David Duchovny
David Duchovny | |
---|---|
Born | David William Duchovny August 7, 1960 New York, U.S. |
Education | Princeton University (AB) Yale University (MA) |
Occupation(s) | Actor, director, producer, writer, singer-songwriter |
Years active | 1987–present (actor) 2015–present (singer and writer) |
Known for | Fox Mulder in The X-Files Hank Moody in Californication |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
David William Duchovny /dʊˈkʌvni/ (born August 7, 1960)[1] is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for playing FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series The X-Files and writer Hank Moody on the television series Californication, both of which have earned him Golden Globe awards.
Duchovny appeared in both X-Files films, the 1998 science fiction-thriller of the same name and the supernatural-thriller The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). He executive-produced and starred in the historically based cop drama Aquarius (2015–16). Duchovny earned an A.B. in English literature from Princeton University, and an M.A. in English literature from Yale University, and has since published three books, Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale (2015), Bucky F*cking Dent (2016) and Miss Subways (2018).
Early life
Duchovny was born in New York.[1] He is the son of Amram "Ami" Ducovny (1927–2003), a writer and publicist who worked for the American Jewish Committee, and his wife Margaret "Meg" (née Miller), a school administrator and teacher.[2][3][4] Duchovny's mother is a Scottish Presbyterian emigrant from Aberdeen, Scotland.[5][6][7] Duchovny's father was from a Russian-Jewish, Ukrainian-Jewish, and Polish-Jewish family.[8][9][10] and dropped the h in his last name to avoid the sort of mispronunciations he encountered while serving in the Army.[2][11][12] In the Polish language, duchowny means 'clergyman'. 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 Russian Poland (now in Poland).[13][14][15][16]
Duchovny attended The Collegiate School For Boys (from which he graduated as head boy in 1978); in Manhattan. He then attended Princeton University where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude in 1982 with an A.B. in English literature.[17][3] 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.[18] He played junior varsity basketball at Princeton.[19] He earned a Master of Arts in English Literature from Yale University and subsequently began work on a Ph.D. that remains unfinished.[3] The title of his uncompleted doctoral thesis is Magic and Technology in Contemporary Fiction and Poetry.[20]
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 a cross-dressing 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.[3] 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.[21] After getting the role, Duchovny thought the show would not last for long or would not 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.[22] 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.[3] He remained with the series until leaving the show in 2001, partly because of a contract dispute that occurred after season seven finished filming.[24] 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.[25]
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."[26] 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 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[27] 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.[28] 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.[3] The film starred Anton Yelchin, Robin Williams, and Duchovny's ex-wife Téa Leoni in a coming-of-age tale.[3] It received mostly poor reviews[29] and little box office success.[30] 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.[31] 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.[32] In March 2015, Duchovny was announced as returning in a six-episode continuation of The X-Files.[33][34] It premiered on January 24, 2016, on Fox.
In 2017, he made the decision to put his acting career on hold, so he could focus more on his career as a writer and a singer/songwriter. Duchovny's last acting job was in the 11th season of The X-Files. He made his return to acting in The Craft: Legacy, the 2020 film sequel to The Craft.
Personal life
Duchovny married actress Téa Leoni on May 13, 1997.[35] They have two children, daughter Madelaine West Duchovny (born April 13, 1999)[36][37] and son Kyd Miller Duchovny (born June 15, 2002).[38][39]
In 2008, the couple separated;[40] Duchovny received treatment for sex addiction from August to October.[41][42][43] Claims by the Daily Mail that he had an affair with Hungarian tennis instructor Edit Pakay led to legal threats[44] and a retraction by the paper on November 15.[45] In 2009, Duchovny and Leoni reunited but separated again on June 29, 2011.[41] Duchovny filed for divorce in June 2014, and the couple had agreed to settlement terms by that August.[46][47]
Duchovny is supportive of environmentalism and an enthusiast for electric vehicle technology. He appeared as a part of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival in support of the film Revenge of the Electric Car.[48][49]
Duchovny used to be a vegetarian and, as of 2007, still does not consume red meat.[50]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1988 | Working Girl | Tess's Friend | None speaking |
1989 | New Year's Day | Billy | |
1990 | Denial | John | |
Bad Influence | Club Goer | ||
Julia Has Two Lovers | Daniel | ||
1991 | Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead | Bruce | |
The Rapture | Randy | ||
1992 | Ruby | Officer Tippit | |
Beethoven | Brad | ||
Red Shoe Diaries | Jake Winters | ||
Venice/Venice | Dylan | ||
Chaplin | Roland "Rollie" Totheroh | Cameo | |
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 | |
Zoolander | JP Prewitt | ||
2002 | Full Frontal | Bill / Gus | |
2004 | Connie and Carla | Jeff | |
House of D | Tom Warshaw | Also writer and director | |
2005 | Trust the Man | Tom | |
2006 | Queer Duck: the Movie | Tiny Jesus | |
The TV Set | Mike Klein | ||
2007 | Things We Lost in the Fire | Brian Burke | |
The Secret | Dr. Benjamin Marris | ||
Quantum Hoops | Narrator | ||
2008 | The X-Files: I Want to Believe | Fox Mulder | |
2009 | The Joneses | Steve Jones | |
2012 | Goats | Goat Man | |
2013 | Phantom | Bruni | |
Louder Than Words | John Fareri | ||
2020 | The Craft: Legacy | Adam Harrison |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990–1991 | Twin Peaks | DEA Agent Denise Bryson | 3 episodes |
1992 | Baby Snatcher | David Anderson | Television movie |
1992–1997 | Red Shoe Diaries | Jake Winters | 10 episodes |
1993–2018 | The X-Files | FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder | 209 episodes |
1995–1998 | The Larry Sanders Show | Himself | 3 episodes |
1995–1998 | Saturday Night Live | Host / himself | 2 episodes |
1995 | Eek! The Cat | Fox Mulder (voice) | Episode: "Eek Space 9" |
1996 | Frasier | Tom (voice) | Episode: "Frasier Loves Roz" |
Space: Above and Beyond | Handsome Alvin | Episode: "R&R" | |
1997 | The Simpsons | Fox Mulder (voice) | Episode: "The Springfield Files" |
Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man | Richard (voice) | Episode: "The Girls of Route Canal" | |
1998 | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Himself | Episode: "Metaphors" |
2001 | The Lone Gunmen | Fox Mulder | Episode: #12 All About Yves |
2002 | Primetime Glick | Himself | 2 episodes |
Life with Bonnie | Johnny Volcano | 2 episodes | |
2003 | Sex and the City | Jeremy | Episode: "Boy, Interrupted" |
2007–2014 | Californication | Hank Moody | 84 episodes |
2015–2016 | Aquarius | Sam Hodiak | 26 episodes |
2016 | Better Things | Himself | Episode: "Brown" |
2017 | Twin Peaks | Denise Bryson | Episode: "Part 4" |
Video games
Year | Title | Voice 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 |
Discography and tours
Studio albums
Year | Title |
---|---|
2015 | Hell or Highwater |
2018 | Every Third Thought |
2020/2021 | Upcoming third studio album |
Tours
- The Hell of Highwater Tour (2015–2016)
- Every Third Thought Tour (2018–2019)
Books
- 2015: Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale, Farrar, Straus and Giroux ISBN 978-0-374-17207-7.
- 2016: Bucky F*cking Dent, Farrar, Straus and Giroux ISBN 978-0-374-11042-0.
- 2018: Miss Subways: A Novel, Farrar, Straus and Giroux ISBN 978-0-374-21040-3.
- 2021: Truly Like Lighting: A Novel
Music
On May 12, 2015, Duchovny released his first music album entitled Hell or Highwater, which consists of 12 songs.[51][52][53]
On February 9, 2018, Duchovny released his second album entitled Every Third Thought.[54]
Other works
- 2011: Introduction to Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People Who Made a Difference ISBN 978-1-4384-3734-7.
- 2015: Audiobook To Legend He Goes: A Tale from The Legend of Drizzt[55]
- 2017: Audiobook X-Files - cold cases - an Audible original
- 2017: Audiobook X files - stolen lives - an Audible original
Awards and nominations
References
- ^ a b "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1271. August 9, 2013. p. 22.
- ^ a b Hecker, Don R. (September 2, 2003). "Amram Ducovny, 75, Late-Blossoming Novelist". The New York Times. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g Stated in interview on Inside the Actors Studio
- ^ "David Duchovny Biography (1960-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
- ^ "Craig Ferguson 8/10/10C Late Late Show David Duchovny". Youtube.com. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
... my father being a Russian Jew ....
- ^ "My Kind of Day - David Duchovny". Radio Times. December 1995. Archived from the original on March 31, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
My relatives are Scottish, so I think my Scottish audience is important. Some are in Glasgow, but my mum's from Aberdeen. I hear it's grey there—like my mum. The name's Russian, but New York is my home. That's where I'm from.
- ^ "David Duchovny DuchovnyNet - Article: A Man and His 'X'". Duchovny.net. October 26, 1997. Archived from the original on April 28, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
I like that I look like my father and mother put together—that's a Russian Jew and a Scottish Lutheran, and I like that it all looks mixed up. ... I'm sure my nose wasn't an asset until I was David Duchovny. Before that, it was, like, "Yeah, that kind of Jewish-looking guy with the kind of big nose."
- ^ "David Duchovny: 'My fantasy was to be Nietzsche'". The Independent. June 10, 2004. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ Kozlov, Vladimir (July 29, 2014). "David Duchovny's Russian Beer Commercial Goes Viral (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ Wild, David (May 16, 1996). "X-Files Undercover". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ "David Duchovny DuchovnyNet - Article: Cult Times 1997". Duchovny.net. Archived from the original on January 24, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
- ^ Peter Canavese. "Groucho Reviews: Interview: David Duchovny—House of D, Twin Peaks—03/30/05". GrouchoReviews.
- ^ "Was David Duchovny's Family From Ukraine or Russia?". The Huffington Post. July 30, 2014.
- ^ "David Duchovny Interview for "Phantom"". facebook.com.
- ^ "Five Minutes With David Duchovny". Gothamist. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013.
- ^ "A Literary Classic of Coney Island Comes to Digital Life". thebrooklynink.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
- ^ http://depts.washington.edu/uwpbk/famous.htm
- ^ Duchovny, David William. The Schizophrenic Critique of Pure Reason in Beckett's Early Novels. 1982.
- ^ Greenfield, Jimmy; Malcolm, Chris (February 25, 2004). "Athletes in Action". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- ^ Motzkin, Lauren (March 2, 2009). "Duchovny delights". Yale Daily News. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- ^ Carter, Chris. "Casting Mulder". BBC News. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Spotnitz, Frank. "Amazingly Smart". BBC News. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
- ^ Schaefer, Glen (March 12, 2008). "Filming of the X-Files sequel wraps". Vancouver Province. Archived from the original on August 23, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
- ^ "Duchovny quits X-Files". BBC News. May 18, 2001. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
- ^ David Duchovny at Emmys.com
- ^ "Mike Roberts, Vancouver Province". Mjq.net. October 16, 1997. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
- ^ "Boy, Interrupted". Hbo.com. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
- ^ David Duchovny (voice-over) (January 14, 2005). (CD (for radio station use)). United States: chemistri (ad agency on behalf of The Ad Council) in conjunction with Gold Sound.
{{cite AV media}}
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(help) - ^ "House of D". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
- ^ Business info for The House of D at Internet Movie Database
- ^ "Hollywood Foreign Press Association 2008 Golden Globe Awards For The Year Ended December 31, 2007". HFPA. 2007. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ 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. Archived from the original on April 3, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
- ^ "David Duchovny Calls Mulder "the Worst F.B.I. Agent of All Time"". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- ^ "Fox Confirms 'X-Files' Reboot Talks, David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson To Return: Update". Deadline. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- ^ Gliatto, Tom (May 19, 1997). "Altared State: David Duchovny and Téa Leoni Tie the Knot". People. Vol. 47, no. 19. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
- ^ "Duchovnys: Baby Makes 3". People. March 16, 1999. ISSN 0093-7673. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (September 19, 2014). "Téa Leoni on Her New Role as Madam Secretary and Co-Parenting With Her Ex David Duchovny". Parade. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (June 18, 2002). "Leoni, Duchovny: And Baby Makes Four". People. ISSN 0093-7673. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.], according to a statement issued to Reuters on Monday by the actors' publicist, Annett Wolf. No other details, including the newborn's name, were released}}
- ^ "Téa Leoni and Kyd Miller spend a fun day in Malibu". People. February 15, 2008. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^ Fleeman, Mike (October 15, 2008). "David Duchovny & Téa Leoni Separated 'For Several Months'". People.com. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
- ^ a b "Scoop – Vol. 76 No. 2". People. July 18, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
- ^ "David Duchovny's Sex Rehab Not Because Of Affair: Report". Huffington Post. February 10, 2008.
- ^ "Duchovny enters rehab for sex addiction". MSNBC. August 28, 2008.
- ^ "The Ex Files: David Duchovny Sues Paper over Affair Story". TV Guide. October 21, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
- ^ http://www.trend-chaser.com/celebrity/david-duchovny-ivy-league-x-files-and-more/12/?firefox=1
- ^ "David Duchovny, Tea Leoni Quietly Divorced". TMZ.com. August 9, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^ Leon, Anya (August 9, 2014). "David Duchovny and Téa Leoni Are Divorcing". People. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
- ^ https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/me-and-my-motor-david-duchovny-9hh66t5dh
- ^ http://www.zimbio.com/photos/David+Duchovny/Carlos+Ghosen/Tribeca+Talks+After+Movie+Revenge+Electric/k7sg1SZ1IFz
- ^ Live with Regis and Kelly, November 16, 2007.
- ^ Dawn, Randee (May 12, 2015). "David Duchovny excited for 'X-Files' return, 'heavily medicated' for music performance". Today.com. NBC News. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
- ^ Farber, Jim (May 11, 2015). "David Duchovny's 'Hell or Highwater' album review: 'The X-Files' actor makes a credible rock album". New York Daily News. Mortimer Zuckerman. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
- ^ Lynch, Joe (May 6, 2015). "David Duchovny Premieres Self-Penned 'Let It Rain (Acoustic)': Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
- ^ Legaspi, Althea (January 4, 2018). "David Duchovny Details New Album 'Every Third Thought'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ To Legend He Goes: A Tale from The Legend of Drizzt: R. A. Salvatore, David Duchovny: 9781501257933: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN 1501257935.
External links
- David Duchovny at IMDb
- The Washington Post Interview with David Duchovny, April 2007 David Duchovny and the Drama of Television
- David Duchovny at Emmys.com
- David Duchovny Central
- 1960 births
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- American people of Polish-Jewish descent
- American people of Scottish descent
- American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
- American television directors
- Television producers from New York City
- Alternative rock guitarists
- Alternative rock singers
- Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
- Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
- Collegiate School (New York) alumni
- Film directors from New York City
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- Living people
- Male actors from New York City
- People from Fire Island, New York
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- Princeton University alumni
- Yale University alumni
- People from the Upper West Side