Italian-American actor Mitch Pileggi began his acting career in local theaters, B-movies, and as a guest star in a string of TV shows before making it big in 1994 when he was cast as FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner, the boss of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson's lead characters Mulder and Scully, on Fox's hit sci-fi drama series, The X-Files, in which he stayed until its finale on May 19, 2002. He would later reprise the role in the show's feature film adaptations, The X Files (1998) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008). 

Pileggi also played billionaire Richard Clayton on the WB action/drama series Tarzan (2003), land developer Colin Dowling on the WB drama series The Mountain (2004-2005), detective Armen D. Spivak on the ABC action series Day Break (2006), and provided the voice of Commissioner Gordon (2005-2007) on Kids WB Emmy Award-winning animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero, The Batman. He now plays USAF Colonel Steven Caldwell on the Sci-Fi Channel series Stargate Atlantis. 

On the big screen, the actor appeared in the high-school comedy film Three O'Clock High (1987), the action thriller Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987; starring Charles Bronson), and the horror Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) before landing his breakout film role as serial killer Horace Pinker in Wes Craven's cult classic horror/thriller, Shocker (1989). He has since added to his resume roles in the films Basic Instinct (1992), It's Pat (1994), Gun Shy (2000) and Man in the Chair (2007). Next, he will star in a film written and directed by Peter Coggan, Woodshop.