Telly Savalas

Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was a Greek American actor. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on the crime drama series Kojak (1973–1978) and James Bond archvillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
Savalas' other roles include Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Battle of the Bulge (1965), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Horror Express (1972), Lisa and the Devil (1974), and Escape to Athena (1979). For Birdman of Alcatraz, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
As a singer, Savalas released a cover of the Bread song "If", which became a UK number-one single in 1975. The song also peaked at number 12 in Australia. In Canada, it reached #40 on the AC/Pop chart, and #88 on the rock chart.
==Early life==
Aristotelis Savalas was born in Garden City, New York, on January 21, 1922, the second of five children born to Greek parents Christina (née Kapsalis), an artist who was a native of Sparta, and Nick Savalas, a restaurant owner. His paternal grandparents came from Ierakas. Savalas and his brother, Gus, sold newspapers and polished shoes to help support the family. Savalas initially spoke only Greek when he entered grade school, but later learned English. He attended Cobbett Junior High School in Lynn, Massachusetts. He won a spelling bee there in 1934; due to an oversight, he did not receive his prize until 1991, when the school principal and the Boston Herald awarded it to him.
Savalas graduated from Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park, New York, in 1940. A renowned swimmer, he worked as a beach lifeguard after graduation from high school. On one occasion, though, he was unsuccessful in saving a father from drowning; as he attempted resuscitation, the man's two children stood nearby crying for their father to wake up. This affected Savalas so much that he spent the rest of his life promoting water safety, and later made all six of his children take swimming lessons.
==Military service==
In 1941, Savalas was drafted into the United States Army. From 1941 to 1943, Savalas served in Company C, 12th Medical Training Battalion, 4th Medical Training Regiment at Camp Pickett, Virginia. In 1943, he was discharged from the Army with the rank of corporal after being severely injured in a car accident. Savalas spent more than a year recuperating in hospital with a broken pelvis, sprained ankle, and concussion. He then attended the Armed Forces Institute, where he studied radio and television production."Biography", Telly Savalas official website 
He received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Columbia's School of General Studies in 1946 and started working on a master's degree while preparing for medical school.
==Early career==
After the war, he worked for the U.S. State Department as host of the Your Voice of America series, then at ABC News. In 1950, Savalas hosted a radio show called "The Coffeehouse in New York City".
Savalas began as an executive director and then as senior director of the news special events at ABC. He then became an executive producer for the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, where he gave Howard Cosell his first job in television. Before his acting career took off, Savalas directed Scott Vincent and Howard Cosell in Report to New York, WABC-TV's first regularly scheduled news program in fall 1959.
Savalas did not consider acting as a career until asked if he could recommend an actor who could do a European accent. He did, but as the friend in question could not go, Savalas himself went to cover for his friend and ended up being cast on "And Bring Home a Baby", an episode of Armstrong Circle Theatre in January 1958. He appeared on two more episodes of the series in 1959 and 1960, one, acting alongside a young Sydney Pollack. He was also in a version of The Iceman Cometh.
Savalas quickly became in much demand as a guest star on TV shows, appearing in Sunday Showcase, Diagnosis: Unknown, Dow Hour of Great Mysteries (an adaptation of The Cat and the Canary), Naked City (alongside Claude Rains), The Witness (playing Lucky Luciano in one episode and Al Capone in another), The United States Steel Hour, and The Aquanauts. He was a regular on the short-lived NBC series Acapulco (1961) with Ralph Taeger and James Coburn.
Savalas made his film debut in Mad Dog Coll (1961), playing a cop. His work had impressed fellow actor Burt Lancaster, who arranged for Savalas to be cast in the John Frankenheimer-directed The Young Savages (also 1961 and again playing a cop). Pollack worked on the film as an acting coach.
In one of his most acclaimed performances, Savalas reunited with Lancaster and Frankenheimer for Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), where he was nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. The same year, he appeared as a private detective in Cape Fear (directed by J. Lee Thompson with whom Savalas would work in future films), and The Interns, reprising his role from the latter film in The New Interns (1964).
Savalas also guest-starred in a number of TV series during the decade including The New Breed, The Detectives, Ben Casey, The Twilight Zone (the episode "Living Doll"), The Fugitive (1963 TV series), and Arrest and Trial among others.
==Baldness and stardom==
He continued in supporting roles in films such as The Man from the Diners' Club, Love Is a Ball, and Johnny Cool (all 1963). Already at a late stage of male pattern baldness, he shaved his head to play Pontius Pilate in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and kept his head shaven for the rest of his life. He reunited with J. Lee Thompson in John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965), and was one of many names in Genghis Khan (also 1965).
He was part of an all-star cast in The Dirty Dozen (1967), playing Archer Maggott (the worst of the dozen), in a role Jack Palance turned down. He reunited with Burt Lancaster and Sydney Pollack in the Western The Scalphunters (1968), and also featured in the comedy Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (also 1968)—noted as one of his favorite roles—and the all-star action movie Mackenna's Gold (1969), his third film for J. Lee Thompson. Savalas attributed his success to "his complete ability to be himself."
Savalas' first leading role in film was in the British crime comedy Crooks and Coronets (1969). The same year, he appeared in the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service, playing Ernst Stavro Blofeld. He continued to appear in films during the 1970s including Kelly's Heroes (1970) (with Clint Eastwood); Clay Pigeon (1971); and several European features such as Violent City (1970) (with Charles Bronson); A Town Called Bastard (1971); Horror Express (with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee); A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die; the title role in Pancho Villa (all 1972); and Redneck (1973). He reunited with Christopher Lee in the 1976 thriller Killer Force, and also appeared in Peter Hyams' Capricorn One (1978).
"I had worked my way up to star billing", he later said, "when the bottom dropped out of the movie business. I could have stayed in Europe and made Italian movies, but I discovered the big difference between an Italian and American movie is that in the American movie, you get paid."
thumb|left|upright|Savalas and Sally Field in Mongo's Back in Town (1971)
===Kojak (1973–1978; 1985–1990)===
Savalas first played Lt. Theodopolus "Theo" Kojak in the TV movie The Marcus–Nelson Murders (CBS, 1973), which was based on the real-life Career Girls murder case.
Kojak was a bald New York City detective with a fondness for lollipops and whose tagline was "Who loves ya, baby?" (He also liked to say, "Everybody should have a little Greek in them.") Although the lollipop gimmick was added to indulge his sweet tooth, Savalas also smoked heavily onscreen—cigarettes, cigarillos, and cigars—throughout the first season's episodes. The lollipops had apparently given him three cavities, and were part of an (unsuccessful) effort by Kojak (and Savalas himself) to curb his smoking. Critic Clive James explained the lead actor's appeal as Kojak: "Telly Savalas can make bad slang sound like good slang and good slang sound like lyric poetry. It isn't what he is, so much as the way he talks, that gets you tuning in."Clive James. Visions Before Midnight. .
David Shipman later wrote: "Kojak was sympathetic to outcasts and ruthless with social predators. The show maintained a high quality to the end, mixing tension with some laughs and always anxious to tackle civic issues, one of its raisons d'etre in the first place. It was required viewing in Britain every Saturday evening for eight years. To almost everyone everywhere, Kojak means Savalas and vice versa, but to Savalas himself, the series was merely an interval, albeit a long one, in a distinguished career."
Kojak aired on CBS for five seasons from October 24, 1973, until March 18, 1978, with 118 episodes produced. The role won Savalas an Emmy and two Golden Globes for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Co-stars on the show included Savalas' younger brother George as Detective Stavros, a sensitive, wild-haired, quiet, comedic foil to Kojak's street-wise humor in an otherwise dark dramatic series, Kevin Dobson as Kojak's trusted young partner, Det. Bobby Crocker, whose on-screen chemistry with Savalas was a success story of 1970s television, and Dan Frazer as Captain Frank McNeil.
Due to a decline in ratings, the series was cancelled by CBS in 1978. Savalas and Frazer were the only actors to appear in all 118 episodes. Savalas was unhappy about the show's demise but got the chance to reprise the Kojak persona in several television movies, starting in 1985. The first film, subtitled The Belarus File and broadcast in February 1985, reunited Savalas with several of his co-stars from the series: younger brother George, Dan Frazer, Mark Russell (Det. Saperstein) and Vince Conti (Det. Rizzo); this marked those actors' final appearances in the Kojak franchise.
A further six Kojak TV movies were produced, titled The Price of Justice (1987), Ariana, Fatal Flaw (both 1989), Flowers for Matty, It's Always Something—with Kevin Dobson reprising his role of Bobby Crocker, now an assistant district attorney—and None So Blind (all 1990).
==Later career==
Savalas wrote, directed, and starred in the 1977 independent thriller Beyond Reason, but the film was not released in cinemas; it was made available only on home media in 1985. Savalas was part of an all-star cast in the movies Escape to Athena (1979), Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (both 1979), and Cannonball Run II (1984), and continued to appear in a number of film and television guest roles during the 1980s, including Border Cop (1980) and Faceless (1988), the series Tales of the Unexpected (1981), and two episodes each of The Love Boat (1985) and The Equalizer (1987); the latter series was produced by James McAdams, who had also produced Kojak.
Savalas was the lead actor in the TV movie Hellinger's Law (1981), which was originally planned as a pilot for a series, but ultimately never materialized.
In 1992, he appeared in three episodes of the TV series The Commish (his son-in-law was one of the producers). This was Savalas' final television role. He appeared in two further feature films before his death, Mind Twister (1993) and the posthumous release Backfire! (1995).
==Other career achievements==
As a singer, Savalas had some chart success. His spoken word version of Bread's "If", produced by Snuff Garrett, reached number one in both the UK and Ireland in March 1975, but just number 88 in Canada, and his version of Don Williams's "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend" topped the charts in Switzerland in February 1981. He worked with composer and producer John Cacavas on many albums, including Telly (1974) (which peaked at No. 49 in Australia) and Who Loves Ya, Baby (1976).
In the late 1970s, Savalas narrated three UK travelogues titled Telly Savalas Looks at Portsmouth, Telly Savalas Looks at Aberdeen, and Telly Savalas Looks at Birmingham. They were produced by Harold Baim and were examples of quota quickies, which were then part of a requirement that cinemas in the United Kingdom show a set percentage of British-produced films. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Savalas appeared in commercials for the Players' Club Gold Card. In 1982, along with Bob Hope and Linda Evans, he participated in the "world premiere" television ad introducing Diet Coke to Americans. On October 28, 1987, Savalas hosted Return to the Titanic Live, a two-hour television special broadcast from Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris. He also hosted the 1989 video UFOs and Channeling.
He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983. In 1999, TV Guide ranked him number 18 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.
Telly Savalas played ‘Ernst Stavros Blofeld’ in the 1969 James Bond Film ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’. He got paid $1,000,000 and with that brought The Bridge House. A couple of family members ran it for him as a hotel.
==Personal life==
Savalas was married three times. In 1948, after his father's death from bladder cancer, Savalas married his college sweetheart, Katherine Nicolaides. Their daughter Christina, named after his mother, was born in 1950. In 1957, Katherine filed for divorce. She urged him to move back to his mother's house during that same year. While Savalas was going broke, he founded the Garden City Theater Center in his native Garden City. While working there, he met Marilyn Gardner, a theater teacher. They married in 1960. Marilyn gave birth to their daughter, Penelope, in 1961. A second daughter, Candace, was born in 1963. They divorced in 1974, after a long separation.
In January 1969, while working on the movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Savalas met actress Sally Adams (billed as Dani Sheridan, one of Blofeld's "Angels of Death"), an actress 25 years his junior whose daughter from a previous relationship is Nicollette Sheridan. Savalas later moved in with Sally, who gave birth to their son Nicholas Savalas on February 24, 1973. Although Savalas and Sally Adams never legally married, she went by the name Sally Savalas. They stopped living together in December 1978; she filed a palimony lawsuit against him in 1980, demanding support not only for herself and their son, but also for Nicollette.
In 1977, during the last season of Kojak, Savalas met Julie Hovland, a travel agent from Minnesota. They were married from 1984 until his death and had two children: Christian, an entrepreneur, singer, and songwriter, and Ariana, an actress and singer/songwriter. Savalas was close friends with actor John Aniston, and was godfather to his daughter Jennifer, a successful TV and film actress.
Savalas held a degree in psychology and was a world-class poker player who finished 21st at the main event in the 1992 World Series of Poker. He was also a motorcycle racer and lifeguard. His other hobbies and interests included golfing, swimming, reading romantic books, watching football, traveling, collecting luxury cars and gambling. He loved horse racing and bought a racehorse with film director and producer Howard W. Koch. Naming the horse Telly's Pop, it won several races in 1975, including the Norfolk Stakes and Del Mar Futurity.
In his capacity as producer for Kojak, he gave many stars their first break, as Burt Lancaster had done for him. He was considered by those who knew him to be a generous, graceful, compassionate man. He was also a strong contributor to his Greek Orthodox roots through the Saint Sophia and Saint Nicholas cathedrals in Los Angeles and was the sponsor of bringing electricity in the 1970s to his ancestral home, Ierakas.
Savalas had a minor physical handicap in that his left index finger was deformed.Who2: Celebs Missing Fingers, accessed January 15, 2010 This deformed digit was often indicated on screen; the Kojak episode "Conspiracy of Fear" in which a close-up of Savalas holding his chin in his hand clearly shows the permanently bent finger.
As a philanthropist and philhellene, Savalas supported many Hellenic causes and made friends in major cities around the world. In Chicago, he often met with Illinois state senators Steven G. Nash and Samuel C. Maragos.
In 1993, Savalas appeared on an Australian TV show, The Extraordinary, with a paranormal tale about a hitchhiking mystery that he could not explain.
Along with his brother, Savalas was a Freemason.
==Deaths of relatives and later life==
In the 1980s, Savalas began to lose close relatives. His brother George Savalas, who played Stavros in the original series, died in 1985 of leukemia at age 60. His mother died in 1988. In late 1989, Savalas was diagnosed with transitional-cell cancer of the bladder.
==Death==
Savalas died on January 22, 1994, of complications of prostate and bladder cancer at the Sheraton-Universal Hotel in Universal City, California, at the age of 72. He had lived at the Sheraton in Universal City for 20 years, becoming such a fixture at the hotel bar that it was renamed Telly's. Savalas was interred at the George Washington section of Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. The funeral, held in the Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, was attended by his third wife, Julie, and his brother Gus. His first two wives, Katherine and Marilyn, also attended with their own children. The mourners included Angie Dickinson, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Sorbo, Frank Sinatra, Don Rickles, and several of Savalas's Kojak co-stars including Kevin Dobson and Dan Frazer.
==Filmography==
===Film===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1961	Mad Dog Coll 	Lieutenant Darro 	
1961	The Young Savages 	Lieutenant Gunderson 	
1961	The Sin of Jesus 	Felix 	Short subject
1962	Cape Fear 	Private Detective Charles Sievers 	
1962	Birdman of Alcatraz 	Feto Gomez 	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1962	The Interns 	Dr. Dominic Riccio 	
1963	The Man from the Diners' Club 	'Foots' Pulardos 	
1963	Love Is a Ball 	Dr. Christian Gump (Millie's uncle)	
1963	Johnny Cool 	Vincenzo 'Vince' Santangelo 	
1964	The New Interns 	Dr. Dominick 'Dom' Riccio 	
1965	The Greatest Story Ever Told 	Pontius Pilate 	
1965	John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! 	Macmuid (Harem Recruiter) 	Uncredited
1965	Genghis Khan 	Shan 	
1965	Battle of the Bulge 	Sergeant Guffy 	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1965	The Slender Thread 	Dr. Joe Coburn 	
1966	Beau Geste 	Sergeant Major Dagineau 	
1967	The Dirty Dozen 	Archer Maggott 	
1968	Sol Madrid 	Emil Dietrich 	
1968	The Scalphunters 	Jim Howie 	
1968	Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell 	Walter Braddock 	
1969	The Assassination Bureau 	Lord Bostwick 	
1969	Mackenna's Gold 	Sergeant Tibbs 	
1969	Sophie's Place 	Herbie Haseler 	Known as Crooks and Coronets in the United Kingdom
1969	On Her Majesty's Secret Service 	Ernst Stavro Blofeld 	
1970	Land Raiders 	Vicente Cardenas 	
1970	Kelly's Heroes 	Joe 'Big Joe' 	
1970	Violent City 	Al Weber 	
1971	Pretty Maids All in a Row 	Surcher 	
1971	A Town Called Bastard 	Don Carlos 	
1971	Clay Pigeon 	Redford 	
1972	Crime Boss 	Don Vincenzo 	
1972	Sonny and Jed 	Sheriff Franciscus 	
1972	Horror Express 	Captain Kazan 	
1972	The Killer Is on the Phone 	Ranko Drasovic 	
1972	Pancho Villa 	Pancho Villa 	
1972	A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die	Maggiore Ward 	
1973	Senza Ragione 	'Memphis' 	
1974	Lisa and the Devil 	Leandro 	
1975	Inside Out 	Harry Morgan 	
1976	Killer Force 	Harry Webb 	
1978	Capricorn One 	Albain 	
1979	Escape to Athena 	Zeno 	
1979	Beyond the Poseidon Adventure 	Captain Stefan Svevo 	
1979	The Muppet Movie 	El Sleezo Tough 	
1980	Border Cop 	Frank Cooper 	
1981	Maria Tomba Homem 	Unknown 	Mazzaropi, had as objective, to make the next film, with the actor, perhaps with the title KOJECA (parody of the name of the series Kojak ), but unfortunately he died before even starting the pre-production of the film, on June 13, 1981.
1982	Fake-Out 	Lieutenant Thurston 	
1983	Afghanistan pourquoi? 	Rebel Leader 	
1984	Cannonball Run II 	Hymie Kaplan 	
1985	Beyond Reason 	Dr. Nicholas Mati 	Originally filmed in 1977 and not released theatrically; made available on home video eight years laterAlso director and writer
1986	GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords 	Magmar 	Voice
1988	Faceless 	Terry Hallen 	
1993	Mind Twister 	Richard Howland 	
1995	Backfire! 	Most Evil Man 	Posthumous release, (final film role)
===Television===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1959 	NBC Sunday Showcase 	Cotton 	Episode: "Murder and the Android"
1959–1960	Armstrong Circle Theatre 	Dieter Wislieny / Dieter Wisliceny / Father Dominique Georges Henn Pire / Charles Rogan	6 episodes
1960 	Diagnosis: Unknown 	Tony 'Irish Tony' Salivarro 	Episode: "Gina, Gina"
1960 	Dow Hour of Great Mysteries 	Unknown 	Episode: "The Cat and the Canary"
1960 	The Witness 	Al Capone / Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano 	3 episodes
1960 	Naked City 	Gabriel Hody 	Episode: "To Walk in Silence"
1960 	The United States Steel Hour 	Unknown 	Episode: "Operation North Star"
1961 	The Aquanauts 	Paul Price 	Episode: "Stormy Weather"
1961 	Acapulco 	Mr. Carver 	8 episodes
1961 	King of Diamonds 	Massis / Jerry Larch 	2 episodes
1961 	The New Breed 	Dr. Buel Reed 	Episode: "The Compulsion to Confess"
1961 	The Dick Powell Show 	Sergeant Marius 	Episode: "Three Soldiers"
1961 	The Detectives 	Ben 	Episode: "Escort"
1961 	Ben Casey 	George Dempsey 	Episode: "A Dark Night for Billy Harris"
1961–1962	Cain's Hundred 	Harry Remick / Frank Meehan 	2 episodes
1961–1963	The Untouchables 	Leo Stazak / Matt Bass / Wally Baltzer 	3 episodes
1962 	Alcoa Premiere 	Mario Lombardi 	Episode: "The Hands of Danofrio"
1963 	The Eleventh Hour 	Ben Cohen 	Episode: "A Tumble from a High White House"
1963 	The Dakotas 	Jake Volet 	Episode: "Reformation at Big Nose Butte"
1963 	Big G 	Tibor 	Episode: "Arrow in the Sky"
1963 	Grindl 	Mr. Hartman 	Episode: "The Gruesome Basement"
1963 	77 Sunset Strip 	Brother Hendricksen 	Episode: "5: Part 4"
1963 	The Twilight Zone 	Erich Streator 	Episode: "Living Doll"
1963–1965	Burke's Law 	Balakirov, Richard Goldtooth / Charlie Prince / Fakir George O'Shea 	3 episodes
1964 	Kraft Suspense Theatre 	Ramon Castillo / Raymond Castle / Beret 	2 episodes
1964 	Channing 	Paul Atherton 	Episode: "A Claim to Immortality"
1964 	Arrest and Trial 	Frank Santo 	Episode: "The Revenge of the Worm"
1964 	Alfred Hitchcock Presents 	Harry 'Philadelphia Harry' 	Episode: "A Matter of Murder"
1964 	Breaking Point 	Vincenzo Gracchi 	Episode: "My Hands Are Clean"
1964 	The Rogues 	General Hector Jesus Diaz 	Episode: "Viva Diaz!"
1964 	Fanfare for a Death Scene 	Ikhedai Khan 	Television film
1964–1966	The Fugitive 	Steve Keller / Victor Leonetti / Dan Polichek 	3 episodes
1964–1967	Combat! 	Jon / Colonel Kapsalis 	2 episodes
1965 	Bonanza 	Charles Augustus Hackett 	Episode: "To Own the World"
1965 	Run for Your Life 	Istvan Zabor 	Episode: "How to Sell Your Soul for Fun and Profit"
1966 	The Virginian 	'Colonel' Bliss 	Episode: "Men with Guns"
1967 	The F.B.I 	Ed Clementi 	Episode-2 part: "The Executioners"
1967 	The Man from U.N.C.L.E 	Count Valerino De Fanzini 	2 episodes
1967 	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Mueller 	Episode: "Don't Wait for Tomorrow"
1967 	Garrison's Gorillas 	Wheeler 	Episode: "The Big Con"
1967 	Cimarron Strip 	'Bear' 	Episode: "The Battleground"
1970 	The Red Skelton Show 	'Tex' 	Episode: "Stagecoach Hijack"
1971 	ITV Sunday Night Theatre 	Gregor Antonescu 	Episode: "Man and Boy"
1971 	Mongo's Back in Town 	Lieutenant Pete Tolstad 	Television film (also known as Steel Wreath)
1972 	Visions... 	Lieutenant Phil Keegan 	Television film
1973 	The Marcus-Nelson Murders 	Lieutenant Theo Kojak 	Television filmNominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1973 	She Cried Murder 	Inspector Joe Brody 	Television film
1973–1978	Kojak 	Lieutenant Theo Kojak 	118 episodesGolden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama Primetime Emmy Award for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series
1975 	Am Iaufenden Band 	Singer / Kojak 	Episode: #2.1
1974 	The Carol Burnett Show 	Himself 	Season 8 Episode 5
1975 	Royal Variety Performance 	Himself 	Performed in front of Queen Elizabeth II & the Duke of Edinburgh at the London Palladium on November 10, 1975.
1978 	Windows, Doors & Keyholes 	Unknown 	Television film
1979 	Alice 	Himself 	Episode: "Has Anyone Here Seen Telly?"
1979 	The French Atlantic Affair 	Father Craig Dunleavy 	Television miniseries
1980 	Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story 	Cretzer 	Television film
1981 	Hellinger's Law 	Nick Hellinger 	Television film (originally planned as a pilot for a series)
1981 	Tales of the Unexpected 	Joe Brisson 	Episode: "Completely Foolproof"
1982 	American Playhouse 	Peter Panakos 	Episode: "My Palikari"
1984 	The Cartier Affair 	Phil Drexler 	Television film
1985 	The Love Boat 	Dr. Fabian Cain 	2 episodes
1985 	Kojak: The Belarus File 	Lieutenant Theo Kojak 	Television film (featuring returning Kojak co-stars George Savalas, Dan Frazer, Mark Russell and Vince Conti)
1985 	George Burns Comedy Week 	Unknown 	Episode: "The Assignment"
1985 	Alice in Wonderland 	The Cheshire Cat 	Television film
1985 	Solomon's Universe 	Solomon Stark 	Television film
1987 	Kojak: The Price of Justice 	Inspector Theo Kojak 	Television film
1987 	The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission 	Major Wright 	Television film
1987 	The Equalizer 	Brother Joseph Heiden 	2 episodes
1987 	J.J. Starbuck 	The Greek 	Episode: "Gold from the Rainbow"
1988 	The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission 	Major Wright 	Television film
1989 	The Hollywood Detective 	Harry Bell 	Television film
1989 	Kojak: Ariana 	Inspector Theo Kojak 	Television film
1989 	Kojak: Fatal Flaw 	Inspector Theo Kojak 	Television film
1990 	Kojak: Flowers for Matty 	Inspector Theo Kojak 	Television film
1990 	Kojak: It's Always Something 	Inspector Theo Kojak 	Television film (with Kojak co-star Kevin Dobson)
1990 	Kojak: None So Blind 	Inspector Theo Kojak 	Television film
1991 	Rose Against the Odds 	George Parnassus 	Television film
1991–1993	Ein Schloß am Wörthersee 	Teddy 	2 episodes
1992–1993	The Commish 	Tommy Colette 	3 episodes
1993 	The Extraordinary 	Himself 	Season 1, Episode 1
==Awards and nominations==
Year	Award 	Category 	Nominated work 	Results	Ref.
1962	Academy Awards 	Best Supporting Actor 	Birdman of Alcatraz 	 	
1962	Golden Globe Awards 	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture 	Birdman of Alcatraz 	 	
1965	Golden Globe Awards 	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture 	Battle of the Bulge 	 	
1974	Golden Globe Awards 	Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama 	Kojak 	 	
1975	Golden Globe Awards 	Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama 	Kojak 	 	
1976	Golden Globe Awards 	Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama 	Kojak 	 	
1977	Golden Globe Awards 	Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama 	Kojak 	 	
1973	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role	The Marcus-Nelson Murders	 	
1974	Primetime Emmy Awards	Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series 	Kojak 	 	
1975	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series 	Kojak 	 	
1975	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series 	Kojak 	 	
==Discography==
===Albums===
* This is Telly Savalas... (1972)
* Telly (1974)
* Telly Savalas (1975)
* Who Loves Ya Baby (1976)
* Sweet Surprise [released on cassette and CD under the title Some Broken Hearts] (1980)
===Singles===
*"Try to Remember" (1972)
*"Look Around You" (1972)
*"I Don't Want To Know / I Walk The Line" (1972)
*"We All End Up The Same" (1972)
*"If" (1974)
*"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' / Help Me Make It Through the Night" (1974)
*"Who Loves Ya Baby" (1975)
*"A Good Time Man Like Me Ain't Got No Business Singing The Blues" (1976)
*"Sweet Surprise" (1980)
*"Some Broken Hearts Never Mend" (1980)
*"Lovin' Understandin' Man" (1981)
*"Goodbye Madame" (1982)
==Notes==
==References==
==External links==
* 
* 
* 
* 
* Telly Savalas on Find A Grave
Category:1922 births
Category:1994 deaths
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:20th-century American male singers
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:American Freemasons
Category:American male film actors
Category:American people of Greek descent
Category:American poker players
Category:American radio personalities
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American television directors
Category:American television personalities
Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Category:California Democrats
Category:Columbia University School of General Studies alumni
Category:Combat medics
Category:Deaths from bladder cancer in California
Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in California
Category:Kojak
Category:Male Spaghetti Western actors
Category:MCA Records artists
Category:Military personnel from New York (state)
Category:Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Category:People from Floral Park, New York
Category:People from Garden City, New York
Category:United States Army non-commissioned officers
Category:United States Army personnel of World War II
Category:20th-century Greek Americans