What Happened to Fred Savage? Where He Is Now in 2026

If you grew up in the late ’80s or early ’90s, Fred Savage was the face of your childhood — Kevin Arnold, the wide-eyed narrator’s younger self on “The Wonder Years.” He grew into one of TV’s most in-demand comedy directors, working steadily for two decades behind the camera. Then, in 2022, he was fired from a “Wonder Years” reboot after allegations of inappropriate conduct that he has denied. So whatever happened to Fred Savage? Here’s where he is now — including the unexpected new business he built.

01Profile

Full name

Fred Aaron Savage

Born

July 9, 1976 (49 years old)

Birthplace

Highland Park, Illinois, USA

Occupation

Actor, television director/producer; founder of a watch-authentication business

Best known for

Kevin Arnold on "The Wonder Years" (1988–1993)

Years active

1985–present

Fred Savage is one of the rare child stars who never really left the industry — he just moved behind the camera. For nearly two decades he was a prolific comedy director, and by all appearances headed for an elder-statesman role in television. Then a 2022 controversy reshaped his public standing. What he did next surprised almost everyone: he turned a private hobby into a company that has nothing to do with Hollywood.

02The Rise: Becoming Kevin Arnold

A star at twelve

Savage started acting as a young boy, but “The Wonder Years” is what made him a household name. The ABC coming-of-age series premiered in 1988 and cast Savage, then around twelve, as Kevin Arnold — a suburban kid navigating adolescence in the late 1960s, with an adult Kevin (voiced by Daniel Stern) narrating in hindsight. The show was a critical darling and a ratings hit, and Savage became, at the time, one of the youngest performers ever nominated for a Primetime Emmy for lead actor in a comedy.

For six seasons through 1993, Savage grew up on screen alongside co-stars Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper) and Josh Saviano (Paul). Kevin’s first crushes, family dinners, and small heartbreaks became touchstones for a generation of viewers, and the show’s warm, nostalgic tone made Savage a genuine icon of the era.

Beyond The Wonder Years

Even as a kid, Savage had range beyond the show. He played the sick grandson whose grandfather reads him a fairy tale in the beloved 1987 fantasy “The Princess Bride,” and starred in the 1989 film “The Wizard,” a Nintendo-fueled road movie that has become a cult favorite. By the time “The Wonder Years” wrapped, he was one of the most recognizable young actors in America — and, unusually, one who managed the transition to adulthood without the public flameouts that derailed many of his peers.

03The 2022 Firing and the Allegations

Savage’s steady career hit a wall in 2022. He had been serving as an executive producer and director on ABC’s reboot of “The Wonder Years,” but in May 2022 the studio, 20th Television, confirmed he had been fired following an investigation.

• 2018Two separate lawsuits — one from a costume designer, one from a crew member on his Fox series "The Grinder" — allege harassment; Savage calls the claims "completely without merit and absolutely untrue."
• May 202220th Television confirms Savage was fired from the "Wonder Years" reboot after an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct.
• 2022Savage issues a statement acknowledging he could do better while disputing specific incidents; he denies wrongdoing.
• 2024–2025Savage quietly launches a watch-authentication venture, later detailed by The New York Times.

According to reporting by CNN, Deadline, and NBC News, a production spokesperson said Savage was let go after the studio investigated “allegations of inappropriate conduct.” The reporting described complaints that reportedly included verbal outbursts and inappropriate behavior on set. Multiple women were reported to have raised concerns. It is important to note that these are allegations; Savage has not been charged with any crime, and he disputes them.

In his own statement at the time, reported by outlets including TODAY, Savage did not admit to the specific claims. He said that while some reported incidents “absolutely did not and could not have happened,” he also acknowledged, “any one person who feels hurt or offended by my actions is one person too many,” adding that he would continue to try to do better. Savage had faced earlier lawsuits in 2018 — including one dating to his Fox series “The Grinder” — which he called “completely without merit and absolutely untrue.” Readers should weigh the reporting on its own terms: the allegations are serious and were investigated by the studio, and Savage has consistently denied wrongdoing.

04From Child Actor to In-Demand Director

Long before the controversy, Savage had built an entire second career behind the camera — and it’s a big part of why his story is more complicated than a single headline.

A prolific TV director

Starting in 1999, Savage moved into directing, and he was good at it. Over roughly two decades he directed episodes of more than a dozen series, including “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Modern Family,” “2 Broke Girls,” “Party Down,” and many others. He earned Directors Guild of America nominations for his comedy work and became a reliable, well-regarded hand in the half-hour space — the kind of director showrunners requested by name.

A brief return to acting

In 2015, Savage stepped back in front of the camera for the Fox sitcom “The Grinder,” starring opposite Rob Lowe as a pair of very different brothers. The show was praised by critics for its cleverness but lasted only one season, ending in 2016. He also hosted and executive-produced the revival game show “Child Support” on ABC. For a while, it looked like Savage might balance directing, producing, and the occasional on-camera role indefinitely.

05What He Is Doing Now

The watch-authentication business

The most surprising chapter of Savage’s recent life has nothing to do with entertainment. In February 2025, The New York Times reported that Savage had founded a company focused on authenticating and grading luxury watches. The venture reportedly grew out of a genuine personal passion: collecting mechanical timepieces.

Watch collecting started as a hobby, because I was really interested in these mechanical objects that still worked and looked so great a hundred years after they were manufactured. — Fred Savage, The New York Times, February 2025

According to that reporting, the business quietly began operating in 2024, applying formal authentication and valuation assessments to high-end watches — a growing concern in a market plagued by counterfeits. Several “where is he now” features that ran across 2025, including pieces aggregated by AOL and Yahoo Lifestyle, framed the venture as Savage’s post-Hollywood reinvention: a former child star and TV director channeling a collector’s eye into a specialist trade.

Life away from the spotlight

Savage has largely kept a low public profile since 2022. He is married to Jennifer Lynn Stone, and the couple have three children; consistent with our editorial policy, we won’t speculate about their private lives beyond what’s publicly on record. He has not, as of mid-2026, mounted a high-profile return to directing or acting, and much of the recent coverage centers on his watch business rather than any new screen project. Whether he attempts a Hollywood comeback remains an open question.

06Summary

Fred Savage’s arc is one of the more nuanced “where are they now” stories from the ’90s: a beloved child star who reinvented himself as a working director, then saw that career interrupted by allegations he denies, and finally pivoted into an entirely different field.

Few former child actors manage a second act as a working director. Fewer still respond to a career setback by launching a company in an entirely unrelated field. Whatever comes next for Fred Savage, his current chapter is unmistakably his own.