Biography

Initially, A.D. Skinner acts solely as a supervisor to Agent Mulder's investigations of the paranormal. It is unclear whether he is entirely independent in his actions or controlled by people such as the Cigarette Smoking Man. In early episodes, the frequent presence of CSM in Skinner's office suggests that Skinner is at least partially under his power. Eventually, Skinner begins trusting Mulder and Scully and becomes their ally. He stands up to the conspirators that tried to control him, for which he frequently pays throughout the series.

After Skinner has long broken free of the Cigarette Smoking Man, he is again forced to take orders, this time from Krycek. He is covertly infected with nanotechnology, which allows Krycek to control him. Two years later, Skinner is finally able to rid himself of Krycek, when during an attempt by Krycek on Mulder's life, Skinner fatally shoots Alex. At Mulder's murder trial, Skinner is asked to act as Mulder's lawyer, having become a supporter of Mulder's cause. When Skinner is last seen, he and Deputy Director Alvin Kersh are confronting the Toothpick Man in Kersh's office. The consequences of this meeting are not revealed, but it is suggested that it leads to another closing of the X-Files division, as Agents Dogget and Reyes discover that X-Files office had been emptied out.

A former Marine and Vietnam War veteran, he was married for 17 years before divorcing his wife, Sharon on March 7, 1996. He has been treated at a sleep disorder clinic, suffering from recurring dreams of an old woman, which may either be a hallucination arising from drug use during Vietnam or a succubus. Skinner's hobbies include jogging, and boxing, the latter of which has been shown in his ability to outfight Mulder and X and to defend himself reasonably well when he was attacked by Alex Krycek and his men. Skinner's middle name is Sergei and his nickname is 'Skinman.'

Wayne Federman, a friend of Skinner's, who is a screen writer in Hollywood, presumably first gave him the nickname 'Skinman.' In the episode Hollywood A.D., Wayne writes/produces a movie called The Lazarus Bowl, which is based on an X-File Mulder and Scully investigated. In the film within the episode, Skinner is played by actor Richard Gere (who never actually appears). [Taken from Wikipedia and TheXFiles.com]

"I'll be asked what I saw. And what I saw I can't deny. I won't." - Walter Skinner, Episode 7x22: Requiem

Notable Episodes

• Tooms (1x20) - Skinner's first appearance.
• One Breath (2x08) - Skinner reveals that he had a near-death experience in Vietnam where he watched himself die and be placed in a body bag, only to wake up in hospital two weeks later.
• Paper Clip (3x02) - Skinner goes against the Cigarette Smoking Man, bribing him in order to secure Mulder and Scully's return to the FBI and the X-Files.
• Piper Maru (3x15) - Skinner informs Scully that her sister's case is being declared inactive. He is later shot by someone he recognises as an acomplice of Alex Krychek.
• Avatar (3x21) - Skinner is accused of murdering a young woman and is haunted by visions of an old woman.
• Zero Sum (4x21) - Skinner destroys evidence related to a case in an effort to gain a cure for Scully's cancer from Cigarette Smoking Man.
• Hollywood A.D. (7x18) - An old college friend of Skinner's bases a movie on an X-File.
• The Truth (9x19, 9x20) - Skinner places himself in charge of Mulder's defence when Mulder is placed on trial for Murder. The end of the series.