ACTOR

William B. Davis

1938 - Today

Photo of William B. Davis

Icon of person William B. Davis

William Bruce Davis (born January 13, 1938) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as the Cigarette Smoking Man on The X-Files. Besides appearing in many TV programs and movies, he founded his own acting school, the William Davis Centre for Actors Study. In his personal life, he 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. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of William B. Davis has received more than 1,496,176 page views. His biography is available in 27 different languages on Wikipedia. William B. Davis is the 1,855th most popular actor (down from 1,632nd in 2019), the 145th most popular biography from Canada (down from 132nd in 2019) and the 46th most popular Canadian Actor.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.5M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 54.76

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 27

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.58

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.49

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among ACTORS

Among actors, William B. Davis ranks 1,855 out of 13,578. Before him are Louis Gossett Jr., Steven Bauer, Aurore Clément, Robert Conrad, Robert Sean Leonard, and Arielle Dombasle. After him are Aleksandër Moisiu, Lisa Bonet, Dana Andrews, Tony Jaa, Vasily Livanov, and Ted Levine.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1938, William B. Davis ranks 177. Before him are Myroslav Skoryk, Bennie Muller, Jacqueline Andere, Larisa Shepitko, Tufuga Efi, and Juraj Jakubisko. After him are Sjaak Swart, Götz George, Andrey Myagkov, Leon Panetta, Isabelle Aubret, and Ieronymos II of Athens.

Others Born in 1938

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In Canada

Among people born in Canada, William B. Davis ranks 145 out of 1,622. Before him are Tom Cavanagh (1963), James Craig Watson (1838), Peter Cullen (1941), Raymond Burr (1917), Jordan Peterson (1962), and David Foster (1949). After him are Paul Watson (1950), Shania Twain (1965), Gerald Bull (1928), Joshua Slocum (1844), Wilfrid Laurier (1841), and Sid Meier (1954).

Others born in Canada

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Among ACTORS In Canada

Among actors born in Canada, William B. Davis ranks 46. Before him are Joseph Wiseman (1918), Katheryn Winnick (1977), Eugene Levy (1946), Tom Cavanagh (1963), Peter Cullen (1941), and Raymond Burr (1917). After him are Fay Wray (1907), Hayden Christensen (1981), Raymond Massey (1896), Henry Czerny (1959), James Doohan (1920), and Elisha Cuthbert (1982).

Canadian born Actors

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Television and Movie Roles

The X-Files
Cigarette Smoking Man
The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is assigned to make scientific analyses of Mulder's discoveries that debunk Mulder's work and thus return him to mainstream cases.
8.375 / 10
The X Files
The Cigarette-Smoking Man
Mulder and Scully, now taken off the FBI's X Files cases, must find a way to fight the shadowy elements of the government to find out the truth about a conspiracy that might mean the alien colonization of Earth.
Jun 19o 19986.874 / 10
The Tall Man
Sheriff Chestnut
When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.
Mar 19o 20126.002 / 10