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Ben Savage

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For the musician, see Whitechapel (band).

Ben Savage
Savage in 2023
Born
Bennett Joseph Savage

(1980-09-13) September 13, 1980 (age 44)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1988–present
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Tessa Angermeier
​
(m. 2023)​
RelativesFred Savage (brother)
Kala Savage (sister)

Bennett Joseph Savage (born September 13, 1980[1]) is an American actor. He played the lead role of Cory Matthews on the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World (1993–2000) and its Disney Channel sequel Girl Meets World (2014–2017).

Early life

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Savage was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Joanne and Lewis Savage (1946–2015[2]), who worked as an industrial real estate broker and a consultant.[3][better source needed] His elder brother is actor and director Fred Savage, and his elder sister is actress and musician Kala Savage. His grandparents were Jewish and from Poland, Ukraine, Germany, and Latvia, and Savage was raised in Reform Judaism.[4]

Career

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Acting

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Savage made his film debut at the age of 9 in his elder brother Fred Savage's 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 as 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. He also guest starred on his brother Fred's TV series The Wonder Years in the season three episode "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" as a Cupid-esque character named Curtis Hartsell.

His first significant 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). 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 hit TV sitcom Boy Meets World from 1993 until 2000. Savage's brother Fred appeared alongside him in one episode, guest starring as a lecherous college professor pursuing Cory's girlfriend. In the following season, Fred directed his brother and the cast in the episode "Family Trees," as Shawn (Rider Strong) discovers that the woman who raised him is not his biological mother.

Savage 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).[5]

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.[6]

In 2002, Savage starred in the film Swimming Upstream playing the best friend who was slightly immature but very supportive of his terminally ill friend.

Savage in April 2007.

Savage took a break from acting in both film and television for three years, but he later made 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.[7]

In 2008, he starred as Mark Ratner in an episode of the NBC series Chuck, as well as a murder suspect Kirby Morris in an episode of Without a Trace.

In 2011, he appeared in an episode of the Fox series Bones. He also guest starred on the Disney Channel series Shake It Up playing Andy Burns.

In November 2012, Savage announced via his Twitter account that he had signed on to the Boy Meets World spin-off series, Girl Meets World.[8] The series premiered on the Disney Channel on June 27, 2014, and features Savage's character Cory and his Boy Meets World love interest Topanga (Danielle Fishel) married in their adult years with two children. The series follows Cory and Topanga's daughter Riley (Rowan Blanchard) as she enters middle school and tries to navigate through life. Besides being Riley's father, Cory is also her history teacher in this series; in addition to his on-screen role, Savage directed 10 episodes. The series was canceled after three seasons on January 5, 2017, with the final episode airing on January 20.[9]

Savage has, on three occasions, portrayed younger versions of characters played by Mandy Patinkin in flashback scenes: in 2015 and 2020 in Criminal Minds, and in 2020 in Homeland.

In 2020, Savage starred in the television film Love, Lights, Hanukkah! for Hallmark.[10] In 2022, he was cast in the Lifetime film Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez as part of its "Ripped from the Headlines" feature film series where he portrays Nathaniel Kibby.[11]

Politics

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Savage interned for U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R–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 the Sigma Chi fraternity.[12]

In August 2022, Savage qualified as a candidate for the West Hollywood City Council.[13] He was not elected for one of the three at-large positions.[14] In March 2023, Savage announced his campaign as a Democrat for California's 30th congressional district, currently held by Adam Schiff, who is retiring to run for United States Senate.[15] He was defeated in the primary by state Assemblywoman Laura Friedman.[16]

In October 2023, Savage signed an open letter written by Creative Community for Peace after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel. The article urged Hollywood to support Israel and support the country as it "defends itself against a terrorist regime in Gaza that seeks Israel’s destruction."[17]

Personal life

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Savage married Tessa Angermeier in February 2023.[18]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1989 Little Monsters Eric Stevenson
1992 Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even Sam
1994 Clifford Roger
2002 Swimming Upstream Teddy Benevides
2006 Car Babes Ford Davis
2007 Palo Alto Patrick
2011 Peace and Riot Scott
2012 White Dwarf Ben
The Caterpillar's Kimono Lincoln
2013 Girl Meets Boy Scott

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1988 Dear John Matthew Lacey Recurring role; 5 episodes
1990 The Wonder Years Curtis Hartsell Episode: "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre"
A Family for Joe Chris Bankston Main role
Hurricane Sam Sam Kelvin Television film
1992 She Woke Up Andy
1993 Wild Palms Coty Wyckoff Miniseries; main role
1993–2000 Boy Meets World Cory Matthews Lead role
1994 Aliens for Breakfast Richard Television film
1996 Maybe This Time Cory Matthews Episode: "Acting Out"
1997 Party of Five Stuart Episodes: "Close to You", "Christmas"
1998 Adventures from the Book of Virtues Jinkyswoitmaya (voice) Episode: "Determination"[19]
2003 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Matthew Gardener Episode: "Futility"
2005 Still Standing Seth Cosella Episode: "Still the Boss"
Phil of the Future Himself Episode: "Time Release Capsule"
2007 Making It Legal Todd Television film
2008 Chuck Mark Ratner Episode: "Chuck Versus the Cougars"
Without a Trace Kirby Morris Episode: "Cloudy with a Chance of Gettysburg"
2011 Shake It Up Andy Burns Episode: "Review It Up"
Bones Hugh Burnside Episode: "The Male in the Mail"
2012 Lake Effects Carl Television film
2014–2017 Girl Meets World Cory Matthews Main role; also directed 10 episodes
2015–2020 Criminal Minds Young Jason Gideon Episodes: "Nelson's Sparrow", "Face Off"
2017 Still the King Gene Recurring role; 4 episodes
2018 Speechless Stuart Episode: "L-O-N--LONDON: Part 1"
2020 Homeland Young Saul Berenson Episode: "The English Teacher"
Love, Lights, Hanukkah! David Television film
2022 Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez Nathaniel Kibby

Awards and nominations

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Award Year Category Work Result
Kids' Choice Awards 2000 Favorite Television Friends Boy Meets World Won
Young Artist Awards 1990 Best Young Actor Starring in a Motion Picture Little Monsters Nominated
Young Artist Awards 1994 Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Television Series Boy Meets World Nominated
Young Artist Awards 1997 Best Performance in a TV Comedy: Leading Young Actor Boy Meets World Nominated
Young Artist Awards 1998 Best Performance in a TV Comedy: Leading Young Actor Boy Meets World Nominated
YoungStar Awards 1998 Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series Boy Meets World Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Ben Savage: Biography". TV Guide. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  2. ^ "Lewis Savage Obituary – Death Notice and Service Information". Chicago Tribune. February 23, 2015 – via Legacy.com.
  3. ^ "Fred Savage Biography (1976–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  4. ^ Shirley, Don (December 16, 2001). "Not Just Acting Like an Adult". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  5. ^ Goodman, Mark (November 1, 1993). "Young Savage". People. Vol. 40, no. 18.
  6. ^ "Ben Savage". Jewish United Fund. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  7. ^ "Palo Alto". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  8. ^ Ausiello, Michael (November 26, 2012). "Exclusive: Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel Officially Join Girl Meets World Pilot". TVLine. Archived from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  9. ^ Katz, Brandon (January 5, 2017). "'Girl Meets World' Cancelled By Disney, But Why?". Forbes. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  10. ^ Schwartz, Ryan (September 23, 2020). "Hallmark's 'Countdown to Christmas' Schedule Includes Gay Adoption Movie, Hanukkah Celebration and More". TVLine.
  11. ^ Cordero, Rosy (December 21, 2021). "Lifetime Adds Ben Savage & Lindsay Navarro's 'Girl In The Shed' To February Movie Line-up". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  12. ^ Coutts, Anna (April 8, 2005). "What ever happened to... Ben Savage?". The Gazette. London, Ontario, Canada. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011.
  13. ^ Peltz, Jonathan; Dooba, Scooba (August 16, 2022). "Memba Him? 'Boy Meets World' Guy Ben Savage Is Running for West Hollywood City Council". Gawker. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  14. ^ "Lauren Meister, Chelsea Byers, and John Heilman Secure Seats in WeHo City Council". WEHO Times. West Hollywood CA: Murillo Media, LLC. December 6, 2022. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  15. ^ Gillespie, Brandon (March 6, 2023). "Ben Savage of 'Boy Meets World' officially launches congressional campaign to replace Adam Schiff". Fox News.
  16. ^ "Democrat Laura Friedman advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 30th Congressional District". San Diego Union-Tribune. March 7, 2024.
  17. ^ CCFPeace (October 12, 2023). "Israel Under Attack – Open Letter". Creative Community for Peace -. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  18. ^ Aizin, Rebecca (March 16, 2023). "Boy Meets World Star Ben Savage Is Married to Fiancée Tessa Angermeier". People. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  19. ^ "Determination". Adventures from the Book of Virtues. Season 2. Episode 2. February 22, 1998. PBS.
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