Stelio Savante is a South African actor that has appeared in 140 films, TV series and video games in the last three decades. He is known for his roles as a South African/Israeli journalist and undercover Mossad agent opposite

Jim Caviezel James Patrick Caviezel Jr. ( ; born September 26, 1968) is an American actor. He played Jesus in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004), Tim Ballard in Sound of Freedom (film), ''Sound of Freedom'' (2023), and starred as John Reese (Person of Inte ...

and Claudia Karvan in the political thriller '' Infidel'', a Portuguese mayor opposite

Matt Dillon Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Independent Spirit Awards alongside nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, ...

in the Hawaiian drama '' Running for Grace'', a small town deputy directly opposite

Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche ( ; May 25, 1969August 11, 2022) was an American actress, known for her roles across a variety of genres in film, television, and theater. She was the recipient of Daytime Emmy, National Board of Review, and GLAAD Media Awards ...

, in her final film performance in the noir '' What Remains'', and a rogue policeman in the South African epic drama '' Colors of Heaven''. In 2007 he became the first male South African-born

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

award nominee (Best Ensemble in a Comedy) for his recurring role on ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 28, 2006, to April 14, 2010. It is based on the Colombian telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fea' ...

'' followed by roles in the studio films '' My Super Ex-Girlfriend'' and '' Starship Troopers 3: Marauder''. He is also known for the roles of Moses in the biblical series ''The Chosen'', and the voice of Ajax in the popular video games '' Call of Duty: Black Ops 4'' and '' Call of Duty: Mobile''.

Early life

A Capetonian of Greek, Italian, British, Ashkenazi, and Anatolian descent, his grandfather was a racing driver who placed and won medals at the 1955

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Albert I, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert I, the rally ...

. Fluent in Afrikaans and Greek, he graduated from Camps Bay High School, immigrated from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

to the United States when he was offered an international tennis scholarship by the University of West Alabama.

Career

Following two decades of Lort contract theater in New York, his prime-time debut came in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' as a Bosnian–

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

fundamentalist. Directed by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

winner

Juan Jose Campanella ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish language, Spanish and Manx language, Manx versions of ''John (given name), John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-spea ...

and also starring

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and three Grammy Awards. In addition, he has been nominated for twelve Acade ...

, the episode was nominated for an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

. Recurred as

Steve Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen. Notable people A–D * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Abel (born 1970), New Zealand politician * Steve Adams (disambiguation) ...

on ''

'', produced by

Salma Hayek Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault ( , ; ; born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa (1989 TV series), Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well a ...

. He became the first male South African to receive a Screen Actor's Guild nomination along with the lead ensemble cast in 2007. Also a recurred in '' My Own Worst Enemy'', with further guest star lead roles in J. J. Abrams' '' Undercovers'' opposite Gugu Mbatha-Raw, ''

The Suite Life on Deck ''The Suite Life on Deck'' is an American teen sitcom created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan, and developed by Kallis and Pamela Eells O'Connell. The series aired on Disney Channel from September 26, 2008, to May 6, 2011. It is a sequel/ spi ...

'', ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...

'' opposite

, ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002, to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

'' opposite Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Ivana Milicevic, '' Breakout Kings'' opposite Jimmi Simpson, and '' NCIS''. As well as in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series '' Togetherness'' directed by

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996, for which they wrote and directed ''The ...

and

Jay Duplass Lawrence Jay Duplass Jr. (born March 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author widely known for his films ''The Puffy Chair'' (2005), ''Cyrus'' (2010), and '' Jeff, Who Lives at Home'' (2011), made in collaboration with his younger br ...

, in '' The Chosen'' by Dallas Jenkins and in the animated series '' Captain Fall''. Further television credits include ''

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

'', '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' opposite Annabella Sciorra, ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'', as Dan 'Schaffy' Schaffner in '' Jim Breuer's pilot Pulp Comics on ''

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

and recurring as Antonio on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

''. He portrayed Joe Masseria in the mini-series '' The Making of the Mob: New York'' for

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

and

David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was a Russian and American businessman who played an important role in the American history of radio and television. He led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for most of his career in ...

in '' American Genius'' for

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

. Starred directly opposite

in What Remains directed by Nathan Scoggins, opposite

and

in '' Running for Grace'' directed by David L. Cunningham, and opposite Michael Beach and George Blagden in the romantic comedy '' No Postage Necessary''. He was cast opposite

for the third time, also working directly opposite Claudia Karvan in

Cyrus Nowrasteh Cyrus Nowrasteh (Persian language, Persian: سیروس/کوروش نورسته; ; born September 19, 1956) is an American filmmaker. He has worked on numerous television series and Television movie, made-for-TV movies including ''The Day Reagan W ...

's political thriller '' Infidel'' released by Cloudburst and MGM. Additional film credits include Twentieth Century Fox's '' My Super Ex-Girlfriend'' directed by

Ivan Reitman Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946 – February 12, 2022) was a Canadian film director and producer. He was known for his comedy films, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Reitman was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998. ...

, starring opposite

Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris ( ; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. Known for playing comedic roles, she rose to prominence with the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie (film series), ''Scary Movie'' films (2000–2006). Her film credi ...

Eddie Izzard Suzy Eddie Izzard ( ; born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomi ...

Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 cover ...

, and Rainn Wilson, and

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

winner '' A Beautiful Mind'' opposite

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor and film director. Russell Crowe filmography, His work on screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe, various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Gold ...

. Ensemble leading roles in

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

'' Starship Troopers 3: Marauder'' produced by Academy Award nominee David Lancaster,

Movieguide Millard Robert E. Theodore Baehr (born 1946) is an American media critic and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, a division of Good News Communications, Inc. He is publisher and editor-in-chief of ''Movieguide'', a website ...

award winner ''

What If What If may refer to: Film * ''What If'', a 2006 TV film starring Niall Buggy * What If... (2010 film), ''What If...'' (2010 film), an American film * What If... (2012 film), ''What If...'' (2012 film), a Greek film * What If (2013 film), ''What ...

'', and a lead role opposite Isaach De Bankole and

Juliet Landau Juliet Rose Landau (born March 30, 1965) is an American actress, director, producer, and ballerina best known for her role as Drusilla on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and its spinoff show ''Angel'', the latter appearance earning her a Sat ...

in Rudolf Buitendach's '' Where the Road Runs Out'', the first feature filmed in

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

, winner of the Best Narrative Feature Award at the 2014

San Diego Film Festival The San Diego International Film Festival is an independent film festival held in San Diego, California, produced by the nonprofit San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in autumn at venues in the Gaslamp Q ...

and the

Black Reel Award The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African Americans in film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the Afr ...

for Outstanding World Cinema in 2017. Also starred in

Peter Greenaway Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a British film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Mannerist painting in particular. Common traits in his films a ...

's '' Eisenstein in Guanajuato'' nominated for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

at the 2015

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

., and the sex trafficking film '' Selling Isobel,'' winner

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove ...

;s 'Indie Award' in 2016. He also voiced the role of Ajax in '' Call of Duty: Black Ops 4''. He received positive reviews for his role in the feature '' A Million Colours'', which screened at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Pan African Film Festival, Atlantic Film Festival, and was also awarded two South African Film and Television Awards. Theater credits include lead roles in the American and New York premiers of Arnie Sieren's award-winning Belgian play, '' My Blackie'', Belgian playwright Jean-Yves Picq's '' The Case Of Kaspar Meyer'', German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig's '' Arabian Night'' directed by Trip Cullman, Dan Gordon's '' Murder in the First'' directed by

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

alumni Michael Parva, and '' Mortal Coils'' directed by

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method actin ...

lifetime member Ed Setrakian.

Films And Plays Produced

Savante has produced and served in a producing role on such films as '' No Postage Necessary'', Official Selection of the Heartland Film Festival starring George Blagden and Michael Beach, making history as the first film to ever release via

blockchain The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...

technology using

cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership record ...

as payment, and drama '' Selling Isobel'' starring opposite Lew Temple, and Alyson Stoner, winner at the 2016 Raindance film festival, released by Gravitas Ventures. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the ''

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

'' Stelio produced and performed ''110 Stories'' Celebrity Benefit Performances with

Katie Holmes Kate Noelle Holmes (born December 18, 1978) is an American actress. She first achieved fame as Joey Potter on the television series ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003). Holmes made her film debut with a supporting role in Ang Lee's '' The Ice Sto ...

, Samuel L. Jackson,

Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Critics' Choice A ...

Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supportin ...

, and Jeremy Piven. at the Skirball Center for The Performing Arts at NYU. It was directed by Gregory Mosher. Savante describes ''110 Stories'' as a chance to give people closure about the attacks; he was in New York City at the time of the attacks, and cites that as a reason why he produces the play. In 2010, he also produced and performed the Los Angeles theater debut of ''110 Stories'' Celebrity Benefit Performances at the

Geffen Playhouse The Geffen Playhouse is a not-for-profit theater company founded in Los Angeles, California by Gilbert Cates in 1995. It produces plays in two theaters in Geffen Playhouse, which is owned by University of California Los Angeles. The Playhous ...

, with John Hawkes and Ed Asner directed by Mark Freiburger. All proceeds were donated to the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

Los Angeles as aid to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

in the aftermath of their earthquake. In 2013, he produced and performed ''110 Stories'' at Ebony Rep in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The proceeds were donated to Operation Gratitude. And again he produced and performed ''110 Stories'' opposite

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Foster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019), known professionally as Robert Forster, was an American actor. He made his screen debut as Private L.G. Williams in John Huston's '' Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967), followed ...

and

Mira Sorvino Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born ) is an American actress. She rose to stardom with her performance as a prostitute in the comedy film ''Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995), which won her both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Academy Award for Best S ...

directed by his acting teacher Bill Alderson in 2016. As playwright, his one-act play ''Venom'' was self-produced

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

and nominated as a finalist for Samuel French's Love Creek festival. A longtime voice over artist, his Video game credits include: '' Call of Duty: Black Ops 4'' and '' Call of Duty: Mobile'','' Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier'', '' Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'', '' Mass Effect 2'', '' Army of Two: The 40th Day'', a role in the live-action simulated video game ''

Red Alert 3 ''Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by EA Los Angeles and published by Electronic Arts. It was released in October 2008 in the United States and Europe for Microsoft Windows. An Xbox 360 version was r ...

'', and '' Midnight Club''.

Personal life

Savante was diagnosed with

Celiac Disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine. Patients develop intolerance to gluten, which is present in foods such as wheat, rye, spel ...

in 2010 and has become a vocal advocate for other sufferers. He stated that the disease attacked his organs, including his liver. He was also diagnosed with

Hashimoto's thyroiditis Hashimoto's thyroiditis, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, Hashimoto's disease and autoimmune thyroiditis, is an autoimmune disease in which the thyroid gland is gradually destroyed. Early on, symptoms may not be noticed. Over ti ...

in 2013. Savante is a Christian.

Awards and nominations

Selected filmography

References

External links

* *
Broadway World Coverage – "110 Stories Opening Night"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savante, Stelio 21st-century South African male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century South African male actors 20th-century American male actors White South African people South African expatriates in the United States Male actors from Cape Town South African dramatists and playwrights South African emigrants to the United States South African male film actors South African male stage actors South African male soap opera actors South African male television actors South African film producers South African screenwriters Alumni of Camps Bay High School South African male voice actors Film producers from New York (state) American male film actors American people of Greek descent South African people of Greek descent American male stage actors American male soap opera actors American male television actors American male screenwriters Living people Male actors from Queens, New York South African male dramatists and playwrights People from Astoria, Queens Screenwriters from New York (state) American male video game actors American male voice actors Year of birth missing (living people)