Biography

Sustained knife injuries to his neck following an attack at his Manchester flat by a 28-year-old male, whom he had befriended in a pub. He was meant to play a big part as "Fred Elliott" in the live Coronation Street (1960) show, as a result, he could not take part. The script had to be vastly rewritten and rehearsed in time for the live show date.

Before becoming an actor in the early 1960s, John Savident used to be a policeman in Manchester.

As of 2016, has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Orange mécanique (1971), Gandhi (1982) and Les vestiges du jour (1993). Of those Gandhi (1982) is a winner in the category.

John Savident played the part of "The King" in the unbroadcast La vipère noire (1982) pilot episode, Original Pilot (1982), in 1982. It was later remade as Born to Be King (1983) in the original broadcast series in 1983.

Is one of 11 Coronation Street (1960) actors to have won a Best Comedy Performance Award at the British Soap Awards; the others are Sue Nicholls, Malcolm Hebden, Andrew Whyment, Maggie Jones, Craig Gazey, Patti Clare, Stephanie Cole, Simon Gregson, Sally Dynevor and Dolly-Rose Campbell.