Fred Savage's Real Name: Fred Savage

Quick answer: The actor and director is known professionally as Fred Savage. Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, via Encyclopedia.com, lists the full name Fredrick Aaron Savage and gives the birth date July 9, 1976, in Chicago, Illinois, while noting that some sources cite Highland Park. A Television Academy biography lists a July 9 birthday and Highland Park, Illinois, but does not give a year. Because the longer name appears in only one of these sources, it is not used as an agreed title.

Real name and early life

The Encyclopedia.com entry records the full name Fredrick Aaron Savage, born July 9, 1976, in Chicago (some sources cite Highland Park), Illinois, the son of Lewis M. and Joanne F. Savage and the brother of the actor Ben Savage. The Television Academy page lists a July 9 birthday and Highland Park, Illinois, and says he began his career as an actor in commercials in Chicago, but it does not state a birth year. Those place details differ.

Career highlights

Both accounts discuss his work as Kevin Arnold on The Wonder Years. The Television Academy page says that six-year run earned him two Primetime Emmy nominations for outstanding actor in a comedy series, and it also names earlier films including Vice Versa, The Princess Bride, and Austin. Encyclopedia.com independently records The Wonder Years and Vice Versa among his credits and awards. The Television Academy page also names later acting work including Working, Crumbs, and Austin Powers: Goldmember. Behind the camera, it says he has produced and directed over 100 episodes of comedic and dramatic television and has received four Directors Guild nominations, and it names later producer-director work on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Party Down. Encyclopedia.com independently identifies his career as actor and director, dates The Wonder Years to 1988-1993, and lists later directing credits including episodes of Working and Boy Meets World. Encyclopedia.com also independently names The Princess Bride (1987) and Vice Versa among his films, and records the same 1989 and 1990 Emmy nominations for The Wonder Years.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Fred Savage or Fredrick Aaron Savage are looking for the same actor and director known from The Wonder Years. The longer name is documented in one of the sources used here, not independently confirmed by the other.