The X-Files
Australian Conne-X-ion
The Cast: William B Davis
Bill Davis began acting during childhood in his cousins' summer theatre company and in radio drama for the CBC in Canada. While a student at the University of Toronto (from which he graduated with a degree in Philosophy), he switched his attentions to directing for the theater, a passion that was to dominate his artistic aspirations for the next twenty years. During that time, he studied at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and directed in repertory companies. He also served as an Assistant Director at the National Theatre of Great Britain under Laurence Olivier.
Returning to Canada in the mid-sixties, Bill became Artistic Director of the National Theatre School of Canada and he directed in other Canadian theatre companies. In 1985 he took the job of Director at the Vancouver Playhouse Acting School. He returned to acting in the early eighties on stage, film, and television.
Aside from his tenure on The X-Files, Bill's recent television work has been in movies such as Voyage into Terror, Murder Most Likely, and Becoming Dick. His feature credits include Look Who's Talking, Perpetrators of the Crime, Out of Pocket and Anthrax. He has appeared on the television series The Outer Limits, Wiseguy, Danger Bay, and many other series shot in Vancouver. Bill is owner of The William Davis Centre for Actors' Study in Vancouver, and he continues to be an active competitor in both snow and water skiing.
The Cigarette Smoking Man
The man behind the cloud of smoke seems to constantly have his hand in the affairs of the X-Files, and his presence serves as a warning that the shadow government is using Mulder as a pawn in their game.
The tension between Mulder and the Cigarette-Smoking Man has steadily increased as the man with the pack of Morleys not only involves himself in Mulder's work, but also has been responsible for several attempts on the agents' lives. In "One Breath" (2X08), Mulder blames CSM for the abduction of Scully, and comes within a trigger-pull of killing him. But Mulder later learns that the CSM has connections with Mulder's parents and was a major player in his sister Samantha's abduction.
Mulder and Scully uncover his real name, C.G.B. Spender (although this too may merely be another alias), when they learn that his ex-wife is abductee Cassandra Spender. The CSM had his son Jeffrey assigned to the X-Files after Mulder and Scully are taken off the unit, but young Agent Spender proved a disappointment to his father. The CSM ultimately kills off his own son in "One Son" (6X12).
In "The Sixth Extinction: Amor Fati" (7X04), Mulder's alien DNA is transferred to the CSM in order to make him a hybrid. But the procedure caused a cerebral inflammation in the elusive smoker. Although the old man is already dying, his former mercenary, Krycek, tosses the CSM down a flight of stairs in "Requiem" (7X22).
The Cigarette Smoking Man appears in the following episodes:
Back to Casting Couch: X-Files Cast Main Page
Back to The X-Files Australian Conne-X-ion Main Page.