We all remember Fred Savage from his iconic role as Kevin Arnold on the coming-of-age television series The Wonder Years. The show premiered in 1988 and ran for six seasons before its finale in 1993, giving American households plenty of time to watch Savage grow up in their living rooms. What they didn’t know is what Savage left behind to give us that boyish charm for all those years.
Born on July 9, 1976 in Chicago, Illinois, Savage began his acting career on the show Morningstar/Eveningstar at the age of 9. He then appeared in numerous projects including The Boy Who Could Fly, Dinosaurs: A Fun-Filled Trip Back In Time, The Twilight Zone, and Crime Story. He gained national attention when he appeared in the 1987 film The Princess Bride opposite Peter Falk.
A year later, Savage reappeared as Kevin Arnold in The Wonder Years. In order to film the show, he and his family had to move from their home in Chicago all the way to California. In doing so, Savage left behind a very important person, who would later on become his wife: Jennifer Lynn Stone.
Savage and Stone were childhood friends, much like The Wonder Years characters Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper, while growing up in their suburban Chicago neighborhood. However, after Savage and his family relocated to Los Angeles, the two lost touch with each other due to the long distance.
Somehow, fate managed to reconnect them many years later. Once his role in The Wonder Years finally came to an end, Savage⏤now in his 20s⏤decided to move on with the next phase of his life. Little did he know that he was about to get thrown a curveball. While attending an old friend’s birthday party in 1998, Savage was reintroduced to his old friend Stone, and this time it seemed that the couple had no problem picking up where they left off. In fact, they both realized that they had some pent-up affection for each other that needed to be released.
In an interview with People magazine, Savage said, “We started talking and smooching, and we’ve been together ever since.” The pair started dating shortly after and then in 2003, Savage proposed to Stone. They married a year later in 2004, and since then, the couple has had three children together. Their first son, Oliver, was born in August of 2006, while their second-born, a daughter named Lily, was born two years later in May of 2008. They had their third son, Auggie, in 2012.
It’s crazy to think that Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper’s fairy tale romance didn’t end on the same note in The Wonder Years. Fans of the show are still disappointed to this day that Kevin and Winnie did not end up together by the series finale. How ironic that even though his character wasn’t able to make it work with his childhood sweetheart⏤despite being around each other constantly⏤Savage was able to disappear for a decade, reconnect instantly with Stone, and get married. It looks like the couple still has many Wonder Years ahead of them.