# Peter Donat
**Peter Donat** (born Pierre Collingwood Donat; January 20, 1928 – September 10, 2018) was a Canadian-American [character actor](https://www.edgepedia.org/character-actor) whose 50-year career spanned stage, film, and television. He was a leading player at the [Stratford Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/stratford-festival) and a core company member of San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater, and television audiences knew him as William Mulder, the father of Agent Fox Mulder, on *The X-Files*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | January 20, 1928, Kentville, Nova Scotia; September 10, 2018, Point Reyes Station, California, of complications of diabetes, at age 90[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232194/bio/) |
| Career span | About 50 years across theater, film, and television; AFI lists 18 feature-film credits[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232194/bio/) • [6](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/123875-Peter-Donat) |
| Theater bases | Stratford Festival in Canada and the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco, where he was an original core company member[2](https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Donat%2C+Peter) • [4](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/remembering-x-files-actor-peter-donat-act-s-21184933.php) |
| Best-known screen role | William (Bill) Mulder, father of Agent Fox Mulder, recurring on *The X-Files*[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/peter-donat) |
| Award | Theatre World Award for best supporting actor in *The First Gentleman* on Broadway, 1957[5](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/peter-donat-102702) |
| Family ties | Nephew of the Oscar-winning British actor Robert Donat; brother of actor Richard Donat[2](https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Donat%2C+Peter) |
## Early life and training
Donat was born Pierre Collingwood Donat in Kentville, Nova Scotia, to Philip Ernst Donat, an Anglo-Canadian landscape gardener, and Marie Bardet, who was French-Canadian. His uncle was [Robert Donat](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-donat), the British film actor who won an Academy Award for *Goodbye, Mr. Chips*, and his younger brother Richard also became an actor[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232194/bio/) • [2](https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Donat%2C+Peter). Upon becoming a professional actor he changed his first name to Peter[7](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2018/09/16/files-actor-peter-donat-dead/sSzG6TZomur8NOdm8kKgpM/story.html).
He graduated from Acadia University in [Wolfville](https://www.edgepedia.org/wolfville), Nova Scotia, where he had initially set out to study medicine before shifting toward theater, and moved to the United States in 1950 at age 22 to study acting for a year at the [Yale School of Drama](https://www.edgepedia.org/yale-school-of-drama). He later became a naturalized U.S. citizen while continuing to take work in Canada[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232194/bio/) • [2](https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Donat%2C+Peter) • [4](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/remembering-x-files-actor-peter-donat-act-s-21184933.php).
## Stage career
**Broadway.** After a chance meeting with the director [Tyrone Guthrie](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyrone-guthrie) in the Manhattan theater district, Donat secured an audition and was cast as Prince Leopold in Norman Ginsbury's *The First Gentleman*, his Broadway debut in 1957, for which he won a Theatre World Award[2](https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Donat%2C+Peter) • [5](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/peter-donat-102702). Further Broadway appearances followed in *The Country Wife* (1957), *The Entertainer* (1958), *The Chinese Prime Minister* (1964), and *There's One in Every Marriage* (1972)[5](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/peter-donat-102702).
**Stratford Festival.** Donat performed in many Shakespearean roles at the Stratford Festival in Ontario through the late 1950s and 1960s, including Florizel in *The Winter's Tale* (1958), Demetrius in *A Midsummer Night's Dream* (1960), Troilus in *Troilus and Cressida* (1963), Cassius in *Julius Caesar* (1965), and Pistol in *Falstaff* (1965)[2](https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Donat%2C+Peter). In 1961 he played a leading role in Donald Jack's *The Canvas Barricade*, the first Canadian play performed at the Stratford Festival[2](https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Donat%2C+Peter).
**American Conservatory Theater.** ACT's founder, William Ball, recruited Donat to the core acting company after seeing him perform at Stratford. With a resonant voice and, in his younger years, the looks of a romantic lead, Donat took a wide range of parts there: the title role in *Cyrano de Bergerac*, a production successful enough that PBS filmed it for its *Theater in America* and *Great Performances* series; Milo Tindle in *Sleuth*; the Stage Manager opposite [Annette Bening](https://www.edgepedia.org/annette-bening)'s Emily Webb in *Our Town*; and the title role in *Hadrian VII*, which the [San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-francisco-chronicle)'s critic in 1970 called "superb: witty, moving, paranoid and wise"[4](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/remembering-x-files-actor-peter-donat-act-s-21184933.php). Locally he remained identified with ACT long after he left the company[4](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/remembering-x-files-actor-peter-donat-act-s-21184933.php).
He stayed active in Canadian theater in later decades, playing Prospero in *The Tempest* at the Atlantic Theatre Festival in 1995 (directed by Michael Langham) and Hirst in Pinter's *No Man's Land* for Soulpepper Theatre Company in 2003, and he also worked with the [Citadel Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/citadel-theatre). He described theater as his first love[2](https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Donat%2C+Peter).
## Film and television
Donat's screen work favored authoritative professionals and officials. According to the [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute) catalog, his film roles included Questadt in *The Godfather Part II* (1974), Reed Channing in *The Hindenburg* (1975), Arthur St. Clair in *F.I.S.T.* (1978), Don Jacovich in *The China Syndrome* (1979), Otto Kerner in *Tucker: The Man and His Dream* (1988), Harry Frazee in *The Babe* (1992), Headmaster Bartram in *School Ties* (1992), Samuel Sutherland in *The Game* (1997), and Jack Hall in *The Deep End* (2001)[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/123875-Peter-Donat). [Francis Ford Coppola](https://www.edgepedia.org/francis-ford-coppola) had considered him for the role of [Tom Hagen](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-hagen) in *The Godfather* (1972), which went to Robert Duvall[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232194/bio/).
On television he was a prolific guest performer, appearing on series including *Mission: Impossible*, *I Spy*, *The F.B.I.*, *The Waltons*, *Mannix*, *Hawaii Five-O*, *McMillan & Wife*, *Charlie's Angels*, *Lou Grant*, *Hill Street Blues*, and *Murder, She Wrote*[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/peter-donat). On *Dallas* he played the doctor who treated [J. R. Ewing](https://www.edgepedia.org/j-r-ewing) after the character was shot in the 1980 "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/peter-donat). He had recurring roles as Elmo Tyson, the editor of a small-town newspaper, on the prime-time soap *Flamingo Road* (1981–82) and as the time-traveling villain Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi on *Time Trax* (1993–94)[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/peter-donat) • [8](https://tv.apple.com/ca/person/peter-donat/umc.cpc.10c7azkzmz3x1fk841ynkwbes).
His most visible role came as William Mulder, the father of [David Duchovny](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-duchovny)'s Agent Fox Mulder, on *The X-Files*, appearing across the show's second through sixth seasons in episodes such as "Colony," "Anasazi," "The Blessing Way," and "One Son"[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/peter-donat) • [9](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/44941/peter-donat). Duchovny said Donat "had an easy gravitas as a performer and seemed to come from that generation that took the art seriously but not too seriously"[7](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2018/09/16/files-actor-peter-donat-dead/sSzG6TZomur8NOdm8kKgpM/story.html). Sources give differing counts of his episodes on the show: the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia says six, TVmaze lists seven, and its episode listing shows eight[2](https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Donat%2C+Peter) • [9](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/44941/peter-donat).
Sources also differ on recognition for the role. BroadwayWorld reports a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, a Golden Globe nomination, and SAG ensemble nominations for *The X-Files* work[10](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Donat/), while the Television Academy's own biography page for Donat lists no Emmy nominations[3](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/peter-donat).
## Personal life and death
Donat married the actor [Michael Learned](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-learned), later known for *The Waltons*, on September 8, 1956; the marriage ended in divorce on February 14, 1972, and the couple had three sons, Caleb, Christopher, and Lucas[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232194/bio/). Their son Lucas appeared as a teenager in *Damien: Omen II* (1978) and later co-founded the advertising agency Donat/Wald Co.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232194/bio/) Donat married Marijke DeJong on February 9, 1983, and they remained married until his death[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232194/bio/).
He died at his home in Point Reyes Station, California, on September 10, 2018, at age 90, from complications of diabetes[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232194/bio/) • [7](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2018/09/16/files-actor-peter-donat-dead/sSzG6TZomur8NOdm8kKgpM/story.html). His final screen credit was the 2003 television movie *Murder, She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle*[11](https://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2018/09/x-files-actor-dies/).
## References
1. [Peter Donat – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232194/bio/)
2. [Donat, Peter, Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia](https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Donat%2C+Peter)
3. [Peter Donat, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/peter-donat)
4. [Remembering 'X-Files' actor Peter Donat: ACT's leading man, San Francisco Chronicle (September 17, 2018)](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/theater/article/remembering-x-files-actor-peter-donat-act-s-21184933.php)
5. [Peter Donat – Broadway Cast & Staff, IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/peter-donat-102702)
6. [Peter Donat filmography, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/123875-Peter-Donat)
7. ['X-Files' actor Peter Donat dead at 90, Associated Press via The Boston Globe (September 16, 2018)](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2018/09/16/files-actor-peter-donat-dead/sSzG6TZomur8NOdm8kKgpM/story.html)
8. [Peter Donat Movies and Shows, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/ca/person/peter-donat/umc.cpc.10c7azkzmz3x1fk841ynkwbes)
9. [Peter Donat, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/44941/peter-donat)
10. [Peter Donat – Broadway & Theatre Credits, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Peter-Donat/)
11. ['X-Files' Actor Dies, TVWeek (September 17, 2018)](https://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2018/09/x-files-actor-dies/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Canadian actors › Surnames Cr to F*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license