Peter Donat, Mulder’s Father on ‘X-Files,’ Dies at 90

Canadian actor also played a pivotal role in the “Who Shot J.R.?” cliffhanger on “Dallas”

Peter Donat
Fox

Peter Donat, best known as agent Fox Mulder’s father on “The X Files,” died on Monday due to complications of diabetes, his wife, Maria, told the New York Times. He was 90.

“Peter had an easy gravitas as a performer and seemed to come from that generation that took the art seriously but not too seriously,” his TV son David Duchovny tweeted Saturday. “It was an honor to know him and work with him.”

The Canadian-born actor was a familiar face on television on the 1970s and ’80s, having appeared on shows like “Hawaii Five-O,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “The Waltons,” where he appeared alongside his wife of 16 years, Michael Learned. Fans of “Dallas” might also remember him as the doctor who treated J.R. Ewing after he was shot in the classic “Who Shot J.R.?” cliffhanger.

On film, he had roles in “The Godfather Part II,” “The Missiles of October,” The China Syndrome,” “The War of the Roses” and “The Game.”

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