William B. Davis

William B. Davis
William B. Davis in 2011
Born	William Bruce Davis (1938-01-13) January 13, 1938 (age 79) Toronto, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1949–present
Spouse(s)	Emmanuelle Davis
Children	2 daughters, Melinda and Rebecca
Website	williambdavis.com

William Bruce Davis (born January 13, 1938) is a Canadian actor and director, best known for his role as the Cigarette Smoking Man on The X-Files. Besides appearing in many TV programs and movies, Davis founded his own acting school, the William Davis Centre for Actors Study. In his personal life, Davis is an avid water-skier, lectures on skepticism at events such as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry's CSICon, and advocates for action on climate change. In 2011 Davis published his memoir, Where There’s Smoke .... The Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man.

Davis was born in Toronto, Canada, to a lawyer father and psychologist mother. He began his acting career as a child in 1949, in radio drama and summer stock theatre. His cousins Murray and Donald Davis ran the Straw Hat Players in Ontario in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and rehearsed in the basement of Davis' house. When they needed a boy they gave William his first professional acting job. He went on from there to have a career as a boy actor on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio before his voice broke. In 1955 he enrolled in the University of Toronto to study philosophy, but actively pursued a career as an actor alongside future actor Donald Sutherland. In 1959, he graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy. While at university he switched his attention from acting to directing and with his partner, Karl Jaffary, took over and ran the Straw Hat Players for four years.