Telly Savalas

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Telly Savalas (1980)

Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas ( Greek Αριστοτέλης "Τέλλυ" Σαβάλας ) (born January 21, 1922 in Garden City , New York ; † January 22, 1994 in Universal City , California ) was an American actor of Greek descent who also appeared as a singer. He achieved worldwide fame as the title actor Kojak in the crime series Kojak - Einsatz in Manhattan .

Life

Telly Savalas, son of the Greek immigrants Nicholas and Christina Savalas, broke off his psychology studies and was - like his younger brothers George and Gus - a soldier in World War II and later awarded the Purple Heart . He then worked for ABC Radio , where he eventually produced the talk show Telly’s Coffee House .

From the mid-1950s, Savalas only had a fringe of hair. He shaved it off, and the bald head became his trademark, as did the lollipop , which he often had in his mouth as "Kojak".

The actor, also known as "Golden Greek", was an avid poker player . At the main event of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in 1992, he finished 21st.

Telly Savalas was the stepfather of Nicollette Sheridan and godfather of Jennifer Aniston , who also has Greek roots. In 1989 he was successfully operated on for bladder cancer , but died in 1994 of complications from prostate cancer . The two cancers are confused in many sources, as is his age, which is often incorrectly stated as 70. He was buried in the Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles .

Career

Telly Savalas was employed as a TV actor from 1959 and was also able to make a name for himself as a film actor in the early 1960s. In the 1962 film The Prisoner of Alcatraz , he acted so convincingly on the side of Burt Lancaster that he was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting role. In the monumental film The Greatest Story of All Time , he was seen as Pontius Pilate in 1965 . In 1967, Savalas took on the role of the psychotic soldier Maggott in the successful war film The Dirty Dozen . In the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service , he appeared in the role of the megalomaniac villain Blofeld in 1969 and fought against the title hero played by George Lazenby . Until the early 1970s, Savalas was seen in numerous films, including Shock Troop Gold (1970) and Horror Express (1972).

The final breakthrough came with Savalas as a television actor. Between 1973 and 1978, the bald-headed actor played in the television series Kojak - Kojak his most famous role as Lollipops lollipop forming Lieutenant Theo Kojak. This role made him one of the most famous television actors of the 1970s. Through his portrayal of the rough police officer Kojak, Savalas also became very popular in German-speaking countries. For his achievements he was awarded the Emmy Award, coveted by series actors , in 1974 . His brother George Savalas played the character of the detective Stavros in the series.

Kojak's most famous quote in German dubbing (speaker: Edgar Ott ) was his mockingly ironic “Entzückend!” Or “Is it true?” , Which he often replied to the comments of his colleagues. These idioms were often quoted in the late 1970s.

Between 1979 and 1989 Savalas appeared again as a film actor; however, there were no prominent cinema roles. In 1989 he returned to his most famous role and played Lieutenant Kojak again in six television films - although he did without the lollipops because the American Dental Association believed that he would set a bad example for children. Between 1991 and 1993 he was seen in the role of Teddy in the German television series Ein Schloß am Wörthersee .

As early as 1975, Savalas had a number one hit in the UK with a more spoken version of the bread hit If , which took fourth place in Germany . In 1980 he was represented at number 5 in the German hit lists with the version of Some Broken Hearts Never Mend he sang .

Savalas was friends with the German singer Freddy Breck and Elvis Presley .

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1975 Telly DE41 (4 weeks)
DE 		- - UK12
silver
silver

(10 weeks)UK 		US117 (8 weeks)
US
First published: January 1975

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

more publishments

  • 1972: This Is Telly Savalas
  • 1972: The Two Sides Of Telly Savalas
  • 1974: Telly Savalas known as Theo Kojak
  • 1974: The Best Of
  • 1975: Telly Savalas
  • 1975: Radio Special: Self Portrait
  • 1976: Who Loves Ya Baby
  • 1980: Sweet Surprise
  • 1980: Some Broken Hearts
  • 1990: 16 original world hits

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1975 If
Telly 		DE4 (16 weeks)
DE 		AT14 (8 weeks)
AT 		CH4 (9 weeks)
CH 		UK1
silver
silver

(9 weeks)UK 		-
First published: January 1975
You've Lost That Lovin 'Feelin'
Telly 		- - - UK47 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: May 1975
1980 Some Broken Hearts Never Mend
Sweet Surprise 		DE5 (22 weeks)
DE 		AT2 (26 weeks)
AT 		CH1 (11 weeks)
CH 		- -
First published: November 1980
1981 (Love Is Such A) Sweet Surprise
Sweet Surprise 		DE46 (5 weeks)
DE 		- - - -
First published: February 1981
Lovin 'Understandin' Man
single track 		DE58 (3 weeks)
DE 		- - - -
First published: September 1981

More singles:

  • 1972: Look Around You / Yesterday When I Was Young
  • 1972: Try To Remember / We All End Up The Same
  • 1972: I Don't Want To Know / I Walk The Line
  • 1972: Look Around You / Try To Remember
  • 1974: Help Me Make It Through the Night
  • 1974: Rubber Bands And Bits Of String
  • 1974: You And Me Against The World
  • 1974: How Intensive
  • 1975: Who Loves Ya Baby / Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You)
  • 1980: Look What You've Done To Me
  • 1980: My Song For You
  • 1981: For All The Right Reasons
  • 1982: Goodbye Madame / Goodbye Madame (Instrumental)

Filmography (selection)

Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

movie theater

watch TV

  • 1959–1960: Armstrong Circle Theater (5 episodes)
  • 1960: The Witness (TV series, 3 episodes)
  • 1960: Merciless City ( Naked City , episode 2x05)
  • 1961: Acapulco (8 episodes)
  • 1961: King of Diamonds (episodes 1x01, 1x10)
  • 1961–1962: Cain's Hundred (episodes 1x10, 1x24)
  • 1961-1963: The Untouchables ( The Untouchables , 3 episodes)
  • 1963: The Dakotas (episode 1x13)
  • 1963: 77 Sunset Strip (episode 6x04)
  • 1963: Twilight Zone ( The Twilight Zone , episode 5x06)
  • 1963–1965: Amos Burke ( Burke's Law , 3 episodes)
  • 1964: The Hour of Decision ( Kraft Suspense Theater , episodes 1x16, 1x26)
  • 1964–1966: On the run ( The Fugitive , 3 episodes)
  • 1964: crooks against crooks ( The Roques , episode 1x04)
  • 1965–1966: On the run (The Fugitive)
  • 1965: Bonanza (episode 6x29)
  • 1966: The People at Shiloh Ranch ( The Virginian , episode 4x17)
  • 1967: FBI ( The FBI , episodes 2x25–2x26)
  • 1967: Cosa Nostra - Arch Enemy of the FBI ( Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI )
  • 1967: Solo for ONCEL ( The Man from UNCLE , episodes 3x28-3x29)
  • 1973–1978: Deployment in Manhattan ( Kojak , 118 episodes)
  • 1979: Victor Charlie calls Lima Sierra ( The French Atlantic Affair , miniseries)
  • 1981: Hellinger's Law ( Hellinger's Law , TV movie)
  • 1984–1990: Various Kojak television films
  • 1985: Love Boat ( The Love Boat , episodes 8x19–8x20)
  • 1987: Der Equalizer ( The Equalizer , episodes 3x01–3x02)
  • 1989: The Hollywood Detective (TV movie)
  • 1991, 1993: A castle on Lake Wörthersee (episodes 2x09, 3x12)
  • 1992–1993: The Police Chief ( The Commish , 3 episodes)

Web links

Commons : Telly Savalas  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ English homepage ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tellysavalas.com
  2. ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Telly Savalas
  3. ↑ For the German hit parade placements see: Ehnert, Günter (Hrsg.): Hit Bilanz. German chart singles 1956–1980 . Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990, p. 182.
  4. ↑ a b Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  5. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
personal data
SURNAME Savalas, Telly
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Savalas, Aristotle (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Garden City , Long Island , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1994
Place of death Universal City , California , United States