Adam Whitney Savage

Background

Adam Whitney Savage was born on July 15, 1967, in New York City, United States, to the family of an animator-filmmaker, Whitney Lee Savage, and a psychotherapist mother. Adam also has a sister named Kate. Both the siblings followed their father's footsteps and went on to make a career in the field of art.

Education

Adam Savage completed his primary education at Sleepy Hollow High School in 1985. Since his childhood days, Adam was keen on acting and even lent his voice to his father's creation in the animated show Sesame Street. Some other works of his, during this period, include a toilet paper commercial and a small part in the music video You're Only Human.

He also enrolled in the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts where he spent five years learning the nuances of acting, but by the time he was nineteen, he abandoned acting and moved on to graphic designing.

Career

Adam embarked on his graphic designing career as an assistant animator in New York. He then moved to San Francisco, where he was associated with theatre, and eventually graduated to special effects for movies. The designer has also essayed small roles in various movies. One of the roles he played was that of a helpful engineer in the 2001 movie, Ever Since the World Ended.

Adam, who during his stay in San Francisco, worked a faculty at the Academy of Art University, and taught advanced model making to students. He was also involved in the special effects team of the 2003 movie The Matrix Revolutions around the same time.

Touted as the original myth buster, he has been a regular figure in the Discovery Channel show MythBusters, since its inception in 2003. The show takes on rumors, movie scenes, news stories, and uses scientific methods to validate them.

In 2006, he began his stint as a host for the Amaz!ng Meeting, the annual skeptic's conference organized by magician James Randi, a role he has donned regularly since then. The same year he appeared in the movie The Darwin Role, as an armed supplies store owner.

He has been a guest speaker on many shows including the 2008 annual event, Maker Faire, organized by Make magazine, and the maiden Amaz!ng Meeting London event held at Blackfriars the next year. Adam along with Wil Wheaton and the comedy rock duo Paul Sabourin and Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo conceived the touring variety show w00tstock in 2009. The special-effects designer was also a performer on the show.

Night of the Little Dead is a short horror film, by Frank Ippolito, about how a rife between local fishermen and tourists lead the diner to being besieged by a zombie, and the aftermath. Adam was seen in the role of Dan in this 2011 film.

MythBusters partners, Savage and Special effects expert Jamie Hyneman, appeared together in the 2012 science and engineering game show, Unchained Reaction. These two men were the judges of this reality show.

He continues to don the hat of an educator, occasionally hosting the lecture events organized by the City Arts & Lectures, a non-profit institution located in San Francisco. In the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, 2014, he presented a lecture.

Achievements

• Adam Savage is best known for his work in Sci-Fi movies and of course, MythBusters (2003). He was employed by George Lucas' special effects shop, Industrial Light and Magic, working with Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara. He has worked on Space Cowboys (2000), Galaxy Quest (1999), Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003) and Bicentennial Man (1999), among others. In 2002, Adam and Jamie Hyneman, long time collaborators on various projects, including the BattleBots (2000) robot Blendo, got together to film 3 pilot episodes for Mythbusters. The rest is history. Adam plays around with heavy machinery, indulges in building elaborate rigs, and gets to blow stuff up - always putting his body on the line for the show. He has donated every body fluid imaginable for scientific testing in the course of the show, and has taken many hits for the team. He provides much of the "comic relief" to co-host Hyneman's "straight-man" persona.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Every Tool's a Hammer: Life Is What You Make It 2019
  • The Matrix Revolutions 2003

• movie

  • Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 1999
  • Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones 2002

• Other Work

  • The Matrix Reloaded 2003

Religion

Savage has no god belief, considering himself an atheist. He considers himself a "third-generation atheist" and says that he has nothing against religion, but he does get upset when people will believe more in something that their faith tells them than scientifically proven facts.

Savage realizes that loving and caring for fellow human beings rather than some religious dogmas is what makes people moral. He has spoken out for humanism, saying things like "I've concluded by this that someone is paying attention. I've concluded that it is me. I've noticed that if I'm paying attention to those around me, to myself, to my surroundings, then that is the very definition of empathy. I've noticed that when I pay attention, I'm less selfish, I'm happier and that the inverse holds true as well."

Politics

One day Savage tweeted: "My politics are the politics of support and inclusion. If yours are the opposite then I'm proud to be your 'former hero."

Views

Savage requires facts and proof before he accepts any hypothesis about reality, as one can see on the Mythbusters program. He utilizes the scientific method to determine the truth about everyday urban legends. This also tends to include a lot of things exploding.

Quotations: "I reject your reality and substitute my own."

"My dignity and good television - they'll never meet."

"My advice is keep your lips away from the spinning things."

"That's the show. It's like 4 minutes of science and then 10 minutes of me hurting myself."

"I am a champion of one notch above mediocrity."

"I have concluded through careful empirical analysis and much thought that someone is looking out for me, keeping track of what I think of things, forgiving me when I do less than I ought, giving me strength to shoot for more than I think I'm capable of. I believe they know everything I do and think, and they still love me, and I've concluded, after careful consideration, that this person keeping score is me."

Personality

Savage enjoys costume making and cosplay. He attends Comic-Con in San Diego every year and typically attends in costume. For his fans, he leaves clues as to what his costume may be so people can try to find him during the convention.

Physical Characteristics: Adam Savage suffers from a hearing disorder and had to employ a hearing aid for his left ear.

He is prone to seasickness.

Interests

• Сosplay

• Writers

  The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir, Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, Love and Treasure by Ayelet Waldman, The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Gregory, Rabassa, The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (P.S.) by Michael Chabon

• Music & Bands

  Gile's soliloquy to Buffy "Standing in the Way"

Connections

Adam Savage married Julia Ward on September 11, 2004. The couple looks after the twin kids which Adam had from the previous relationship.

Father:

Whitney Lee Savage

Spouse:

Julia Ward

Sister:

Kate Savage

Son:

Addison Savage

Son:

Riley Savage

Sister:

Kate Savage

Friend:

Gary Oldman

References

• Adam Savage on Twitter