John Savident (born 21 January 1938) is a British actor, known for his numerous television roles, including his portrayal of Fred Elliott in the soap opera Coronation Street from 1994 to 2006. He is also known for his performance as Monsieur Firmin in the West End debut of The Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King. Early life Savident was born in Guernsey and still lived there at the time of the German occupation of the island in 1940. He and his family escaped to England in a fishing boat. During his early years, he was a police officer before turning to acting as his profession. Career Savident created the role of Monsieur Firmin in the original production of Phantom of the Opera, which opened on 9 October 1986 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Haymarket, London. He appeared as the renegade scientist Egrorian in a 1981 episode of the cult science fiction TV series Blake's 7. He also had other television appearances in The Saint, Callan and Doctor Who . Coronation Street Despite his many film and TV roles (including civil servant Sir Frederick Stewart in Yes, Minister and a memorable part in A Clockwork Orange), it was only during the 1990s when Savident joined the cast of Coronation Street as the bellicose but romantic butcher Fred Elliott that he became a household name. He made his first appearance on the show in 1994 and his character quickly became popular with viewers. In December 2005, Savident announced that he was to leave Coronation Street citing (undisclosed) "personal reasons". His character died of a stroke nine months later, in October 2006. He later revealed that he had retired from the show "because he wanted to spend more time with his family in Hertfordshire". Since leaving, he has been critical of the way the series is produced in a number of articles and television interviews, claiming that the programme is amongst other things "on too frequently" and "badly lit". He has also said he disagrees with the programme hiring well-known actors, as it takes jobs away from struggling, unknown actors. Later work Savident was one of the readers on the BBC's online Advent Calendar in December 2006. That year, he appeared in the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as the henchman at Manchester Opera House, alongside his former Coronation Street co-star Suranne Jones, as well as Justin Moorhouse and