400 inches of rainfall a day." 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."[8] 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. In the final episode of the series, he performed a memorable parody of Sharon Stone's infamous 'flashing' scene from Basic Instinct.

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. Return to Me was directed by Bonnie Hunt and co-starred Minnie Driver and Carroll O'Connor. In 2001, Duchovny played a hand model in the Ben Stiller comedy, Zoolander. He also played the role of Ira Kane in the movie Evolution along side Seann William Scott that same year.

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[9] episode of the popular 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 featured in House of D.[2] The film starred Anton Yelchin, Robin Williams and Duchovny's wife Tea Leoni in a coming-of-age tale.[2] It received mostly poor reviews[10] and little box office success.[11] Duchovny also guest-directed an episode of Bones (Episode 211, "Judas on a Pole") during its second season.

Duchovny currently plays Hank Moody, a troubled 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.[12]

[edit] 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. Though their children's names are Madelaine and Kyd, Duchovny and his wife call them by their middle names. The Duchovnys make their home in Malibu, California.

Duchovny is a former vegetarian[13] and wears contact lenses. He suffered an eye injury due to a basketball accident years ago, which caused the enlargement of one pupil.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Emmy Award

  • 1997 - Nominated - Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series - The Larry Sanders Show
  • 1997 - Nominated - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - The X-Files
  • 1998 - Nominated - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - The X-Files
  • 2003 - Nominated - Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series - Life with Bonnie

[edit] Golden Globe

  • 1995 - Nominated - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - The X-Files
  • 1996 - Winner - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - The X-Files
  • 1997 - Nominated - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - The X-Files
  • 1998 - Nominated - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - The X-Files
  • 2007 - Winner - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Californication

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1988 Working Girl Tess' birthday party friend
1989 New Year's Day Billy
1990 Denial John
Bad Influence Club goer with glasses
1991 Twin Peaks DEA Agent Denise/Dennis Bryson TV series
Julia Has Two Lovers Daniel
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead Bruce
The Rapture Randy
1992 Ruby Officer Tippit
Beethoven Brad
Baby Snatcher David Anderson TV movie
Red Shoe Diaries Jake Winters TV series and movie
Venice/Venice Dylan
Chaplin Rollie Totheroh
1993 Kalifornia Brian Kessler
The X-Files FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder TV series
1996 Space: Above and Beyond Alvin EL 1543, a.k.a. "Handsome Alvin"
1997 The Simpsons FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder TV series (One episode: "The Springfield Files")
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
Zoolander J.P. Prewitt
2002 Full Frontal Bill/Gus
2003 Sex and the City Jeremy TV series (One episode: "Boy, Interrupted")
2004 Connie and Carla Jeff
House of D Tom Warshaw Directorial debut, also wrote film
2005 Trust the Man Tom
2006 Pedigree Petfoods Voice-over "We're for dogs" ad campaign
The TV Set Mike Klein
2007 Things We Lost in the Fire Brian Burke
The Secret (Si j'étais toi) Dr. Benjamin Marris
Californication Hank Moody TV series
2008 The X-Files: I Want to Believe Fox Mulder Filming finished on March 11, 2008, for a July 25, 2008 release[14]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Amram Ducovny, 75, Late-Blossoming Novelist - New York Times
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Stated in interview on Inside the Actors Studio
  3. ^ David Duchovny Biography (1960-)
  4. ^ David Duchovny DuchovnyNet - Article: A Man and His 'X'
  5. ^ David Duchovny DuchovnyNet - Article: Cult Times 1997
  6. ^ http://www.jvibe.com/popculture/duchovny.shtml
  7. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1337685.stm BBC News
  8. ^ http://www.mjq.net/xfiles/dd-wet.htm Mike Roberts, Vancouver Province
  9. ^ http://www.hbo.com/city/episode/season6/episode84.shtml Boy, Interrupted
  10. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/house_of_d/ Rotten Tomatoes
  11. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372334/business/ IMDb
  12. ^ Hollywood Foreign Press Association 2008 Golden Globe Awards For The Year Ended December 31, 2007. HFPA (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-13.
  13. ^ Stated on the November 16, 2007 episode of Live with Regis and Kelly he is no longer vegetarian but does not consume red meat.
  14. ^ Glen Schaefer (2008-03-12). Filming of the X-Files sequel wraps. Vancouver Province. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Awards
Preceded by
Jimmy Smits
for NYPD Blue		 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Drama Series
1996
for The X-Files		 Succeeded by
Anthony Edwards
for ER
Preceded by
Alec Baldwin
for 30 Rock		 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Musical or Comedy Series
2007
for Californication		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
v • d • e
The X-Files
TV series
Films
Soundtracks
Merchandise
Characters
Cast
Crew
Persondata
NAME Duchovny, David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Duchovny, David William
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1960-8-7
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City, New York
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH