Telly Savalas

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Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer whose career spanned four decades. Noted for his resonant, deep voice and bald head, Savalas is perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Theo Kojak in the police-drama series Kojak (1973–1978). He also released the British one-hit wonder song "If", which became a UK number-one single in 1975.

Birth Name

Aristotelis Savalas

Born

Saturday, 21 January 1922

Died

Saturday, 22 January 1994

Actor Filmography

Title	Character	Year

Otto Retzer - der Film meines Lebens	Self (archive footage)	2020
78/52: Hitchcock's Shower Scene	Erich Streator (archive footage)	2017
Dante's Domicile	Captain Kazan	2013
Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s	Himself	2012
Paul Williams Still Alive	Himself	2011
Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon	Himself (archive footage)	2008
The Secrets of 007: The James Bond Files	Blofeld (archive footage)	1997
Backfire!	Most Evil Man	1995
The Extraordinary	Himself	1994
Mind Twister	Richard Howland	1994

(see additional filmography)

Actor Filmography

Title	Character	Year

Otto Retzer - der Film meines Lebens	Self (archive footage)	2020
78/52: Hitchcock's Shower Scene	Erich Streator (archive footage)	2017
Dante's Domicile	Captain Kazan	2013
Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s	Himself	2012
Paul Williams Still Alive	Himself	2011
Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon	Himself (archive footage)	2008
The Secrets of 007: The James Bond Files	Blofeld (archive footage)	1997
Backfire!	Most Evil Man	1995
The Extraordinary	Himself	1994
Mind Twister	Richard Howland	1994
The Commish	Tommy Collette, Tommy Colette	1991
Ein Schloß am Wörthersee	Teddy	1990
Kojak: None So Blind	Inspector Theo Kojak	1990
Kojak: It's Always Something	Inspector Theo Kojak	1990
Kojak: Flowers For Matty	Inspector Theo Kojak	1990
Kojak: Fatal Flaw	Theo Kojak	1989
Kojak: Ariana	Kojak	1989
The Hollywood Detective	Harry Bell	1989
The Arsenio Hall Show	Himself	1989
The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission	Maj. Wright	1988
J.J. Starbuck	The Greek	1987
The Wil Shriner Show	Himself	1987
Faceless	Terry Hallen	1987
The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission	Maj. Wright	1987
Kojak: The Price of Justice	Inspector Theo Kojak	1987
GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords	Magmar (voice)	1986
Alice in Wonderland	The Cheshire Cat	1985
The Equalizer	Brother Joseph Heiden	1985
George Burns Comedy Week		1985
Kojak: The Belarus File	Lieutenant Theo Kojak	1985
The Cartier Affair	Phil Drexler	1984
Cannonball Run II	Hymie Kaplan	1984
Fake-Out	Lt. Thurston	1982
American Playhouse	Peter Panakos	1981
Hellinger's Law	Nick Hellinger	1981
Border Cop	Frank Cooper	1980
The John Davidson Show	Himself	1980
The French Atlantic Affair	Father Craig Dunleavy	1979
The Muppet Movie	El Sleezo Tough	1979
Beyond The Poseidon Adventure	Captain Stefan Svevo	1979
Tales of the Unexpected	Joe Brisson	1979
Escape to Athena	Zeno	1979
CBS: On the Air	Co-host - part I	1978
Capricorn One	Albain	1977
The Love Boat	Dr. Fabian Cain	1977
Beyond Reason	Dr. Nicholas Mati	1977
Alice	Telly Savalas	1976
The Diahann Carroll Show	Himself	1976
Killer Force	Harry Webb	1976
Inside Out	Harry Morgan	1975
The House of Exorcism	Leandro	1975
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Telly Savalas	Himself	1974
Dinah!	Himself	1974
Tony Orlando and Dawn	Himself	1974
Am laufenden Band	Singer / Kojak	1974
Kojak	Lt. Theo Kojak	1973
She Cried Murder	Inspector Joe Brody	1973
Lisa and the Devil	Leandro	1973
The Marcus-Nelson Murders	Lt. Theo Kojack	1973
Senza ragione	Memphis	1973
Jack Paar Tonite	Himself	1973
A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die	Maggiore Ward	1972
Visions...	Lt. Phil Keegan	1972
The Killer Is on the Phone	Ranko Drasovic	1972
Horror Express	Capt. Kazan	1972
Sonny and Jed	Sheriff Franciscus	1972
Crime Boss	Don Vincenzo	1972
Steel Wreath	Lieutenant Pete Tolstad	1971
The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour	Himself / Various Characters, Himself	1971
Clay Pigeon	Redford	1971
A Town Called Hell	Don Carlos	1971
Pretty Maids All In A Row	Surcher	1971
Pancho Villa	Pancho Villa	1971
Violent City	Al Weber	1970
Kelly's Heroes	Big Joe	1970
Land Raiders	Vicente Cardenas	1970
On Her Majesty's Secret Service	Blofeld	1969
The David Frost Show	Himself	1969
Mackenna's Gold	Sergeant Tibbs	1969
The Assassination Bureau	Lord Bostwick	1969
ITV Saturday Night Theatre	Gregor Antonescu	1969
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell	Walter Braddock	1968
The Scalphunters	Jim Howie	1968
Sol Madrid	Emil Dietrich	1968
The Carol Burnett Show	Himself	1967
Cimarron Strip	Bear	1967
Garrison's Gorillas	Wheeler	1967
The Dirty Dozen	Archer Maggott	1967
The Karate Killers	Count Valeriano De Fanzini (archive footage)	1967
Beau Geste	Sgt. Maj. Dagineau	1966
The Slender Thread	Dr. Joe Coburn	1965
The Dean Martin Show	Himself	1965
The F.B.I.	Ed Clementi	1965
Run for Your Life	Istvan Zabor	1965
Genghis Khan	Shan	1965
Battle Of The Bulge	Sgt. Guffy	1965
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!	Macmuid	1965
The Greatest Story Ever Told	Pontius Pilate	1965
ABC's Nightlife	Himself	1964
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Count Valeriano De Fanzini	1964
The Rogues	Gen. Hector Jesus Diaz	1964
Fanfare For A Death Scene	Ikhedai Khan	1964
The New Interns	Dr. Dominick 'Dom' Riccio	1964
Einer wird gewinnen	Himself	1964
Kraft Suspense Theatre	Beret, Ramon Castillo / Raymond Castle	1963
Johnny Cool	Vincenzo 'Vince' Santangelo	1963
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Mueller	1963
Burke's Law	Balakirov aka Richard Goldtooth, Charlie Prince, Fakir George O'Shea	1963
Channing	Paul Atherton	1963
The Fugitive	Dan Polichek, Steve Keller, Victor Leonetti	1963
Breaking Point	Vincenzo Gracchi	1963
Arrest and Trial	Frank Santo	1963
Grindl	Mr. Hartman	1963
Love Is a Ball	Dr. Christian Gump (Millie's uncle)	1963
The Man from the Diners' Club	Foots Pulardos	1963
The Eleventh Hour	Ben Cohen	1962
Combat!	Colonel Kapsalis, Jon	1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Himself, Himself - Guest, Himself - Guest Host	1962
Empire	Tibor	1962
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Philadelphia Harry	1962
The Virginian	'Colonel' Bliss	1962
The Interns	Dr. Dominic Riccio	1962
Birdman Of Alcatraz	Feto Gomez	1962
The Dakotas	Jake Volet	1962
Cape Fear	Private Detective Charles Sievers	1962
The Mike Douglas Show	Himself - Actor	1961
Alcoa Premiere	Mario Lombardi	1961
The New Breed	Dr. Buel Reed	1961
Ben Casey	George Dempsey	1961
The Dick Powell Theatre	Sergeant Marius	1961
Cain's Hundred	Frank Meehan, Harry Rennick	1961
King of Diamonds	Jerry Larch, Massis	1961
The Young Savages	Detective Lt. Gunderson	1961
Mad Dog Coll	Lt. Darro	1961
Acapulco	Mr. Carver	1961
The Sin of Jesus	Felix (as Telli Savales)	1961
The Witness	Al Capone, Lucky Luciano	1960
Here's Hollywood	Himself	1960
The Aquanauts	Paul Price	1960
Diagnosis: Unknown	Irish Tony Salivarro	1960
Dow Hour of Great Mysteries		1960
The Detectives	Ben Willis	1959
The Twilight Zone	Erich Streator	1959
Sunday Showcase	Cotton	1959
Bonanza	Charles Augustus Hackett	1959
The Untouchables	Leo Stazak, Matt Bass, Wally Baltzer	1959
77 Sunset Strip	Brother Hendricksen	1958
Naked City	Gabriel Hody	1958
The United States Steel Hour		1953
The Red Skelton Hour	Tex	1951
Armstrong Circle Theatre	Charles Rogan, Dieter Wisliceny, Dieter Wislieny, Father Dominique Georges Henn Pire	1950

Director Filmography

Title	Year

Beyond Reason	1977
Kojak	1973

Image description — Some image caption 1

Year	Type	Category	Won

1978	Golden Globe	Best Actor in a Television Series - Drama	Nominated
1977	Golden Globe	Best Actor in a Television Series - Drama	Nominated
1976	Golden Globe	Best Actor in a Television Series - Drama	Won
1975	Golden Globe	Best TV Actor - Drama	Won
1975	Emmy	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Nominated
1975	Emmy	Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series	Nominated
1974	Emmy	Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Won
1973	Emmy	Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role	Nominated
1966	Golden Globe	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
1963	Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Nominated
1963	Golden Globe	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated