David William Duchovny, best known as Fox Mulder from the cult TV series The X-Files, received a long-awaited star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the beginning of 2021. The solemn event took place immediately after the premiere of the 10th season of “Materials,” which was desired by millions. David Duchovny has been acting for over 30 years; he made his debut in Michael Nichols' project Working Woman. The role was small, but it became the first step along the road that slowly but surely led the actor to fame. Duchovny does not fit into the standard image of Hollywood stars. He is smart; his acting career prevented him from successfully graduating from two of the best universities in the USA, receiving a professorship in literature and writing a serious dissertation.
Slavic roots
The biography of David Duchovny begins with his birth in early August 1960 in New York. His mother emigrated from Great Britain in her youth, realizing herself in the United States as a teacher at a Manhattan school. Brooklyn-born Amram Duchovny's father comes from a family of Jewish immigrants. He was a playwright and publicist, the author of several literary works. The actor's paternal grandfather left for America, fleeing the German occupation from Berdichev (Ukraine). Grandmother has Polish roots. David Duchovny has repeatedly stated in interviews that he feels half Russian, although in April 2014 he openly called himself Ukrainian.
David is intellectually gifted, so he studied well at school and easily entered the Faculty of Education at Princeton University. The young man wanted to become a writer. To pay for his studies, while still a student, Duchovny constantly worked as a watchman, a food supplier, or a bartender. Having completed his studies, he does not stop there; he continues his education in graduate school at Yale University. A talented young man receives a master's degree in British literature and is preparing to defend his dissertation for a doctorate in philosophy. During this period, he was passionate about theater, realizing his artistry in off-Broadway productions.
Childhood and youth
David Duchovny was born in New York on August 7, 1960 into a low-income family. According to his zodiac sign, the future actor turned out to be Leo. Margaret Duchovny, the mother of the future celebrity, was Scottish and worked as a school teacher. Amram Duchovny, David's father, is a publicist. He wrote several books, including an autobiographical novel. It is known that David's parents divorced 11 years after his birth.
By nature, David was withdrawn and uncommunicative in his childhood, but the young man’s extraordinary mind opened the way for him to a prestigious school in New York. At this educational institution, Duchovny studied with John Kennedy Jr., who died in a plane crash in July 1999.
David Duchovny in his youth
After graduating from school, David Duchovny entered Princeton University to study pedagogy. The student earned money for his studies at the university on his own, working as a watchman, bartender or food delivery man. David later received a master's degree in English literature from Yale University and was going to defend his dissertation for a Ph.D. However, some events in his life forced the actor to change this decision.
While working on his dissertation, the young man enrolled in acting courses, as a result of which theatrical acting became a kind of hobby, which later influenced the creative biography of David Duchovny.
The beginning of a creative journey
David Duchovny, with his attractive appearance, was noticed by television in 1987. The actor's first appearance on TV was in a commercial for Löwenbräu beer. The world of art and television fascinated him so much that he abandoned his doctoral dissertation and began taking classes in stagecraft. In 1988, he already made his debut in big cinema. After Mike Nichols' project, the actor's taste for eccentricity was appreciated by the eminent visionary David Lynch, inviting the performer to his legendary project.
David played the role of Denise Bryson, a narcotics agent, in three episodes of Twin Peaks. The created image greatly impressed another director, Zalman King. He invited the aspiring talent to play the role of a deceived husband, acting as a narrator in his film “The Red Shoe Diaries.” The film was successful and spawned a sequel - an erotic series, in which David Duchovny was also involved.
Childhood
David Duchovny was born into a low-income, large family. His mother, an emigrant from Scotland, worked as a school teacher. His father Abraham Duchovny was a journalist and playwright. My paternal grandfather was a Russian Jew who emigrated from the Kyiv province in 1918, and my grandmother also left the Russian part of Poland forever at the beginning of the twentieth century. The parents raised three children, but despite this they divorced when David was 11 years old.
David Duchovny as a child
As a child, the future actor was uncommunicative and reserved, but he had an extraordinary mind, which helped him receive a scholarship to pay for tuition at a prestigious and expensive school in New York. John Kennedy Jr., the son of President John F. Kennedy, attended classes with David. The actor continued to communicate with him until his tragic death in a plane crash.
At school, Duchovny showed excellent results, so he could enter any prestigious university in America: Harvard, Yale or Princeton. David chose the latter.
In search of the truth, which is somewhere nearby
The actor's emotional work attracted the attention of one of the producers of the 20th Century Fox studio, Randy Stone, who advised Chris Carter to offer Duchovny the role of Fox Mulder. However, when they first met, Duchovny did not make the right impression on Carter. Chris considered the performer's appearance too standard. But after several tests, the filmmaker radically changed his mind; he saw that the camera was literally “in love” with the actor.
In 1993, David Duchovny's filmography was expanded with a milestone project; he began to take part in the production of The X-Files. The leading role of a restless FBI agent, a conspiracy theorist, brought the actor worldwide fame. His on-screen partner was Gillian Anderson, who embodied the image of Agent Dana Scully. After 7 seasons and changes in the contract, Duchovny appears only in individual episodes, leaving the project as the main character.
Personal life of David Duchovny
David Duchovny said that, most likely, everything was not in order with his psyche, since for a long time he could not arrange his personal life. Fans observed how fickle David was. He lived with actress Perrie Reeves, then began an affair with Winona Ryder, and then, according to Duchovny himself, dated Gillian Anderson. The actor admitted that it is difficult for him to maintain a monogamous relationship.
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson
David Duchovny first got married at the age of 37. His chosen one was actress Téa Leoni, known for such films as “The Family Man” and “Scammers: Dick and Jane Have Fun.” The lovers got married at the school where the actor’s mother taught for a long time. In April 1999, their daughter Madeline was born, and three years later their son, Kid Miller Duchovny, was born.
David Duchovny with his son
Family life was not smooth. Eleven years later, Thea and David broke up due to his hypersexuality, which he admitted publicly. The actor underwent treatment and the family was reunited.
David Duchovny and Tea Leoni
However, in 2011, the couple began to live separately, and three years later they officially divorced. In one of her interviews, Tea Leoni commented on her family life as follows:
The period after The X Files
In the six years after The X-Files became history, David tried in every possible way to escape the captivity of the popular character. He was afraid to remain hostage to one role. Having stopped researching paranormal phenomena, Duchovny tried to become a director and screenwriter. He wrote the script and directed the dramatic film House of D, inviting Robin Williams, Téa Leoni and Anton Yelchin to play the leading roles. According to the actor, he wrote the script in 6 days, the seventh - he rested. He saw his project as funny and heartbreaking at the same time. But the film received a barrage of negative criticism, although every film deserves a chance to find its audience.
In addition to his cinematic activities, the actor voiced the main characters of the games “Area 51” and “XIII”, and also, due to his great love for dogs, advertised “Pedigree”.
Continuing to love TV series, the performer appeared in one episode of “Sex and the City,” but his most significant role after “The Materials” was the image of Hank Moody in the sex farce “California” (in the domestic version “Californication”). For the embodiment of a writer suffering from alcoholism and a midlife crisis, constantly in search of carnal pleasures, the performer received a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination.
Full meter
Based on the series “The X-Files”, two full-length films were released. The first one back in 1998 by Rob Bowman with the subtitle “Fight for the Future” looked like an extended series, much more equipped with visual effects, unnaturally bloated in scale. The second mystical thriller, released in 2008, was called “I Want to Believe.” David Duchovny played the role of Fox Mulder in the films, as well as in the series. The continuation of the adventures of the special agents went through a long and painful preparation process. The launch of production was postponed from year to year. The reason for the delay was the legal jungle that the franchise had acquired.
How David Duchovny's "boring" style became a benchmark for male good taste in the '90s and '00s
David Duchovny began his acting career quite quickly - after a couple of episodic roles, David Lynch noticed him and invited him to star in several episodes of Twin Peaks, and then The X-Files followed. The director of the series, Chris Carter, later said that at first Duchovny did not impress him at all because of his rather standard appearance, but after the first auditions his opinion changed radically, the actor turned out to be so charismatic. Appearance, perceived as a disadvantage, has become a trump card: now we no longer always separate David Duchovny from agent Fox Mulder with his charm, oddities and classic raincoats.
AA Film Archive/Legion Media
"The X-Files: I Want to Believe", 2008
“The X-Files” became not just a cult series, but an entire phenomenon of its time: when it first appeared on screens in 1993, it generated a surge of interest in the topics of conspiracies and alien civilizations, collected over a hundred awards and repeatedly received the title of “the greatest show on television.” from leading publications. Agents Mulder and Scully respectively became equally iconic characters.
United Archives/Legion Media
"The X-Files", 1993
CAP/KFS/Legion Media
"The X-Files", 1993
As befits an FBI agent, Mulder, played by Duchovny, wears formal suits, trench coats, slightly old-fashioned wide raincoats and shirts with large colorful ties, which in another context might look ridiculous, but in the overall image give Mulder charm and even seriousness. “Boring” clothes only set off the hero.
CAP/KFS/Legion Media
"The X-Files", 1993
In 2007, David Duchovny began starring in another series, which can also be called a cult one - this is Californication, or “Californication” in Russian translation. This time his hero is the writer and womanizer Hank Moody, who is not fit to look respectable, so Duchovny appears on screen in shirts with the top button undone, jeans, T-shirts and polos and has casually disheveled hair. Moody's wardrobe still cannot be called outstanding, remarkable, or even sexy, but in the context of the character it turns out to be so.
All Star Picture Library/Legion Media
"Californication", 2007
PictureLux/Legion Media
"Californication", 2007
The actor dressed about the same in everyday life - both in the nineties and in the 2000s, he wore jeans, T-shirts, leather jackets and gray jackets, unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and casually styled his hair.
Barry King/Alamy Stock Photo/Legion MediaAt the premiere of Batman Forever, 1995
Tsuni/USA/Legion MediaDavid Duchovny in 2004
At first glance, this may seem like a paradox, but it seems that it was “boring” clothes, combined with this note of carelessness and relaxation (read: naturalness) that became an attribute of male sexuality and good taste in a broad sense in the nineties and zeros. It's not just David Duchovny - all the icons of the time looked something like this, from Tom Cruise to Brad Pitt. Simple clothes became the background for living charm, did not hide it, even helped to emphasize it. This is precisely why the audience loved the actors in those decades - and still does.
Featureflash Archive/Legion Media
At the premiere of The X-Files: I Want to Believe, 2008
Detective again
At different periods of his creative activity, the actor returned several times to his roots, to operational investigative work. For example, in “Aquarius,” based on real events, the performer embodied the image of detective Sam Hodiak, investigating the case of Charles Manson and the “Family” commune.
He also replaced Andy Garcia in the independent film Phantom. The film takes place on board a Soviet nuclear submarine during the Cold War.
But in the comedy “Keeping Up with the Joneses,” the actor appeared in an unusual role. He, along with Amber Heard and Demi Moore, tells the story of a fake family that is a team to carry out hidden advertising of luxury goods.
Veterans do not grow old at heart
In 2021, the premiere screening of the new 10th season of The X-Files took place, which became one of the most anticipated events in the global media space. David Duchovny, who most of the time after the end of the broadcast of “Materials” was imposingly relaxing by the pool in “Califrenia,” returned to work again with Gillian Anderson, who left “Hannibal” for a while. Without them, continuing the show would be frankly pointless. Although, according to experts, “The X-Files” has ceased to correspond to the spirit of modernity, to keep up with the times, and Mulder and Scully are frozen in the 90s, the premiere of season 11 is expected in 2021.
David Duchovny now
In 2021, viewers saw Duchovny in the film Twin Peaks: The Return. The first two episodes of the popular American film were presented at the Cannes Film Festival.
Among the new products of 2021 in the celebrity’s filmography is the 11th season of the series “The X-Files,” which, by the way, is the subject of most of the posts on the actor’s personal profiles on Instagram and Twitter.
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in 2021
Despite the fact that rumors about David and Gillian's romance in real life were not confirmed, on the screen their characters still had a close relationship. The special agents' romance developed throughout the 7th season. Then Scully and Mulder became the parents of a son, William. And his sudden disappearance formed the basis of the plotline of the last part of the television film.
Personal life
David Duchovny married the smart and beautiful Tea Leoni in 1997, an actress who was not subject to the bad costs of the profession. But in 2008 they temporarily separated. The actor went to the clinic to undergo treatment for sexual addiction. His wife visited him in the hospital, and the couple began to live together again until 2011, when they separated without scandals. The couple has two children - the youngest son Kid and the eldest daughter Madeleine.
Journalists, who never gave up trying to find out information about the performer’s new girlfriends, were finally satisfied. The paparazzi managed to capture a photo of David Duchovny with the 24-year-old beautiful athlete Monique Pendleberry.
Biography of David Duchovny
David Duchovny is an American actor of Russian origin, who became widely known for his roles in the cult TV series The X-Files and Californication. Winner of two Golden Globe awards. David is not only an actor, but also a producer, musician and screenwriter.
In the photo: David Duchovny
Interesting Facts
What are they?
- The actor is proud of his nickname Duke (English: “Duke”) and his ability to bleat inimitably while imitating a goat.
- David sees the meaning of life only in the current moment.
- He calls the old comic Batman his favorite superhero.
- In a Massachusetts mansion, he bathes exclusively in an outdoor shower, naked.
- The performer does not like science fiction - he prefers horror.
- Considers himself famous on a scale of 1 to 10 to an eight.
- Uses its popularity to get free branded sportswear and front row seats at basketball games.
That's David.
