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In real life, Mitch Pileggi (Skinner) met his wife Arlene Warren on the set of "The X-Files" (1993) while she was stand-in to Gillian Anderson (Scully). In later episodes, Warren got some screen time--as Skinner's secretary, named Arlene.
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(about watching X-Files) I had heard people talking about it for a long time, and I honestly hadn't watched the show until I did it. And then, once I did it, and started watching it, then I was like, man, this is a good show. (laughs) I really got hooked into it...
-- Mitch Pileggi
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Pileggi's first marriage was to Debbie Andrews; the couple were married from 1978 to 1983.
In 1996, he married his second wife, Arlene Warren. They have one daughter, Sawyer, born May 24, 1998. Warren and Pileggi were originally introduced to each other by David Duchovny, who was later the best man at their Hawaii wedding. Warren had worked on the set of The X-Files as a stand-in for Gillian Anderson. Later on in the run of the series, Warren was featured as Skinner's fictional secretary, also named Arlene.
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Pileggi began acting while he was a high school student in Turkey, playing musical theater. After returning to Austin from Iran, he performed in local theaters, and continued his acting career with small roles in B-movies, and guest roles in television shows such as Dallas, China Beach, Code of Vengeance, and Walker, Texas Ranger.
In the 1980s, Pileggi starred in several films including Three O'Clock High as Duke "The Duker" Herman, an over zealous tough-as-nails high school parking lot security guard, and in Shocker as body-possessing serial killer Horace Pinker.
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Mitch Pileggi was working as a defense contractor in Isfahan, Iran, about two weeks before Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was deposed, in 1979. Due to strained relations between Iran and the United States, the company he worked for was evacuating the employees on a Pan American flight. Pileggi said in a 2008 radio interview that for some reason, possibly for a supernormal reason, he booked his own flight with Swiss Air, on the plane that would be the last out of the country for many days. They were supposed to land in Baghdad, Iraq, but a thunderstorm prevented any landings, so the pilot flew them to Athens, Greece. Pileggi said, "I think we got there on fumes.".
