Born John Youngs in Old Bethpage, New York, Savage
sang and acted throughout his early school years. At the age of 17, his true passion began to come to fruition once accepted
into the prestigious American Academy of Performing Arts.
Upon graduation, he landed his first job on
Broadway in the chorus of "Fiddler On the Roof" as well as the understudy for one of the lead characters. His major
debut came during this understudy position, attracting the attention of Los Angeles agents and managers. His theatrical run continued
in Chicago, playing "Billy Bibbit" in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
Shortly after
arriving in Los Angeles, the budding Savage found himself cast in the original production of
David Mamet's "American Buffalo" playing the role of "Bobby" under the direction of the esteemed
Ulu Grossbard. It was on this set that his co-star,
Robert Duvall, met and later married Savage's younger sister,
Gail Youngs.
John's major screen
debut came in 1978 with the Oscar-winning Best Picture film,
The Deer Hunter (1978), which gained him international attention for his work. The following year, he had leads in two more big pictures,
Milos Forman's musical
Hair (1979) and the film adaptation of
Joseph Wambaugh's
The Onion Field (1979). His appearance as a
suicide survivor in
Richard Donner's
Inside Moves (1980) continued to garner him praise as an actor of great range and diversity. He was nominated for Best Actor-Foreign
for his work in
The Amateur (1981). He went on to co-star in
Maria's Lovers (1984) with
Nastassja Kinski, backed by cinema legend
Robert Mitchum.
While his film career was blossoming, his TV career was just budding. He landed several series regular roles
throughout his years, first being introduced onto TV as "Jim Malloy" of the NBC series
"Gibbsville" (1976) as well as several movies for television.
During the late 80s through mid 90s, Savage threw his star
power behind the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. It was here working alongside
Nelson Mandela that he found himself back in his "Hollywood" roots working as the assistant production manager of
Spike Lee's film
Malcolm X (1992). Savage had previously worked with Lee as co-producer and one of the stars of
Do the Right Thing (1989), and later showed up again in Lee's
Summer of Sam (1999) as well as his Showtime TV movie
Sucker Free City (2004) (TV). Previous to this, he had also helped organize the Manhattan Children's Theatre Group, which continues
to encourage the performing arts to at risk inner-city youth.
Since his return back to Los Angeles, John's
career remains split between both television and film projects. He was a series regular on
James Cameron's
"Dark Angel" (2000), as well as the acclaimed HBO series "Carnivale" (2003). His silver screen presence remained with roles
in
American Strays (1996),
The Thin Red Line (1998) and
Message in a Bottle (1999). In 2009, John will have several projects being released, including
Handsome Harry (2009) (opposite
Steve Buscemi) and
The Coverup (2008) (opposite
Eliza Dushku and
Gabriel Macht). John is set to star in the upcoming trilogy
Nephilim (2010) which begins production in late 2009.
CHARITY WORK: World Vision & Nami , which is a national
alliance for mental Illness , and organized meetings for family and friends of those having to deal with mental illness.
