Abstract: Savage starred on the television series 'The Wonder Years,' which ceased production in 1993. Savage reflects on how he grew during the six years the show was in production and how it never became his entire life.
Full Text COPYRIGHT Time Inc. 1993
Over the past six TV seasons, he has grown almost a foot taller, grappled with a voice change and seen the first hints of facial stubble. But unlike other teenage boys, Fred Savage, fresh-faced Kevin Arnold on ABC's Emmy-winning series The Wonder Years, has had to handle the bumps and blushes of adolescence in front of millions of viewers. "I feel a little embarrassed," says Savage, 16, shyly kicking the ground with his white Nike sneakers. "It's all documented right there on TV."
Sadly for the show's legion of fans, documentation of Savage's often awkward, always wonder-filled years is about to end. On Wednesday, May 12, at 8 p.m. (ET), in a special hour-long finale, the Arnolds will go the way of the Cleavers and the Huxtables. Even the announcement in March that the show's former wardrobe assistant Monique Long, 32, had filed a sexual harassment charge against Savage and costar Jason Hervey (PEOPLE, April 5) did little to mar Savage's reflective mood. "Kevin started out as really cherubic and wide-eyed," says Savage of his on-camera metamorphosis. "Now I'm growing up, and I think I've changed as much as any kid."
Physically, yes. But his colleagues agree that one of the reasons for the series' success is that Fred has retained his self-effacing nature. "I once had to go down to the set and tell him that occasionally he should throw a tantrum just to remind people that he was the star of the show," says executive producer Bob Brush.
For Savage (now pushing 5 ft.8 in.), who had to stand on an apple crate to reach the podium during a 1989 stint as an Emmy presenter, the working atmosphere was blissful. "The set was very loose and up and happy," Savage says. Alley Mills, 42, who played Kevin's selfless mom, Norma, concurs. "I threw mashed potatoes every once in a while along with the kids," she says, "and I thought it was really important that they be allowed to have fun and play basketball."
Which they did, even if personal friendships didn't always mirror those
of the sitcom plots. Savage and Josh Saviano, now 17, who played Kevin's
best
friend, Paul Pfeiffer, were best pals during the early years. Later,
"we had our ups and downs," says Saviano. But winsome Danica McKellar,
18, who plays
Kevin's on-again, off-again sweetheart, Winnie Cooper, says she and
Savage "have definitely gotten closer over the years. We talked about everything.
We hung out during hiatus."
For his part, Savage's TV dad, Dan Lauria, 46, owes Savage a debt of gratitude: The salary from his role as curmudgeonly Jack Arnold helped nudge him into marriage in 1991 with Eileen Cregg, 36, a former New York City radio-station employee. "I had never owned anything," says Lauria, who suddenly found himself with "enough money to get married and buy a house. I ran out of excuses. Eileen said, `You've got to marry me now.' "
Savage won't talk about his salary, estimated at $75,000 per episode (by law his earnings remain in trust until he is 18). In any case, he's not relying on anything -- income or experiences -- already banked. In September he'll be starting his senior year in high school, after which he plans to enter college (he has his eye on Stanford). All through the series, he says, "I went to school [on the set, three hours a day], had friends, went to football games, the school play. So now that the show is over, it's not like my life is over."
That the transition won't be too traumatic is due in large part to the efforts of his parents, Lew, a real estate executive, and Joanne, a homemaker (they won't give their ages). "Fred loved his work, but Joanne made sure that he never looked at the show for his identity," says Lew, who moved the family (including Fred's sister, Kala, 14, and brother Ben, 12) to the San Fernando Valley from their native suburban Chicago after the show's sixth episode. "She drove him incredible distances when he made a friend, so that he would have that friend. She constantly reminded him that work was just peripheral."
Savage is unsure whether he will continue in show business, though Lauria predicts, "I think he will become the next Ron Howard -- a marvelous director." But if his days as Kevin Arnold ever fade into too soft a focus, Savage's scrapbook is as close at hand as a syndicated rerun. "I've always said that I have the world's greatest photo album," he muses. "All of the episodes of The Wonder Years."
CAPTION: "People ask if I had a normal childhood," says Savage (on the
shore of Lake Balboa, near his San Fernando Valley home). "It was normal.
I had a
separate life away from the show."
CAPTION: In 1988 "we had our first onscreen kiss together," says Savage (with Danica McKellar, playing his girlfriend, Winnie Cooper). "I was a little nervous. But it started a bond between us."
CAPTION: "I don't have any specific aspirations for Fred. He's achieved
so much already," says his father, Lew (in 1989 with Savage siblings Kala
and
Ben, mother Joanne and Fred).