Douglas Peter Savant (born June 21, 1964) is an American actor.
From 1992 to 1997, Savant starred as Matt Fielding on Melrose Place, a role that was notable for being one of the first mainstream openly gay characters on television. His role was, however, censored greatly by the network - notably a kiss between Matt and guest star Ty Miller during the season two finale which was edited out at the last minute by FOX. Savant left the series after six seasons and, a year later, his character was killed offscreen in a car crash.
After this, Savant guest starred on series such as Profiler, Harsh Realm, Firefly, JAG, NCIS, Nip/Tuck, NYPD Blue, and a four-episode arc on 24. He also appeared as Sgt. O'Neal in the film Godzilla, and in the eighties he appeared in such films as "Masquerade" starring Rob Lowe, Teen Wolf with Michael J. Fox, and "Trick or Treat" with Marc Price and Ozzy Osbourne. Additionally, he was the central character in an episode of The Outer Limits called "The Hunt". In the episode, he plays an android that is being hunted for sport, only to be reprogrammed as the hunter.
Savant plays Tom Scavo on ABC's Desperate Housewives. In the first season (2004-05), Tom was a recurring character, married to Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), and out of town regularly on business. However viewer response to Savant and his character led the producers to contract him full time for the rest of the seasons.
Savant was born in Burbank, California. He is married to and has two children with former Melrose co-star Laura Leighton. He also has two children from a previous marriage.
