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.[5][6][7] Glück bought a home in 2015 in
Cherry Grove, a hamlet on
Fire Island, where Savage would stay during her breaks.[8] Glück's sister is
Nobel laureate poet
Louise Glück.[5] Her grandmother, Beatrice Glück went to
Wellesley College in
Massachusetts in a time when it was uncommon for women to attend college, and majored in
French.[9]
Her father is an
audiophile and started her interests in sound technology.[10] 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.[10] He was always upgrading his system.[10]
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.[12][13] Savage has had several New York City theater roles: Dido, Queen of Carthage at
The Ohio Theatre (2001);[14]Demon Baby at The Ohio Theater (2002);[15] Silence at The Ohio Theater (2002);[16]Seven in One Blow or The Brave Little Kid at the
Axis Theatre (2004);[17][18]Hospital 2005 at the Axis Theatre (2005); and a mathematical
savant in The Five Hysterical Girls Theorem at The Connelly Theater (2000).[19][20]
Savage is a
sound designer, and
sound editor.[21] She got interested in the sound editing industry to support her between acting jobs, and fell in love with the work.[4] Her roommate in the summer after college complained of having too many internships, one for a
post production sound studio.[3] She did sound for the senior production at college so took the position.[3] She says that her sound designer work complements her acting as it teaches the importance of consistency in takes, and handling the props the same way each time.[3] One of the companies she works for is Dig It Audio a "boutique audio mix and post production house in New York City for film,
gaming and television".[10]
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.[22][45] She said of the role that she had worked for years "to get anywhere, somewhere, before Orange fell into her lap."[12] She originally auditioned for the role of
Nicky Nichols but that went to
Natasha Lyonne; but the producers found the Gina role for her.[3] The series is based on
Piper Kerman's memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison (2010), about her experiences at
FCI Danbury, a minimum-security
federal prison.[45] In the fifth season, the show had a prison riot and it was ended by a
correctional emergency response team (CERT) who "dragged inmates outside and loaded them onto buses", her character surrendered with a handful of other inmates.[46] Her character was transferred from Litchfield to FDC Cleveland in Ohio along with a number of other inmates.[47][48] 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.[49][50] In 2018 the cast was nominated for the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Comedy Series.[51]
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)[22][65]