You just bought yourself a lifetime supply of insomnia. Now you get your fat carcass out of here before I book you for violating the ecology.
Catalog
Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (Greek: Αριστοτέλης "Τέλλυ" Σαβάλας; January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was an American singer and character actor whose career spanned four decades of television. He was noted for his deep, gravelly voice and his bald head. He also released the one-hit wonder song, "If?," which he introduced in the UK in 1975. He had also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety shows. Savalas's career began in films in 1961. His movie credits include The Young Savages (1961), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Battle of the Bulge (1965), The Dirty Dozen (1967), The Scalphunters (1968), supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971), Inside Out (1975), and Escape to Athena (1979). He then continued achieving success in the television crime drama Kojak (1973–1978), co-starring his real-life brother George Savalas, in which Savalas played the title role. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). 2Early life The second of five children, Telly Savalas was born Aristotelis Savalas on January 21, 1922, in Garden City, New York, to Greek-American parents Christina (née Kapsalis), a New York City artist who was a native of Sparta, and Nick Savalas [Tsavalas], a Greek restaurant owner. One set of grandparents originated from Ierakas, Greece, in the Peloponnes
You can't corrupt it. And you know why? Because to corrupt it, you've got to show how corrupt you really are.
Our happiest times were at the bottom of the ladder. One day he dragged us out of private schools, and the next day we started peddling cakes out of the back of a truck.
One day he was a millionaire. The next day, with the Depression, not a penny in his pocket. He packs his five kids in the back of a van and goes to New York and begins selling cakes. That's what I call a Greek.
Television doesn't need another cop show, that's for sure. But this is an interesting cop, a real cop from a New York City neighborhood. A basically honest character, tough but with feelings: the kind of guy who might kick a hooker in the tail if he had to, but they'd understand each other because…
The second show I did on TV, I was the lead. I made $900 and I was having fun saying some other guy's words. This is a dangerous profession for the ego.
I made 60 movies before 'Kojak' with some of the biggest names in the business, and people would still say, 'There goes what's-his-name.'
Even with the crazies I've played I've tried to give some dimension to their insanity.
It was in 1959 I got my first role. I was to play the Greek judge who decides to give a Greek boy to a visiting American journalist. It was a small role and paid only $200, but I haven't stopped since.
There's no question that experience is more important and rewarding to someone who is an actor. My approach to Kojak in any situation would be my own approach. How I would react and respond? That's basically true whether I'm portraying a cop or a candlestick maker.
I'm just a kid from New York who looks like everybody else.
It will be a sad day when I begin thinking of all this as work. I enjoy every minute of it.
Everybody's always telling me they have an Uncle Harry who looks just like me. That's 90% of my appeal.
I'm a romantic realist. I knew I would become a star, just as I know some day the bubble will burst.
I came from a tough neighborhood. I used to be a 'Dirty Greek,' But my father used to say to me, 'When you grow up and realize what your heritage means, then they'll need a permit to speak to you.' He was right. I'm a proud Greek. I carry my Hellenism like a badge of merit.