David Duchovny is an American film and television actor, best known for his portrayal of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on the TV show The X-Files.

Duchovny was born on August 7, 1960 in New York City. His mother Margaret was a school administrator, and his father Amram was a writer and publicist. Duchovny has two siblings, brother Daniel and sister Laurie. As a youth, David attended the Collegiate School For Boys in Manhattan, and later graduated from Princeton University. He also holds a Master’s Degree in English Literature from Yale.

He began his acting career by appearing in a commercial for Lowenbrau beer in 1987, and soon landed a recurring role as a transvestite DEA on Twin Peaks. He also played the host / narrator of the Showtime series The Red Shoe Diaries.

In 1993, Duchovny landed the lead role in The X-Files on Fox Network, playing an FBI agent named Fox Mulder who believed his sister had been abducted by aliens as a child, and who investigated unsolved cases that often involved paranormal activities. He was a strong believer in the paranormal, and was assigned as a partner FBI agent Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson), who believed in science and acted as a sceptical counterpart to Mulder. The show lasted for nine seasons, although Duchovny left after the seventh season due to a contract dispute. Earlier he had forced the show to relocate to Los Angeles to be closer to his wife, as the X-Files had previously been filmed in Vancouver, Canada. Duchovny appeared in only half the episodes of season eight, and appeared only in the Series Finale at the end of the ninth season. He also starred with Anderson in the feature film X-Files: Fight the Future, released in 1998.

Duchovny went on to appear in several feature films, including Return To Me, Evolution and Zoolander. In 2005 he wrote, directed and acted in the film House of D. He also appeared on several TV programs including The Larry Sanders Show, The Simpsons and Sex and the City. Most recently, Duchovny played the lead role in the controversial Showtime series Californication. He also recently began filming the untitled sequel to the X-Files movie, currently scheduled for release on July 25, 2008.

David Duchovny has been nominated for four Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series - Drama in 1996 for The X-Files, as well as winning the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a  Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2007 for the role of Hank Moody in Californication.

Duchovny suffered an eye injury while playing basketball at the age of 27, and wears contact lenses or glasses as a result. He is a former vegetarian, and an ardent sports fan who often plays in celebrity basketball games.

Duchovny married actress Tea Leoni in 1997. They currently live in Malibu, California and have a daughter named Madelaine West Duchovny, as well as a son named Kyd Miller Duchovny.