His father is a writer and his mother is a housewife. Before David was bom his parents had been English teachers. When his parents divorced, David was raised by his mother, along with his sister Laurie and his brother Daniel.

David went to a prestigious private school in Manhattan. "He was a very bright kid with a brilliant sense of humour," his father remembers. "At school he was always top of the class." After school he entered Princeton University. Then he studied English Literature at Yale University and worked as a teaching assistant.

David was working at his PhD thesis at Yale when one of his friends suggested that he should try acting classes.

Duchovny's PhD thesis, Magic and Technology in Contemporary Fiction and Poetry was never finished. He moved to Hollywood. His mother was angry when he had given up studying. Even now, when she speaks to him on the phone, she always asks him: "When are you going to finish your thesis?" He laughs and says: "Later, later."

David's first year in Hollywood was very hard. He was unemployed and could hardly make both ends meet. Luckily, he was invited to play in a commercial and later in a feature film. "Acting gave me a sense of team and I liked this very much," David says.

Very soon Duchovny appeared in such feature films as Chaplin, Beethoven and California. His work in the movies attracted the attention of Chris Carter, the famous creator of The X-Files. A TV series weren't in Duchovny's plans but he was impressed by the script for The X-Files. So he became agent Fox Mulder.

David is very surprised not only by the success of The X-Files but by his own personal popularity.

Actors who have worked with him describe him as modest, professional and hard-working. David is fond of sports. He played basketball and baseball at school and university. He keeps in shape with jogging and yoga exercises. He writes poetry, but, as he says, he does not read it in public any more.