David Duchovny

Early life and education

Duchovny was born in New York City in 1960. He is the son of Amram "Ami" Ducovny (1927–2003), a writer and publicist who worked for the American Jewish Committee, and Margaret "Meg" ( Miller), a school administrator and teacher. He is the middle child of three children. He has an elder brother, Daniel (b. 1956) and a younger sister, Laurie (b. 1966). Duchovny's mother is a Scottish immigrant from Whitehills, Aberdeen, Scotland. His father was Jewish, and his mother was Lutheran. His father dropped the h in his last name to avoid the sort of mispronunciations he encountered while serving in the Army. In the Polish language, duchowny means 'clergyman', and in the Ukrainian language it means 'spiritual'. Duchovny's paternal grandfather was a Jewish emigrant from Berdychiv, Russian Empire (now in Ukraine), and Duchovny's paternal grandmother was a Jewish emigrant from Congress Poland (now in Poland).

Duchovny grew up in the Ukrainian Village area of Manhattan and attended The Collegiate School For Boys in Upper West Side, Manhattan (where he was a classmate of John F. Kennedy Jr.), from which he graduated as head boy in 1978. He then attended Princeton University where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude in 1982 with an A.B. 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". He played junior varsity basketball at Princeton. He earned 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 is Magic and Technology in Contemporary Fiction and Poetry.

Roots

Duchovny's great-great-grandfather and his family were from Berdychiv, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), and immigrated to Jaffa, then part of the Ottoman Empire. In December 1914 his ancestors were among 6,000 Jews who were forcibly removed from their homes by Ottoman police and deported by ship to Egypt.

Career

Duchovny appeared in an advertisement for Löwenbräu beer in 1987. The next year he appeared in Working Girl (1988). He had a small recurring role as Denise Bryson, a transgender DEA agent on the series Twin Peaks and played the narrator and host in the Showtime softcore erotica 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 1992 he had a small role in the family film Beethoven.

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 became one of The Fox Network's first major television hits. According to The 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 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 a 1998 film also titled The X-Files that continued the storyline. He remained with the series until leaving the show 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 The X-Files moving filming locations 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, including one where 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 a fictionalized version of himself who is very attracted 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 1997, he played lead role as a disgraced doctor with a drug problem who after losing his medical license, takes a job with the mob in the film Playing God. 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 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 provided the voice-over for a PSA radio campaign for Act Against Violence. 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 then-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.

From 2007 to 2014, Duchovny played the troubled, womanizing novelist Hank Moody in the Showtime 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 portrayed 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. It premiered on January 24, 2016, on Fox.

In 2015, Duchovny released his debut album, Hell or Highwater, and has released two more albums since then--Every Third Thought and Gestureland. He has also released four novels: Holy Cow (2015), Bucky Fcking Dent* (2016), Miss Subways (2018), Truly Like Lightning (2021), and a novella, The Reservoir (2021). In 2022, Duchovny released the film Reverse the Curse (based on his novel Bucky Fcking Dent*), which he wrote, directed, and acted in.

Personal life

Duchovny and actress Téa Leoni married on May 13, 1997. They have two children, daughter Madelaine West Duchovny, born in April 1999, and son Kyd Miller Duchovny, born in June 2002.

In 2008, the couple separated; Duchovny received treatment for sex addiction from August to October. Claims by the Daily Mail that he had an affair with Hungarian tennis instructor Edit Pakay led to legal threats and a retraction by the paper on November 15. In 2009, Duchovny and Leoni reunited but separated again on June 29, 2011. Duchovny filed for divorce in June 2014, and the couple had agreed to settlement terms by that August.

In 2017, he began dating Monique Pendleberry. They married in February 2025.

Duchovny is a pescetarian and is supportive of environmentalism, and he is an enthusiast of electric vehicle technology. He made an appearance at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival in support of the film Revenge of the Electric Car.

Performances and works

Film

Television

Video games

Audiobooks

• 2015: Audiobook To Legend He Goes: A Tale from The Legend of Drizzt
• 2017: Audiobook X-Files - cold cases - an Audible original
• 2017: Audiobook X files - stolen lives - an Audible original

Bibliography

• 2011: Introduction to: Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People Who Made a Difference .
• 2015: Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale, Farrar, Straus and Giroux .
• 2016: Bucky Fcking Dent*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux .
• 2018: Miss Subways: A Novel, Farrar, Straus and Giroux .
• 2021: Truly Like Lightning: A Novel, Farrar, Straus and Giroux .
• 2022: The Reservoir: A Novella, Akashic Books .
• 2022: Kepler, Dark Horse Books .
• 2025: About Time: Poems, Akashic Books

Discography

References

References

1. Brady, James. (2006-08-06). "In Step with David Duchovny". [[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]].
2. (August 9, 2013). "Monitor". [[Entertainment Weekly]].
3. Hecker, Don R.. (September 2, 2003). "Amram Ducovny, 75, Late-Blossoming Novelist". The New York Times.
4. Stated in interview on ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]''
5. "David Duchovny Biography (1960-)". Film Reference.
6. "Happy Birthday Meg Miller Duchovny! The double snowman—88! We love you! Danny David and Laurie".
7. "Craig Ferguson 8/10/10C Late Late Show David Duchovny". YouTube.
8. (Dec 1995). "My Kind of Day - David Duchovny". Radio Times.
9. (October 26, 1997). "David Duchovny DuchovnyNet - Article: A Man and His 'X'". Duchovny.net.
10. (June 10, 2004). "David Duchovny: 'My fantasy was to be Nietzsche'". The Independent.
11. Kozlov, Vladimir. (July 29, 2014). "David Duchovny's Russian Beer Commercial Goes Viral (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter.
12. Wild, David. (May 16, 1996). "X-Files Undercover".
13. "David Duchovny DuchovnyNet - Article: Cult Times 1997". Duchovny.net.
14. Peter Canavese. "Groucho Reviews: Interview: David Duchovny—House of D, Twin Peaks—03/30/05". GrouchoReviews.
15. (July 30, 2014). "Was David Duchovny's Family From Ukraine or Russia?". [[The Huffington Post]].
16. "David Duchovny Interview for "Phantom"". facebook.com.
17. "Five Minutes With David Duchovny". Gothamist.
18. "A Literary Classic of Coney Island Comes to Digital Life". thebrooklynink.com.
19. Paumgarten, Nick. (February 1, 2021). "Who Does David Duchovny Think He Is?".
20. ''The Dutchman'' (the Collegiate School yearbook), 1975 edition, p. 43 (9th grade photos)
21. ''Head Boy Plaque'' (wall at the Collegiate School)
22. "PBK Famous Members".
23. Duchovny, David William. ''[http://libweb5.princeton.edu/theses/index.htm The Schizophrenic Critique of Pure Reason in Beckett's Early Novels.] {{Webarchive. link. (May 27, 2019 '' 1982.)
24. (February 25, 2004). "Athletes in Action".
25. (March 2, 2009). "Duchovny delights".
26. Zaltzman, Lior. (2023-02-13). "David Duchovny Learns His Family's Tragic Jewish History on 'Finding Your Roots'".
27. "Finding Your Roots {{!}} Chosen {{!}} Season 9 {{!}} Episode 7".
28. Carter, Chris. "Casting Mulder". [[BBC News]].
29. Spotnitz, Frank. "Amazingly Smart". [[BBC News]].
30. (May 18, 2001). "Duchovny quits X-Files". [[BBC News]].
31. [http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/david-duchovny David Duchovny] at Emmys.com
32. (October 16, 1997). "Mike Roberts, Vancouver Province". Mjq.net.
33. Strachan, Alex. (1998-02-17). "The Alienation of David Duchovny". [[Vancouver Sun]].
34. "Boy, Interrupted". Hbo.com.
35. (January 14, 2005). "Act Against Violence". chemistri (ad agency on behalf of The Ad Council) in conjunction with Gold Sound.
36. (April 15, 2005). "House of D". Rotten Tomatoes.
37. "House of D".
38. (2007). "Hollywood Foreign Press Association 2008 Golden Globe Awards For The Year Ended December 31, 2007". HFPA.
39. Bibel, Sara. (March 31, 2014). "NBC Greenlights 13 Episodes of 'Aquarius', Starring David Duchovny as a Cop Tracking Charles Manson (Updated)". TV by the Numbers.
40. "David Duchovny Calls Mulder "the Worst F.B.I. Agent of All Time"".
41. "Fox Confirms 'X-Files' Reboot Talks, David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson To Return: Update".
42. Gliatto, Tom. (May 19, 1997). "Altared State: David Duchovny and Téa Leoni Tie the Knot". People.
43. David Duchovny. (April 24, 2018). "April 24, 1999. This happened. West happened. And I'll never be the same. Happy birthday, my daughter. Love, Dad".
44. Tucker, Ken. (September 19, 2014). "Téa Leoni on Her New Role as Madam Secretary and Co-Parenting With Her Ex David Duchovny". [[Parade (magazine).
45. Silverman, Stephen M.. (June 18, 2002). "Leoni, Duchovny: And Baby Makes Four". [[People (magazine).
46. (February 15, 2008). "Téa Leoni and Kyd Miller spend a fun day in Malibu". People.
47. Fleeman, Mike. (October 15, 2008). "David Duchovny & Téa Leoni Separated 'For Several Months'". People.
48. (February 10, 2008). "David Duchovny's Sex Rehab Not Because Of Affair: Report". Huffington Post.
49. (August 28, 2008). "Duchovny enters rehab for sex addiction". MSNBC.
50. (October 21, 2008). "The Ex Files: David Duchovny Sues Paper over Affair Story". TV Guide.
51. Schilling, Dave. (February 5, 2016). "David Duchovny: 'I can't play Mulder the way I did. That would be obscene'". The Guardian.
52. (July 18, 2011). "Scoop – Vol. 76 No. 2".
53. Leon, Anya. (August 9, 2014). "David Duchovny and Téa Leoni Are Divorcing". [[People (magazine).
54. "David Duchovny Is Married to Longtime Girlfriend Monique Pendleberry".
55. "David Duchovny Confirms Marriage to Monique Pendleberry 7 Months After Secret Wedding".
56. (June 5, 2010). "Success Secrets: David Duchovny". Men's Health.
57. "Me and my Motor: David Duchovny".
58. "David Duchovny Carlos Ghosen Photostream". Zimbio.
59. "To Legend He Goes: A Tale from The Legend of Drizzt: R. A. Salvatore, David Duchovny: 9781501257933: Amazon.com: Books".
60. Dawn, Randee. (May 12, 2015). "David Duchovny excited for 'X-Files' return, 'heavily medicated' for music performance". [[NBC News]].
61. Lynch, Joe. (May 6, 2015). "David Duchovny Premieres Self-Penned 'Let It Rain (Acoustic)': Exclusive".
62. Legaspi, Althea. (January 4, 2018). "David Duchovny Details New Album 'Every Third Thought'".
63. [https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/08/18/david-duchovny-talks-third-album-gestureland-conquering-singing-fears/5543049001/ David Duchovny finds footing with third album 'Gestureland': 'I'm not terrified and ashamed']