Trivia

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. (December 2000)

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: A Clockwork Orange (1971), Gandhi (1982) and The Remains of the Day (1993). Of those Gandhi (1982) is a winner in the category.

John Savident played the part of "The King" in the unbroadcast The Black Adder (1983) pilot episode, Original Pilot (2009), 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.

John was a member of the original 1986 cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera", starring Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. He played the role of "Monsieur Firmin", the co-owner of the Paris Opera Company.

Prior to his extensive stint on North of England soap Coronation Street (1960) as a very loud, strongly Lancashire accented butcher, Savident invariably played his roles with a cultured upper class accent.

Considered for Sir Percy Heseltine in Lifeforce (1985).

Savident was born in Guernsey and still lived there at the time of the German occupation of the island in 1940. He and his family escaped to Britain in a fishing boat. During his early years, he was a police officer before turning to acting as his profession.

He said he did not approve of Coronation Street (1960) hiring famous actors, saying it took jobs away from unknown, struggling actors.