David Duchovny
Acting • Born 1960-08-07
Biography
David William Duchovny (born August 7, 1960) is an American actor, writer, and director. He is best known for playing Fox Mulder on The X-Files and Hank Moody on Californication, both of which have earned him Golden Globe awards Duchovny was born in New York City, 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. His father was Jewish, from a family that immigrated from the Russian Empire and Poland. His mother is a Lutheran emigrant from Aberdeen, Scotland. 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. Duchovny married actress Téa Leoni on May 6, 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, 2008, 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 an affair with Hungarian tennis instructor Edit Pakay while still 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.
Filmography
126 credits
The Rapture
Movie • 1991
Randy
The X-Files
Movie • 1998
Agent Fox Mulder
Return to Me
Movie • 2000
Bob Rueland
Things We Lost in the Fire
Movie • 2007
Steven Burke
Kalifornia
Movie • 1993
Brian Kessler
Red Shoe Diaries
Movie • 1992
Jake Winters
Beethoven
Movie • 1992
Brad
House of D
Movie • 2004
Tom Warshaw
The X Files: I Want to Believe
Movie • 2008
Fox Mulder
Playing God
Movie • 1997
Dr. Eugene Sands
Evolution
Movie • 2001
Dr. Ira Kane
Zoolander
Movie • 2001
J.P. Prewitt
The Joneses
Movie • 2010
Steve Jones
The Secret
Movie • 2007
Dr. Benjamin Marris
Trust the Man
Movie • 2005
Tom
Working Girl
Movie • 1988
Tess's Birthday Party Friend
Full Frontal
Movie • 2002
Gus
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
Movie • 1991
Bruce
Connie and Carla
Movie • 2004
Jeff
Queer Duck: The Movie
Movie • 2006
Tiny Jesus (voice)
The TV Set
Movie • 2007
Mike Klein
FOX 25th Anniversary Special
Movie • 2012
Self
Ruby
Movie • 1992
Officer Tippit
You People
Movie • 2023
Arnold
Goats
Movie • 2012
Goat Man
Quantum Hoops
Movie • 2007
Narrator
The Estate
Movie • 2022
Richard
Phantom
Movie • 2013
Bruni
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines
Movie • 2023
Bill Baterman
Denial
Movie • 1990
John
Julia Has Two Lovers
Movie • 1990
Daniel
What Happens Later
Movie • 2023
Bill
New Year's Day
Movie • 1990
Billy
Louder Than Words
Movie • 2013
John Fareri
Baby Snatcher
Movie • 1992
David Anderson
Red Shoe Diaries: Forbidden Zone
Movie • 2002
Adam the First
Movie • 2024
James
Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World
Movie • 2024
Narrator (voice)
Akte X Intern - Was Sie schon immer wissen wollten
Movie • 1998
Fox Mulder / Self
Reverse the Curse
Movie • 2024
Marty Fullilove
Chaplin
Movie • 1992
Rollie Totheroh
Red Shoe Diaries Movie 10: Some Things Never Change
Movie • 1996
Jake Winters (archive footage)
Inside The X-Files
Movie • 1998
Self
SNL: The Best of Adam Sandler
Movie • 1999
Pauline (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bad Influence
Movie • 1990
Clue Goer with Glasses
Red Shoe Diaries 2: Double Dare
Movie • 1993
Jake Winters (archive footage)
Red Shoe Diaries 3: Another Woman's Lipstick
Movie • 1993
Jake Winters (archive footage)
Red Shoe Diaries 4: Auto Erotica
Movie • 1994
Jake Winters (archive footage)
Red Shoe Diaries 5: Weekend Pass
Movie • 1995
Jake Winters (archive footage)
Venice/Venice
Movie • 1992
Dylan
Red Shoe Diaries 6: How I Met My Husband
Movie • 1996
Jake Winters (archive footage)
The Craft: Legacy
Movie • 2020
Adam
The Bubble
Movie • 2022
Dustin Mulray
VH1 Rock Honors: The Who
Movie • 2008
Self
Red Shoe Diaries 8: Night of Abandon
Movie • 1998
Jake Winters (archive footage)
See You When I See You
Movie • 2026
Skip Chasers
Movie • 1998
FEEL
Movie • 2025
Sitter 7
Secrets of the X-Files
Movie • 1995
Self
More Secrets of the X-Files
Movie • 1996
Self
Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation
Movie • 2007
Self
The Making of 'The X Files: Fight the Future'
Movie • 1998
Self
The Exiles
Movie
Soapbox
Movie
The Simpsons
TV • 1989
Fox Mulder (voice)
Inside the Actors Studio
TV • 1994
Self
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
TV • 2003
Self
The Tony Danza Show
TV • 2004
Self
Red Shoe Diaries
TV • 1992
Jake Winters
Californication
TV • 2007
Hank Moody
The One Show
TV • 2006
Self - Guest
The Daily Show
TV • 1996
Self
Life with Bonnie
TV • 2002
Johnny Volcano
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
TV • 1988
Self
The View
TV • 1997
Self
Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist
TV • 1995
David (voice)
Frasier
TV • 1993
Tom (voice)
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
TV • 1988
Self - Guest
Jeopardy!
TV • 1984
Self
Space: Above and Beyond
TV • 1995
Richard & Judy
TV • 2001
Self
The Early Show
TV • 1999
Self
The X-Files
TV • 1993
Fox Mulder
The Lone Gunmen
TV • 2001
Fox Mulder
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
TV • 1993
Self - Guest
Eco-Challenge
TV • 1995
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
TV • 2005
Self
VH1 Rock Honors
TV • 2006
GMTV
TV • 1993
Self
The Larry Sanders Show
TV • 1992
David Duchovny
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Host
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV • 2003
Self / Fox Mulder
Aquarius
TV • 2015
Detective Sam Hodiak
Late Night with Seth Meyers
TV • 2014
Self - Guest
Rove
TV • 1999
Self
The Late Late Show with James Corden
TV • 2015
Self - Guest
Twin Peaks
TV • 1990
Denise Bryson
Space: Above and Beyond
TV • 1995
Handsome Alvin
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling
TV • 2018
Self
Eek! The Cat
TV • 1992
Fox Mulder (voice)
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV • 2003
Self
The Nineties
TV • 2017
Self (archive footage)
The Kelly Clarkson Show
TV • 2019
Self
The View
TV • 1997
Self - Guest
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
TV • 1992
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
TV • 1996
Self
Malice
TV • 2025
Jamie Tanner
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV • 2014
Self - Guest
Millennium
TV • 1996
Bobby Wingood (uncredited)
The Magic Hour
TV • 1998
Self
The Chair
TV • 2021
David Duchovny
The Sympathizer
TV • 2024
Thespian / Ryan Glenn
Real Time with Bill Maher
TV • 2003
Self
Sex and the City
TV • 1998
Jeremy
History of the World: Part II
TV • 2023
Howard Cosell Impersonator
Better Things
TV • 2016
David Duchovny / Teak
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee/Presenter
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Audience Member
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee / Presenter
Duckman
TV • 1994
Richard (voice)
Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny
TV • 2025
Self - Host
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Winner
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV • 2003
Self - Guest
Late Show with David Letterman
TV • 1993
Self - Guest
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self