David William Duchovny (born August 7, 1960) is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication. Duchovny was born in New York City, New York, the son of Margaret "Meg" (née Miller), a school administrator and teacher, and Amram Ducovny (1927–2003), a writer and publicist who worked for the American Jewish Committee. David Duchovny's paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia, and his mother is a Lutheran immigrant from Scotland. His father dropped the h in his last name to avoid the sort of mispronunciations he encountered while serving in the Army. Duchovny first attended Grace Church School, and for high school attended The Collegiate School For Boys; both are in Manhattan. He graduated from Princeton University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. He was a member of the 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 center field for the varsity baseball team. He then received a Master of Arts, also 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. 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 had been abducted by aliens. The show emerged as a cult hit and quickly became one of The Fox Network's first major hits. 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 costarred alongside Gillian Anderson in a 1998 motion picture that continued the X-Files storyline, titled The X-Files: Fight the Future. 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 Fox Mulder character in an episode of The Simpsons, titled The Springfield Files. 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. Duchovny also directed an episode of Bones (Episode 211, "Judas on a Pole") during its second season. He won two Golden Globes in 1997 – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama – The X-Files and in 2007 – Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy – Californication. 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 a current pescatarian. Duchovny has also remained close friends with his The X-Files costar Gillian Anderson, remarking that "it's always very easy and natural to work with her." He also remains friends with Evolution co-star Julianne Moore, Kelly Preston and Quentin Tarantino.
