Douglas Peter Savant (born June 21, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Matt Fielding in the Fox prime time soap opera Melrose Place (1992–97), Tom Scavo in ABC comedy-drama Desperate Housewives (2004–12), and as Sgt. O'Neal in Godzilla (1998).

Early life

Savant was born and raised in Burbank, California. He attended University of California, Los Angeles, but left before graduating to pursue his acting career. However, his role was censored greatly by the network - notably a kiss between Matt and guest star Ty Miller during the Season 2 finale was edited out at the last minute by FOX. Savant left the series after five seasons and, a year later, his character was killed off-screen in a car crash. In 1998, he appeared in monster film Godzilla playing Sgt. O'Neal, and the following years had guest-starring roles on The Outer Limits, Profiler, Firefly, JAG, Nip/Tuck, NYPD Blue, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2004, he had a four-episode arc on 24. Savant also has two children from a previous marriage whom Leighton helped raise, Arianna (born January 17, 1992) and Madeline (born July 20, 1993).

Filmography

Film

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

|-

|1984 || Swing Shift || Actor ||

|-

|rowspan=2|1985 || Secret Admirer || Boy ||

|-

| Teen Wolf || Brad ||

|-

|1986 || Trick or Treat || Tim Hainey ||

|-

|1987 || The Hanoi Hilton || Ashby ||

|-

|1988 || Masquerade || Mike McGill ||

|-

|1989 || Paint It Black || Eric Hinsley ||

|-

|rowspan=2|1990 || Red Surf || Attila ||

|-

|Shaking the Tree || Michael ||

|-

|1993 || Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence || Dr. Peter Myerson ||

|-

|1998 || Godzilla || Sgt. O'Neal ||

|-

|1999 || First Daughter ||Grant Coleman ||

|-

|2000 || Dropping Out || Doctor ||

|-

|2001 || The One || Cop || Uncredited

|-

|2006 || All You've Got || Sam McDonald ||

|-

|2014 || April Rain || Special Agent Singleton ||

|}

Television

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

|-

|1985 || Cagney & Lacey || Dwayne Patterson || Episode: "Violation"

|-

|rowspan=2|1986 || Hotel || Elliot Jessup || Episode: "Scapegoat"

|-

| Alfred Hitchcock Presents || Joey Medwick || Episode: "Road Hog"

|-

|1986–87 || Knots Landing || Young Mack Mackenzie || 7 episodes

|-

|rowspan=2|1987 || The Facts of Life || Dwayne || Episode: "A Winter's Tale"

|-

|Stingray || Cdt. Thomas O'Conner || Episode: "Night Maneuvers"

|-

|1988 || In the Heat of the Night || Scott LaPierre || 2 episodes

|-

|rowspan=3|1990 || China Beach || Richard || Episode: "The Thanks of a Grateful Nation"

|-

|The Knife and Gun Club || Dr. Barrow || TV movie

|-

| Jake and the Fatman || John Bronski || Episode: "God Bless the Child"

|-

|1991 || Aftermath: A Test of Love || Jeff || TV movie

|-

|rowspan=2|1992 || Columbo || Detective Dennis Mulrooney || Episode: "No Time to Die"

|-

| Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story || Deputy Sheriff Ted Hinton || TV movie

|-

|1992–98 || Melrose Place || Matt Fielding || Series Regular<br>162 episodes

|-

|rowspan=2|1995 || Burke's Law || Chase Cobb || Episode: "Who Killed the World's Greatest Chef?"

|-

|Fight for Justice: The Nancy Conn Story || Richard Mark Ellard || TV movie

|-

|1996 || Terminal || Dr. Sean O'Grady || TV movie

|-

|rowspan=2|1998 || Love Boat: The Next Wave || Josh Walters || Episode: "Smooth Sailing"

|-

| The Outer Limits || Kel || Episode: "The Hunt"

|-

|rowspan=3|1999 || Profiler || Toby Watson || Episode: "Inheritance"

|-

| A Face to Kill For || Virgil || TV movie

|-

| First Daughter || Grant Coleman || TV movie

|-

|rowspan=3|2000 || Harsh Realm || Sergeant Sommers || Episode: "Kein Ausgang"

|-

| Godzilla: The Series || Trespasser #2 || Episode: "Area 51"

|-

| First Target || Grant Coleman || TV movie

|-

|rowspan=3|2001 || That's Life || J.T.'s Cousin || Episode: "Or What's a Heaven For?"

|-

|The District || Jeffrey Riverton || Episode: "To Serve and Protect"

|-

| Family Law || Harold Raines || Episode: "Sacrifices"

|-

|rowspan=4|2002 || Firefly || Commander Harken || Episode: "Bushwhacked"

|-

| JAG || Navy Seals Commander || Episode: "Dangerous Game"

|-

| First Shot || Grant Coleman || TV movie

|-

| According to Jim || Rick || Episode: "The Bachelor"

|-

|rowspan=7|2004 || 24 || Craig Phillips || 4 episodes

|-

|The Guardian || Eric Kane || Episode: "Legacy"

|-

| Faultline || Prof. Anthony McAllister || TV movie

|-

| NYPD Blue || Jason Foster || Episode: "Chatty Chatty Bang Bang"

|-

| NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service || Father Larry Clannon || Episode: "A Weak Link"

|-

| Nip/Tuck || Joel Gideon || Episode: "Joel Gideon"

|-

| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation || Paul Brady || Episode: "Swap Meet"

|-

|2004–12 || Desperate Housewives || Tom Scavo || Recurring role (season 1)<br>Main role (seasons 2–8)<br>176 Episodes<br>Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, 2006<br>Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, 2007–2009

|-

|2008 || Playing for Keeps || Peter Marcheson || TV movie

|-

|2012 || Hot in Cleveland || Scott || Episode: "Two Girls and a Rhino"

|-

|rowspan=4|2013 || Vegas || Mr. Binder || Episode: "Road Trip"

|-

|Rizzoli & Isles || Judge Roger Thorson || Episode: "Judge, Jury & Executioner"

|-

| Drop Dead Diva || Jacob Joardi || Episode: "Jane's Secret Revealed"

|-

| Criminal Minds || Malcolm Taffert || Episode: "The Caller"

|-

|2014 || Hawaii Five-0 || Robert Young || Episode: "Wawahi moeʻuhane"- Broken Dreams

|-

|2015 || Scorpion || Wilson Adler || Episode: "Tech, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll"

|-

| rowspan="5" |2016 || The X-Files || Augustus Goldman || Episode: "Founder's Mutation"

|-

|| Castle || Trevor Nigel || Episode: "The G.D.S."

|-

|| Halt and Catch Fire || Mac Harpor || Episode: "One Way or Another"

|-

|| Pure Genius || Simon Monroe || Episode: "It’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider Silk Surgery"

|-

|| Notorious || Paul Weston || 2 episodes

|-

|2017 || SEAL Team || Malcolm || Episode: "Borderlines"

|-

|rowspan=3 | 2018 || 9-1-1 || Matthew Clark || 2 episodes

|-

| Lucifer || Forest Clay || Episode: "Quintessential Deckerstar"

|-

| NCIS: New Orleans || Eric Barlow || 2 episodes

|-

|2019 || NCIS || Brigadier General Daniel Kent || Episode: "Hail & Farewell"

|-

|rowspan=3 | 2020 || Dirty John || Martin Newsome || 2 episodes

|-

| L.A.'s Finest || Richard Reeves || Episode: "Kangaroo Jack"

|-

| S.W.A.T. || Mark || Episode: "Gunpowder Treason"

|-

|rowspan=2 | 2021 || Tell Me Your Secrets || Ed Jennings || 2 episodes

|-

| The Rookie || Benjamin || Episode: "True Crime"

|-

|2022 || Leverage: Redemption || AG James Hodgins || Episode: "The Fractured Job"

|-

|2023 || The Company You Keep || Pastor Earle || Episode: "Pilot"

|-

|2024 || The Cleaning Lady || Oliver Gordon || Episode : "From the Ashes"

|-

|2025 || I Was A Child Bride: The Courtney Stodden Story || Doug Hutchison || TV movie

|}

References

  • Doug Savant 2007 Interview on Sidewalks Entertainment