David William Duchovny was born on August 7, 1960, in New York City, New York, USA, to a family of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine and Poland, and a Scottish-born school teacher. He has a sister, Laurie, and an older brother, Daniel Ducovny, an award-winning director of commercials and a director of photography.
David earned an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and attended Yale University, where he undertook a Master's Degree in English Literature. He was a keen poet and writer, and his work was well recognized by his peers and teachers while he was in attendance at Yale. He was even nominated for a college prize by the Academy of American Poets for his outstanding work within the literary field.
He began commuting to New York to study acting and soon appeared in off-Broadway plays. In 1987, he abandoned his doctoral studies at Yale to pursue acting full time. He started his career by acting in numerous commercials in the late-eighties and crossed over into films with bit parts in low-key films such as New Year's Day (1989) and Bad Influence (1990).
In 1991, he got offered the role of DEA Dennis Bryson on the acclaimed TV series Twin Peaks (1990). He only appeared in three episodes, but it was his biggest claim to fame yet, as Twin Peaks (1990) was watched by millions of people worldwide. He got more bit parts in films, this time in hits such as Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) and the family favorite comedy, Beethoven (1992).
A year later, in 1993, he got the lead role in the independent film Kalifornia (1993),which also starred Brad Pitt. In 1993, he was offered the role of FBI Agent Fox "Spooky" Mulder on the long-running TV series The X-Files (1993). The show was a tremendous international success and propelled David (and his co-star Gillian Anderson) into super-stardom.
During the initial run of The X-Files (1993),David kept busy and made several films, such as Return to Me (2000),alongside actress Minnie Driver, and the comedy favorite Evolution (2001),with Julianne Moore, Seann William Scott, and Orlando Jones. He even had a hysterical cameo as a self-obsessed, simple-minded hand model in the comedy-smash Zoolander (2001).
In 2007, after a few years out of the limelight, David struck gold again after landing the plum role of Hank Moody in Californication (2007). The raunchy series follows the life of womanizing writer Hank Moody (Duchovny) as he tries to juggle his career and his relationship with his daughter and his ex-girlfriend. The show has become a hit for its off-the-wall humor and Duchovny's ability to always turn in a brilliant performance.
It may have taken a while, but David has worked his way to the top and notched up an impressive resume along the way. We can expect to see a lot more of him in the future.
