Abigail Savage

Early life and education Abigail Savage was born in New York City to Tereze Glück, vice president of Citibank for her entire career of over thirty years, and also a fiction writer. Glück bought a home in 2015 in Cherry Grove, a hamlet on Fire Island, where Savage would stay during her breaks. Glück's sister is Nobel laureate poet Louise Glück.

Her father is an audiophile and started her interests in sound technology. She would go to his apartment when she was twelve and he would show off his system and classical records, including the turntable for vinyl records.

Career When Savage graduated from Williams College, the head of the drama department advised, "Be patient!", it's the same advice Savage gave to other aspiring women in the acting industry. Savage has had several New York City theater roles: Dido, Queen of Carthage at The Ohio Theatre (2001); Demon Baby at The Ohio Theater (2002); Silence at The Ohio Theater (2002); Seven in One Blow or The Brave Little Kid at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts (2004); Hospital 2005 at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts (2005); and a mathematical savant in The Five Hysterical Girls Theorem at The Connelly Theater (2000).

Savage is a sound designer, and sound editor. She got interested in the sound editing industry to support her between acting jobs, and fell in love with the work. Man Push Cart (2005), Half Nelson (2006), Joshua (2007), Where God Left His Shoes (2007), Sugar (2008), Chop Shop (2008), Goodbye Solo (2008), Plastic Bag (2009), The Tillman Story (2010), The Greater Good (2011), The Kite (2011), At Any Price (2012), Dear Mandela (2012), Sleepwalk With Me (2012), Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (2013), Mississippi Grind (2015), (Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies (2015), Complete Unknown (2016), First Monday in May (2016), and Thank You for Playing (2015).

Savage joined the cast of Jenji Kohan's Netflix series Orange Is the New Black in 2013 as "kitchen-bound" inmate Gina Murphy at a minimum-security women's prison. Her character was transferred from Litchfield to FDC Cleveland in Ohio along with a number of other inmates. In 2017 the cast won the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series; they had previously won for season's two and three. In 2018 the cast was nominated for the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Comedy Series.

Personal life Savage is Jewish. Savage is married to Caitlin McElroy, with whom she has a daughter. They eloped and married in a tuxedo shop in Bennington, Vermont, before same-sex marriages became legal in their home state of New York in 2011. The shop owner was the presiding justice of the peace.

Acting filmography Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2003) as Dot. Redacted (2007) as Tattooed Kid. The Return of Jezebel James (2008) as Minnie (2 episodes). Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2009) as The Master Baiter Jim (2010) as human clone #3774. Orange is the New Black (2013-2017, 2019) as Gina Murphy. Time Out of Mind (2014) as Sabrina. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2016) as Sister Nina. What We Do in the Shadows (2020) as Tonya. The Spine of Night (2021) as Kestrelwren (voice).

Awards and nominations

2011, Motion Picture Sound Editors, Golden Reel Award [Nominee] for Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue, ADR and Music in a Feature Documentary for Inside Job (2010) 2015–2018, won three Screen Actors Guild Awards for being in the cast of Orange Is the New Black, and was nominated again in 2018.