David Duchovny facts for kids

Quick facts for kids David Duchovny
Duchovny in 2013
Born	David William Ducovny (1960-08-07) August 7, 1960 (age 64) New York City, U.S.
Education	Princeton University (BA) Yale University (MA)
Occupation	Actor writer singer-songwriter
Years active	1987–present
Known for	Fox Mulder in The X-Files Hank Moody in Californication
Spouse(s)	Téa Leoni ​ ​ (m. 1997; div. 2014)​ Monique Pendleberry ​ (m. 2025)​
Children	2, including West Duchovny
Parent(s)	Amram Ducovny (father)
Relatives	Daniel Duchovny (brother)

David William Duchovny (/dʊˈkɒvni/ duu-KOV-nee; born August 7, 1960) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He became famous for playing Fox Mulder in The X-Files TV show. For this role, he won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for other big awards. He also won another Golden Globe for his role as Hank Moody in the TV series Californication (2007–2014). He also produced and starred in the police drama Aquarius (2015–2016).

David Duchovny has appeared in many films. These include Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) and Beethoven (1992). He also played Roland Totheroh in the movie Chaplin (1992). In the 2000s, he starred in films like Return to Me (2000), Evolution (2001), Connie and Carla (2004), House of D (2004), and The Joneses (2009).

Duchovny studied at Princeton University and Yale University. He has also written five books. These include Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale (2015), Bucky F*cking Dent (2016), Miss Subways (2018), Truly Like Lightning (2021), and The Reservoir (2022).

Early Life and Education

Duchovny and John F. Kennedy Jr. in 9th grade in the 1975 Collegiate yearbook

David Duchovny was born in New York City in 1960. His father, Amram "Ami" Ducovny, was a writer. His mother, Margaret "Meg" Miller, was a school administrator and teacher. David is the middle child of three. He has an older brother, Daniel, and a younger sister, Laurie. His mother came from Scotland. His father was Jewish, and his mother was Lutheran. His father changed the spelling of their last name to avoid mispronunciations.

Duchovny grew up in the Ukrainian Village area of Manhattan. He went to The Collegiate School For Boys. He was classmates with John F. Kennedy Jr. and graduated in 1978. He then went to Princeton University. He graduated with honors in 1982 with a degree in English literature. He also earned a master's degree in English Literature from Yale University. He started working on a Ph.D. but did not finish it.

Family Roots

Duchovny's great-great-grandfather and his family were from Berdychiv, which is now in Ukraine. They moved to Jaffa, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1914, his ancestors were among 6,000 Jewish people who were forced to leave their homes. They were sent by ship to Egypt.

Career Highlights

Duchovny first appeared in a beer advertisement in 1987. The next year, he was in the movie Working Girl (1988). He had a small role as Denise Bryson, a transgender DEA agent, in the series Twin Peaks. He also narrated the TV series Red Shoe Diaries. In 1992, he played Rollie Totheroh in the film Chaplin, about Charlie Chaplin. He also had a small part in the family film Beethoven in 1992.

Duchovny at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2011

In 1993, Duchovny started his famous role as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder in the science fiction series The X-Files. Mulder was a conspiracy theorist who believed his sister was taken by aliens. The show became very popular and was a big hit for The Fox Network. The show's creator, Chris Carter, said Duchovny was very smart. Duchovny helped create some of Mulder's main character ideas. Also in 1993, Duchovny starred with Brad Pitt in the thriller Kalifornia.

During The X-Files run, Duchovny also starred in a 1998 movie called The X-Files with Gillian Anderson. He stayed with the series until 2001. He appeared in some episodes of season eight and the series finale in 2002. He also voiced a parody of his Mulder character in The Simpsons episode "The Springfield Files".

Duchovny caused some discussion when The X-Files moved filming from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Los Angeles in 1998. He had made some jokes about Vancouver's rain on a TV show. He later said he was tired of the rain but would have stayed if his wife didn't live in L.A. During The X-Files, he also appeared on The Larry Sanders Show.

Duchovny with Gillian Anderson at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con for The X-Files 20th Anniversary panel

Duchovny hosted Saturday Night Live twice in 1995 and 1998. In 1997, he played a doctor in the film Playing God. In 2000, he starred in the romantic comedy-drama Return to Me. In 2001, Duchovny starred in the sci-fi comedy Evolution. He also had a small role in the comedy Zoolander. He appeared on a celebrity version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2000.

Duchovny provided voices for video games like Area 51 (2005) and XIII (2003). In 2003, Duchovny was a guest star on the HBO show ... and the City. He played Jeremy, Carrie Bradshaw's high-school ex-boyfriend. In 2005, Duchovny directed and acted in the film House of D. The film starred Anton Yelchin, Robin Williams, and his wife at the time, Téa Leoni. Duchovny also directed an episode of Bones.

From 2007 to 2014, Duchovny played the writer Hank Moody in the Showtime series Californication. He won a Golden Globe Award for this role in 2007. In 2014, NBC announced a new TV series called Aquarius starring Duchovny. He played a police sergeant in the 1960s investigating Charles Manson. In 2015, it was announced that Duchovny would return for a new season of The X-Files. It premiered in January 2016.

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

Personal Life

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

The couple separated in 2008 but reunited in 2009. They separated again in 2011 and divorced in 2014. In May 2025, it became public that he had married Monique Pendleberry.

Duchovny is a pescetarian, meaning he eats fish but not other meat. He supports environmental causes and is interested in electric vehicle technology. He appeared at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival to support 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

Discography

See also

In Spanish: David Duchovny para niños

• List of Golden Globe winners