Telly Savalas
Telly Savalas (January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was an American actor and singer. He is best known from playing the character Kojak in a television series and many television movies. He was born in Garden City, New York; his parents were Greek Americans.
Telly Savalas | |
|---|---|
 Telly Savalas, 1973 | |
| Born | Aristotelis Savalas January 21, 1922 |
| Died | January 22, 1994 (aged 72) Universal City, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Prostate cancer Bladder cancer[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1950 – 1994 |
| Known for | Kojak |
| Spouse(s) | Katherine Nicolaides (1948-1957; divorced), Marilyn Gardner (1960-1974; divorced), Julie Hovland (1984-1994; his death) |
Career
Early in his career, he played different characters like the detective in Cape Fear (1962), with Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, and the role of Feto Gomez in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), he would win the Academy Award as supporting actor.
One of his best roles in his career was that of Pontius Pilate, in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). For his role, he shaved his head.
Then co-star in war movies Battle of the Bulge (1965), The Dirty Dozen (1967), with Lee Marvin, Telly played the role of a religious fanatic convict, who is elected by Lee Marvin for a suicidal mission., and Kelly's Heroes (1970), with Clint Eastwood and directed by Brian G. Hutton.
He was then personified as the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in the James Bond saga, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
In the 1970s Savalas worked in Europe with some success in movies as Città violenta (1970), with Charles Bronson, A Town Called Bastard (1971), with Jack Palance, La banda J.S.: Cronaca criminale del Far West (1972), Horror Express (1972) with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, Senza ragione (1973). and the movie by Mario Bava, Lisa e il diavolo (1974).
In the late 70s and early 1980s, Savalas worked on movies including Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979), Cannonball Run II (1984).
Television
In 1963 he was on an episode of The Twilight Zone. In 1973 CBS hired him to play the role of a Lieutenant, member of the police detective in New York, in production for CBS television: The Marcus-Nelson Murders. Has a success out of the ordinary and the producers decided to turn it into a television series.
Seven TV movies were made in the series Kojak: Kojak: The Belarus File (1985), Kojak: The Price of Justice (1987), Kojak: Ariana (1989), Kojak: Fatal Flaw (1991), Kojak: Flowers for Matty (1990), Kojak: It's Always Something (1990) and Kojak: None So Blind (1990).
He won an Emmy Award for Kojak.
He also starred in TV movie productions Mongo's Back in Town (1972), She Cried Murder (1973), Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story (1980), Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987), The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988), The Hollywood Detective (1989).
Filmography
| Year | Títle | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Mad Dog Coll | Lt. Darro | |
| The Young Savages | Detective Lt. Gunderson | ||
| 1962 | Cape Fear | Private Detective Charles Sievers | |
| Birdman of Alcatraz | Feto Gomez | Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Telly Savalas) | |
| 1963 | The Man from the Diners' Club | Foots Pulardos | |
| Love Is a Ball | Dr. Christian Gump | ||
| 1964 | The New Interns | Dr. Dominick 'Dom' Riccio | |
| 1965 | The Greatest Story Ever Told | Pontius Pilate | |
| Genghis Khan | Shan | ||
| Battle of the Bulge | Sgt. Guffy | ||
| The Slender Thread | Dr. Joe Coburn | ||
| 1966 | Beau Geste | Sgt. Maj. Dagineau | |
| 1967 | The Dirty Dozen | Archer Maggott | |
| Sol Madrid | Emil Dietrich | ||
| The Scalphunters | Jim Howie | ||
| 1968 | Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell | Walter Braddock | |
| 1969 | The Assassination Bureau | Lord Bostwick | |
| Mackenna's Gold | Sgt. Tibbs | ||
| Crooks and Coronets | Herbie Haseler | ||
| Land Raiders | Vince Carden | ||
| On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Ernst Stavro Blofeld | ||
| 1970 | Kelly's Heroes | MSgt. Big Joe | |
| Città violenta | Al Weber | ||
| 1971 | Pretty Maids All in a Row | Captain Sam Surcher | |
| A Town Called Bastard | Don Carlos | ||
| Clay Pigeon | Redford | ||
| 1972 | La banda J.S.: Cronaca criminale del Far West | Sheriff Franciscus | |
| Mongo's Back in Town (TV movie) | Lieutenant Pete Tolstad | ||
| Pancho Villa | Pancho Villa | ||
| Horror Express | Captain Kazan | ||
| Una ragione per vivere e una per morire | Maj. Ward | ||
| 1973 | I familiari delle vittime non saranno avvertiti | Don Vincenzo | |
| The Marcus-Nelson Murders (TV movie) | Lt. Theo Kojak | ||
| 1973/1978 | Kojak (TV series) | Lt. Theo Kojak | 118 episodes |
| 1974 | Lisa e il diavolo | Leandro | |
| 1975 | L'assassino... è al telefono | Ranko Drasovic | |
| Inside Out | Harry Morgan | ||
| 1976 | Killer Force | Webb | |
| 1977 | Beyond Reason | Dr. Nicholas Mati | |
| 1978 | Capricorn One | Albain | |
| 1979 | Escape to Athena | Captain Stefan Svevo | |
| The Muppet Movie | Sleezo Tough | ||
| 1980 | The Border | Frank Cooper | |
| 1982 | Fake-Out | ||
| 1984 | Cannonball Run II | Hymie Kaplan | |
| 1985 | Kojak: The Belarus File (TV movie) | Lieutenant Theo Kojak | |
| 1987 | Kojak: The Price of Justice (TV movie) | Inspector Kojak | |
| Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (TV movie) | Maj. Wright | ||
| Faceless | Terry Hallen | ||
| 1988 | The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (TV movie) | Maj. Wright | |
| 1989 | Kojak: Ariana (TV movie) | Inspector Kojak | |
| The Hollywood Detective (TV movie) | Harry Bell | ||
| 1990 | Kojak: Flowers for Matty (TV movie) | Inspector Theo Kojak | |
| Kojak: It's Always Something (TV movie) | Inspector Theo Kojak | ||
| Kojak: None So Blind (TV movie) | Inspector Theo Kojak | ||
| 1991 | Kojak: Fatal Flaw (TV movie) | Inspector Theo Kojak | |
| 1994 | Mind Twister | Richard Howland |
Telly Savalas Media
On the set of On Her Majesty's Secret Service at Piz Gloria, Switzerland (1968)
Savalas and Sally Field in Mongo's Back in Town (1971)
The Savalas brothers (l-r): Teddy, Telly, Gus, and George
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References
Other websites
- Official site Archived 2010-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
- Savalas.TV - Who loves ya, baby?
- TellySavalas.de - German Infoside Archived 2022-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
- TellySavalas.com
- Telly Savalas on IMDb
- Telly Savalas at TV.com
- Telly Savalas at Find a Grave