Samson was trained in ballet throughout her childhood and teen years growing up in Watertown, New York, which gave her an edge when she became an exotic dancer at Scores Gentlemen's Club in New York City in the mid 1990s. She soon started making regular appearances on Howard Stern's radio and E! cable network shows.

Samson met Howard Stern at Score's nightclub in New York where she was performing as an exotic dancer in 1997. He was impressed with her quick wit and invited her to be on his show. Savanna has appeared on the Howard Stern show a total of 19 times not including the special (albiet short) apperance she made on his final broadcast on terrestrial radio on February 28, 2006 and the apperance at the taping of his 52nd birthday special on March 31, 2006.

Her fiancé's fantasy was to marry a porn star, so Samson made an adult movie titled Rocco Meats an American Angel in Paris with Rocco Siffredi in 2000 and gave the video to her husband on their wedding night. In a Penthouse interview, however, she related that when she saw the actual video she wept and did not do another porn film for a year afterwards. The movie, along with her appearances on Howard Stern, grabbed the attention of Vivid Entertainment producers. In 2002, Samson became a contract actress for Vivid (a.k.a a "Vivid Girl").

Her first movie broke ground as she is persuaded to perform oral and anal sex even though she protests her reluctance throughout. She eventually shows facial frowning and produces painful moaning while being sodomized. Her expression of forced sexual pleasure, vulnerability, willingness to please along with reluctance was a novelty other producers and actresses attempted to copy.

She has recently become an author, contributing chapters to How To Have A XXX Sex Life (published by Regan Books). She also started a wine company in 2006, Savanna Wines. Her first vintage is called "Always Savanna Vino Rosso". In December 2006 it was announced that Savanna had joined dating site Adult FriendFinder as a Sex Advice Monthly Columnist, a role she will begin in January 2007.

Samson has four sisters and a son who was born shortly before Samson signed her Vivid contract. She separated from her husband of five years in 2004, but announced on The Howard Stern Show in September 2005 that they have reconciled.

In 2000, Savanna made appearances in the TV programs Ed and Better Days.

Savanna won several AVN Awards in her career, including 2006 Best Actress for The New Devil in Miss Jones, 2005 Best All-Girl Sex Scene with Jenna Jameson for The Masseuse, and 2004 Best Actress for Looking In.

Savanna was the host of the 2005 AVN Awards.

In 2005 Savanna scored a major role in a moderate budget remake entitled The New Devil in Miss Jones who she co-starred with Jenna Jameson. Savanna along with co - star Jenna Jameson walked away with an award for the Best All-Girl Sex Scene for 2005.

On February 3, 2006, Samson, Jenna Jameson, and several other Vivid Girls hosted the first ever Vivid Club Jenna Super Bowl Party at the Zoo Club in Detroit, Michigan, with a $1,000 ticket price that featured a lingerie show, but no nudity or sex acts. When announced, the party caused controversy with the NFL who did not sanction this as an official Super Bowl event.

Savanna's next feature, scheduled to be released in May 2007 by Vivid Video, is Savanna's Been Black Maled.

Savanna has a non-sexual role in the 2006 gay adult film remake Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita by Lucas Entertainment. She tied for the 2007 GayVN Award for Best Non-Sexual Performance with Paul Barresi for The Velvet Mafia 1-2, by Falcon Entertainment.