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Mitch Craig Pileggi is an American actor best known for his role on the TV series The X-Files as AD Walter Skinner. He was born on April 5, 1952, in Portland, Oregon. His father, Vito Pileggi, was a defense contractor whose job took him and his family around the world to places like Turkey, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

Pileggi took up acting while attending high school in Turkey and discovered the joy of musical theater. After high school, he attended the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with a degree in business. He followed in his father's footsteps as a defense contractor, working in Iran for several years. He eventually returned to Austin, Texas, and began performing in community theater, and later moved on to television roles.

He won several guest spots on TV series and minor films, including The A Team, Downtown, and Alien Nation. In the late '80s, he had a significant role in Wes Craven's Shocker (1989), in which he played Horace Pinker, a character who survived execution by electric chair and was transformed into energy capable of killing through the television. The film was not a success, and Pileggi continued to play parts in films like Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988), Basic Instinct (1992) and It's Pat (1994). He also guest starred on several TV series, including Dallas, Falcon Crest, and Knight Rider 2000.

His breakthrough role finally came when he guest-starred on the series The X-Files in 1994. He became a member of the regular cast in the 1996–1997 season when co-star Gillian Anderson's role was diminished during her pregnancy. Pileggi played AD Skinner until the long-running series ended in 2002. He also reprised his role in the 1998 X-Files film.

After the end of The X-Files, Pileggi continued to act, guest-starring on several TV series, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Mountain, and was the voice of Commissioner James on the animated series The Batman. Pileggi also guest-starred on several episodes of the series Stargate Atlantis, playing the role of Colonel Steven Caldwell.

Pileggi was first married in 1978 to Debbie Andrews, but the couple divorced in 1983. Pileggi met his current wife, Arlene Warren, on the set of The X-Files. She was Gillian Anderson's stand-in. Arlene later played Skinner's secretary, Arlene. The couple married in 1996 and they have one child, a daughter, Sawyer.