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| Ben Savage | |
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| Born | Bennett Joseph Savage September 13, 1980 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1989 - Present |
Bennett Joseph "Ben" Savage (born September 13, 1980) is an American film and TV actor and child star of late-1980s and early-1990s. Savage is best known for his role as lead character Cory Matthews on the TV sitcom Boy Meets World from 1993 to 2000. and for being the younger brother of Fred Savage, who starred in the TV series The Wonder Years.
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Early life
Savage was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Joanne and Lewis Savage, who was an industrial real estate broker and consultant.[1] His brother is actor Fred Savage, his sister is actress/musician Kala Savage. His grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland, Ukraine, Germany, and Latvia, and Savage was raised as a Reform Jew.[2]
Career
Savage made his film debut at the age of 8 in his brother Fred's hit Little Monsters (1989) and appeared in the feature films Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even (1992), as "Sam", the brainy little brother and playing a 10-year old in Clifford (1994), the latter starring Martin Short. Savage's stage debut was in The Laughter Epidemic at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Savage established himself more prominently on TV. His first major speaking role on network television was playing the recurring role of Matthew, son of the Judd Hirsch character, on the comedy series Dear John (1988). Then he was one of a family of orphans who con Robert Mitchum into being their guardian in A Family For Joe (NBC, 1990).
Savage is best known for his role as lead character Cory Matthews on the TV sitcom Boy Meets World from 1993 to 2000. Cory Matthews, a '90s-model Dennis the Menace constantly at daggers drawn with authority figures — especially his sixth grade teacher, Mr. Feeny (William Daniels). At age 13, Savage once said: "I'd never talk to my teachers like Cory talks to Mr. Feeny. I mean, they're the ones who give you the grades." When Boy Meets World (BMW) premiered in the fall of 1993, advertising agencies predicted that the clever Cory Matthews character would succeed. Indeed, the sitcom became a staple of the ABC's "T.G.I.F." Friday schedule. Along with Rider Strong, he is one of the only two actors to appear in all 158 episodes of "Boy Meets World" (1993).
Savage's brother Fred appeared alongside him in one episode of Boy Meets World, guest starring as a lecherous college professor pursuing Cory's girlfriend. In the following season, December 17, 1999, Fred directed his brother and the cast of Boy Meets World in the episode, "Family Trees," as Shawn (Rider Strong) discovers that the woman who raised him is not his real mother.
Ben has also worked in several TV-movies, including She Woke Up (1992), with Lindsay Wagner, and McDonald's Family Theatre Presents: Aliens for Breakfast (1995), as a young teen whose breakfast cereal figure comes alive.
Savage received critical recognition for his portrayal of "Coty Wyckoff", an angel-faced boy with the soul of a killer, in the ABC Event Series, Wild Palms (1993).
In May, 1998, Savage again received critical acclaim, this time for playing "Roddy Stern" in Tony Award-winner Israel Horovitz's rarely seen play Unexpected Tenderness at the Marilyn Monroe Theater. He received an Ovation Award for his performance.
In 2002, Savage starred in the PG-13 film Swimming Upstream playing the best friend, who was not the most mature person in the world but whose support makes up for that, to his terminally ill friend.
Savage took a break from acting in both film and television for three years before finally making a guest appearance in Still Standing as Seth Cosella, the boss of Bill Miller, played by Mark Addy. That same year he starred as Ford Davis in the independent feature Car Babes, which was shot on location in Los Gatos, California and also guest starred as himself in an episode of the Disney Channel original series Phil of the Future.
In 2006, he starred in the critically acclaimed independent film Palo Alto which first premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007.
In 2007, he starred in the ABC pilot from Sachs/Judah "Making it Legal" alongside Scott Wolf and Robert Wagner.
In 2008, he starred as Mark Ratner in an episode of the NBC series "Chuck" as well as murder suspect 'Kirby Morris' in an episode of the Emmy-award winning show, "Without a Trace".
Savage is currently filming Doesn't Texas Ever End.
Personal life
Savage interned for U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) in 2003 as a requirement for completing his studies at Stanford University where he graduated in 2004, with a degree in Political Science and as a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity.[3]
He regularly volunteers for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. He also remains good friends with his former Boy Meets World co-stars Matthew Lawrence, Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle and Rider Strong[citation needed]. He is a huge Bruce Springsteen fan to the point where he and his father spent a summer traveling the country following Springsteen on a U.S. tour.
Savage cited Albert Brooks, Paul Newman, and Nicolas Cage as his favorite actors.[citation needed]
Filmography
Awards and nominations
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
- 2000: Won, "Favorite Television Friends" - Boy Meets World (shared with Rider Strong)
- 1990: Nominated, "Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture" - Little Monsters
- 1994: Nominated, "Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Television Series" - Boy Meets World
- 1997: Nominated, "Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Television Series" - Boy Meets World
- 1998: Nominated, "Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Television Series" - Boy Meets World
YoungStar Awards
- 1998: Nominated, "Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series" - Boy Meets World
References
- ^ Fred Savage Biography (1976-)
- ^ LA Times: Theater; Not Just Acting Like an Adult; Fred Savage contemplates his roots – as a performer and a Jew – for 'Last Night of Ballyhoo.
- ^ Coutts, Anna (April 8, 2005). "What ever happened to... Ben Savage?". The Gazette (London, Ontario, Canada). http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/article.cfm?section=Arts&articleID=620&month=4&day=8&year=2005.
External links
- Ben Savage at the Internet Movie Database
- Little, Arielle (October 22, 2008). "Where Have All the Child Stars Gone?". Daily Californian.
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