Doug Savant – Net Worth, Wife Laura Leighton, Children, Bio

• Doug Savant is an actor from Burbank, California USA.
• He is best known for his role in the soap opera Melrose Place.
• He has appeared in around 70 movies and TV series.
• He has four children, two with his first wife Dawn Dunin Savant and two with his current wife Laura Leighton.
• His net worth is estimated to be over $3 million.

Known for movies

Desperate Housewives (2004-2012)
as Tom Scavo

Melrose Place (1992-1998)
as Matt Fielding

Godzilla (1998)
as Sergeant O'Neal

Teen Wolf (1985)
as Brad

Who is Doug Savant?

Douglas Peter Savant was born in Burbank, California USA, on 21 June 1964 – his zodiac sign is Cancer and he holds American nationality. Doug is an actor, who is perhaps still best known for his portrayal of Matt Fielding in the soap opera “Melrose Place”, which aired from 1992 to 1999 and starred Heather Locklera, Andrew Shue and Courtney Thorne-Smith. The series was created by Darren Star, and follows five friends living in Melrose Place – it won six awards and was nominated for eight others, including five Golden Globes.

Early life and education

Doug was raised an only child in Burbank, by his father who was a mailman and his mother who was a housewife, and who later began teaching English at a local elementary school.

Doug became interested in acting while attending high school ,as his teacher asked him if he would like to appear in a school play – Doug went on to join his school’s drama club, and then appeared in nearly all plays performed there. After matriculation in 1982, he enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986, and then chose to entirely focus on his career as an actor.

Roles in movies

Doug has been credited with appearing in around 70 movies and TV series, and we are about to mention some of his most notable performances in this article.

He made his debut film appearance in 1984, when cast to play The Actor in the romantic drama war movie “Swing Shift”, starring Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell and Christine Lahti, and which follows a woman who falls in love with another man after her husband is sent to war – the film was a success winning one award, while it was nominated for three others, including an Oscar.

The following year saw him appear in David Greenwalt’s romantic teen comedy “Secret Admirer”, and he also appeared in the romantic fantasy comedy movie “Teen Wolf”. A few of his following roles were in the supernatural horror “Trick or Treat” in 1986, the Vietnam War movie “The Hanoi Hilton” in 1987, and the romantic mystery thriller “Masquerade” in 1988.

He was praised for his portrayal of the lead character Eric Hinsley in the thriller “Paint It Black” which also stared Rick Rossovich, and is about a serial killer who covers his victims in clay after he murders them, and a woman who is accused of his crimes because she’s a sculptor.

In 1993, Doug played Dr. Peter Myerson in the action slasher movie “Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence”, and his next notable performance was in 1998, when he played one of the lead characters in the Roland Emmerich’s monster movie “Godzilla”.

Three of Doug’s most recent notable performances in films have been in the action thriller “First Daughter” in 1999, the science fiction action “The One” in 2001 and the 2006sports drama “All You’ve Got”.

Roles in TV series

Doug made his debut TV series appearance in 1985, when he guest starred as Dwayne Patterson in the episode “Violation” of the police procedural drama “Cagney & Lacey”. His first notable performance was in 1987 in seven episodes of the prime time soap opera “Knots Landing”, starring as Young Mack Mackenzie.

Doug went on to appear in single episodes of many series, such as the sitcom “The Facts of Life” in 1987, the police procedural crime drama “In the Heat of the Night” in 1988 and the episode “The Thanks of a Grateful Nation” of the drama “China Beach” in 1990.

The year 1995 saw him portray Chase Cobb in the crime drama “Burke’s Law”, which starred Gene Barry, Gary Conway and Regis Toomey, and which follows the life of the Los Angeles Police Captain who is a millionaire. In 1998, Doug appeared in a single episode of the comedy “Love Boat: The Next Wave”, and was then cast to portray Kel in the critically acclaimed Canadian-American science fiction series “The Outer Limits”. He made a cameo appearance in the episode “Area 51” of the American-Japanese series “Godzilla: The Series”, and was then invited to appear in a single episode of many series, such as the comedy drama “That’s Life” in 2001, the legal drama “JAG” in 2002, and the drama “The Guardian” in 2004.

Doug became famous in both the US and Europe in 2004, when he played one of the lead characters, Tom Scavo in the mystery comedy drama “Desperate Housewives”, which starred Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross, and which follows several female friends after their neighbor commits suicide – the series aired until 2012, and won 65 awards including three Golden Globes, while it was nominated for 185 others. Doug continued to appear in a single episode of series, while a few his most notable performances were in the legal comedy drama “Drop Dead Diva” in 2013, the action police procedural series “Hawaii Five-0” in 2014 and the action drama “Scorpion” in 2015.

Three of his most recent roles in TV series have been in two episodes of the action crime drama and police procedural series “NCIS: New Orleans” in 2018, the episode “Hail & Farewell” of the police crime series “NCIS” in 2019, and two episodes of the drama “Dirty John” in 2020.

Awards

Doug and his colleague actors and actresses won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for their performance in “Desperate Housewives” in 2006, while they were nominated for the same award each year for the following three years.

Doug was also o-cnominated for a Gold Derby TV Award for Ensemble of the Year for “Desperate Housewives” in 2006.

Wife Laura Leighton and children

Doug met his future first wife Dawn Dunin Savant while still attending high school, and they married in a private ceremony attended by their closest friends and family in 1983, while Doug was still attending college. On 17 January 1992, Dawn gave birth to their daughter Arianna, while their second daughter Madeline followed on 20 July 1993.

View this post on Instagram

Cute little #FlashbackFriday post today! April 2012. @lauraleightonforreal and #DougSavant at the #DesperateHousewives series finale party in West Hollywood. #LauraLeighton #fbf #2012

A post shared by 𝔏𝔞𝔲𝔯𝔞 𝔏𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔬𝔫 𝔉𝔞𝔫 (@lauraleightonfan) on Jun 12, 2020 at 7:25pm PDT

The two divorced for unknown reasons in 1997, but it’s widely believed that Doug was cheating on Dawn with Laura Leighton, an American actress who starred alongside him in “Melrose Place”. Doug and Laura started dating publicly not long after his divorce was finalized, and in May 1998 the two exchanged vows in a private ceremony. Laura gave birth to their son Jack on 10 October 2000, and on 9 June 2005 their daughter Lucy was born – Laura has also been helping Doug raise Arianna and Madeline since they married.

Doug hasn’t talked about any other women he might have been with, and as of September 2020, he is married to his second wife and has four kids.

Hobbies and other interests

Doug is keen on working out, and has multiple training sessions at the gym each week thus his muscular body – he is also following a strict diet, meaning that he rarely eats anything that has sugar in it, and avoids fast food.

He is keen on travelling, and his acting career has made it possible for him to travel all around the world for both work and pleasure – his two favorite cities out of those he has visited are Berlin in Germany and Moscow in Russia.

Doug is a lover of animals and has two pet dogs, while his favorite animals are tigers.

He has his own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are Matt Damon, Will Smith and Angelina Jolie, and a few of the movies he likes to watch the most are “Catch Me if You Can”, “I Am Legend” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”.

Net worth

Doug is 56 years old. He has short brown hair and brown eyes, his height is 5ft 11ins (1.8m) and he weighs around 160lbs (72kgs).

As of September 2020, his net worth has been estimated at over $3 million.

Quotes

#

Quote

1

During my first year on Melrose Place (1992), there was a great deal of pressure from the network [Fox TV] for me to out myself as a straight man. The producers of Melrose Place (1992) kept telling me I had to say publicly that I was a breeder. They said too many people assumed I was gay. I know the truth of my life, so I didn't have to play the network game. For three years, I was the spokesperson for the AIDS rides rly cycle-thons] in California. I was flattered that people assumed I was gay. To me, that was an affirmation that I was doing my job.

Facts

#	Fact
1	Has co-starred with Marcia Cross in both Melrose Place (1992) and Desperate Housewives (2004).
2	His two daughters with ex-wife Dawn Dunkin are named Arianna Josephine Savant (b. January 17, 1992) and Madeline Marie Savant (b. July 20, 1993).
3	6/9/05: Wife Laura Leighton gave birth to a baby girl, named Lucy Jane Leighton Savant. She weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz.
4	Although he appeared in almost every episode of Desperate Housewives (2004) during Season 1, he was still credited as a guest star. However, he has now been put on contract and will be credited as a series regular for Season 2.
5	Married to Laura Leighton, who played Sydney Andrews on Melrose Place (1992). The romance developed off-camera on the set of the popular TV soap opera.
6	Starred opposite Rob Lowe and Meg Tilly in the thriller Masquerade (1988) in which he played a deceptive, clean-cut psycho and continued on in off-kiltered villain roles in teen slasher movies until Melrose Place (1992).
7	Left Melrose Place (1992) after six seasons because the network refused to allow the writers to explore his character Matt's love life, and left him with little to do on the show. In 1994, the network and producers cut Matt's kiss on the season finale in 1994 at the last minute after considerable ratings hype.
8	Before being cast in Melrose Place (1992), he was a delivery driver for Dino's Pizza in Burbank, owned by his cousin.
9	Doug and his ex-wife Dawn had been together since he was 19, and share two daughters.
10	10/10/00: Son Jack Douglas Savant (with Laura Leighton) born.
11	11/97: Engaged to Laura Leighton.

Pictures

All pictures

Movies

Actor

Title	Year	Status	Character
Notorious	2016	TV Series	Paul Weston
Pure Genius	2016	TV Series	Simon Monroe
Halt and Catch Fire	2016	TV Series	Mac Harpor
Rush Hour	2016	TV Series	D.A. Eric Ginardi
Castle	2016	TV Series	Trevor Nigel
The X-Files	2016	TV Series	Augustus Goldman
Scorpion	2015	TV Series	Wilson Adler
Hawaii Five-0	2015	TV Series	Robert Young
April Rain	2014		Ken Singleton
Criminal Minds	2013	TV Series	Malcolm Taffert
Drop Dead Diva	2013	TV Series	Jakob Yordy
Rizzoli & Isles	2013	TV Series	Roger Thorson
Vegas	2013	TV Series	Mr. Binder
Desperate Housewives	2004-2012	TV Series	Tom Scavo
Hot in Cleveland	2012	TV Series	Scott
What Color Is Love?	2009	TV Movie	Peter Marcheson
All You've Got	2006		Sam McDonald
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	2004	TV Series	Paul Brady
Nip/Tuck	2004	TV Series	Joel Gideon
NCIS	2004	TV Series	Father Larry Clannon
24	2004	TV Series	Craig Phillips
NYPD Blue	2004	TV Series	Jason Foster
The Guardian	2004	TV Series	Eric Kane
Faultline	2004	TV Movie	Prof. Anthony McAllister
According to Jim	2002	TV Series	Rick
JAG	2002	TV Series	Navy Seals Commander
Firefly	2002	TV Series	Commander Harken
First Shot	2002	TV Movie	Grant Coleman
The One	2001		Cop (uncredited)
Family Law	2001	TV Series	Harold Raines
The District	2001	TV Series	Jeffrey Riverton
That's Life	2001	TV Series	J.T.'s Cousin
First Target	2000	TV Movie	Grant Coleman
Harsh Realm	2000	TV Series	Sergeant Sommers
Godzilla: The Series	2000	TV Series	Trespasser #2
Dropping Out	2000		Doctor
First Daughter	1999	TV Movie	Grant Coleman
A Face to Kill for	1999	TV Movie	Virgil
Profiler	1999	TV Series	Toby Watson
Godzilla	1998/I		Sergeant O'Neal
Love Boat: The Next Wave	1998	TV Series	Josh Walters
The Outer Limits	1998	TV Series	Kel
Melrose Place	1992-1997	TV Series	Matt Fielding
Terminal	1996	TV Movie	Dr. Sean O'Grady
Fight for Justice: The Nancy Conn Story	1995	TV Movie	Richard Mark Ellard
Burke's Law	1995	TV Series
Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence	1993		Dr. Peter Myerson
Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story	1992		Deputy Sheriff Ted Hinton
Columbo	1992	TV Series	Detective Dennis Mulrooney
Aftermath: A Test of Love	1991	TV Movie	Jeff
Shaking the Tree	1990		Michael
Jake and the Fatman	1990	TV Series	John Bronski
The Knife and Gun Club	1990	TV Movie	Dr. Barrow
China Beach	1990	TV Series	Richard
Red Surf	1989	Video	Attila
Paint It Black	1989		Eric Hinsley
Masquerade	1988		Mike McGill
In the Heat of the Night	1988	TV Series	Scott LaPierre
Knots Landing	1986-1987	TV Series	Young Mack Mackenzie
Stingray	1987	TV Series	Cdt. Thomas O'Conner
The Hanoi Hilton	1987		Ashby
The Facts of Life	1987	TV Series	Dwayne
Trick or Treat	1986		Tim Hainey
Alfred Hitchcock Presents	1986	TV Series	Joey Medwick
Hotel	1986	TV Series	Elliot Jessup
Teen Wolf	1985		Brad
Secret Admirer	1985		Boy
The Best Times	1985	TV Series	Greg
Cagney & Lacey	1985	TV Series	Dwayne Patterson
Swing Shift	1984	uncredited

Thanks

Title	Year	Status	Character
Desperate Housewives Special: The More You Know, the Juicier It Gets	2006	TV Movie special thanks
Desperate Housewives Special: All the Juicy Details	2006	TV Movie special thanks

Self

Title	Year	Status	Character
Desperate Housewives: I Guess This Is Goodbye	2012	Video documentary short	Himself
The Wendy Williams Show	2012	TV Series	Himself - Guest
Good Morning America	2005-2012	TV Series	Himself - Guest
The View	2005-2012	TV Series	Himself - Guest
Jeopardy!	2006-2010	TV Series	Himself - Video Clue Presenter / Himself - Contestant / Himself
Rachael Ray	2009	TV Series	Himself - Guest
I Know Things Now: Desperate Housewives Celebrates 100	2009	Video short	Himself
Entertainment Tonight	2007	TV Series	Himself
Comic Relief 2006	2006	TV Special documentary	Himself
Corazón de...	2005	TV Series	Himself
Jimmy Kimmel Live!	2005	TV Series	Himself - Guest
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	2005	TV Series	Himself - Guest
Celebrity Poker Showdown	2005	TV Series	Himself
SoapTalk	2005	TV Series	Himself
Live with Kelly and Michael	2005	TV Series	Himself
Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show	2005	TV Series	Himself - Guest
11th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards	2005	TV Special	Himself
The Daily Show	1998	TV Series	Himself - Guest
The 5th Annual GLAAD Media Awards	1994	TV Special	Himself
The 19th Annual People's Choice Awards	1993	TV Special	Himself - Accepting Award for Favourite New Television Dramatic Program

Archive Footage

Title	Year	Status	Character
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt	2012	TV Series	Himself
How TV Changed Britain	2008	TV Series documentary	Tom Scavo
Desperate Housewives Special: Secrets and Lies	2007	TV Movie	Tom Scavo
Desperate Housewives Special: The Juiciest Bites	2007	TV Movie	Tom Scavo
Corazón de...	2006	TV Series	Tom Scavo / Himself
Desperate Housewives Special: The More You Know, the Juicier It Gets	2006	TV Movie	Tom Scavo (uncredited)
Desperate Housewives Special: All the Juicy Details	2006	TV Movie	Tom Scavo (uncredited)
Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again	2005	TV Movie documentary	Young Mack MacKenzie (uncredited)
I Love the '90s	2004	TV Series documentary	Matt
Melrose Place	1998	TV Series	Matt Fielding

Awards

Won Awards

Year	Award	Ceremony	Nomination	Movie
2006	Actor	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Desperate Housewives (2004)

Nominated Awards

Year	Award	Ceremony	Nomination	Movie
2009	Actor	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Desperate Housewives (2004)
2008	Actor	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Desperate Housewives (2004)
2007	Actor	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Desperate Housewives (2004)
2006	Gold Derby TV Award	Gold Derby Awards	Ensemble of the Year	Desperate Housewives (2004)