John Savage is an American actor, born in Old Bethpage, New York, to Muriel (née Smeallie) and Floyd-Jones Youngs. He has two sisters, Robin and Gail, and a brother, Jim.
Savage trained at the American Academy of Performing Arts and relocated to Los Angeles, where he starred in the film Eric (1975) opposite Patricia Neal and Mark Hamill. He made his Broadway debut in the chorus of Fiddler on the Roof in the early 1970s and gained recognition for his range and sensitivity during the decade.
He gained widespread recognition for his roles in the 1978 film The Deer Hunter (1978),where he played the returning Vietnam veteran Steven Pushkov, and in Milos Forman's 1979 film Hair (1979),where he played the corn-fed recruit Claude Hooper Bukowski.
Savage has also appeared in numerous other films, including The Onion Field (1979),Salvador (1986),The Last Full Measure (2019),In Dubious Battle (2016),and the television shows Goliath (2016),Twin Peaks (2017),and Dark Angel (2000).
In addition to his acting career, Savage has been involved in activism and philanthropy, using his public presence to fight for the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa in the late 1980s and continuing to work as an activist. He has also worked behind the camera, serving as production manager for the acclaimed Spike Lee film Malcolm X (1992).
Savage has been married twice, first to Susan Youngs and then to Sandi Schultz, and is the father of ceramic artist Lachlan Youngs and performer Jennifer Youngs. He has been with his current partner Blanca Blanco since 2008 and resides in Malibu, CA.
