On Her Majesty's Secret Service
1969
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Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was an 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).
Kojak: Created by Abby Mann. With Telly Savalas, Dan Frazer, Kevin Dobson, George Savalas. A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in his city.
- (9K)
- 1973-10-24
- Action, Crime, Drama
- 60
Jun 24, 2024 · Telly Savalas, best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on the crime drama series Kojak (1973–1978) was a proud Greek who spoke passionately about Hellenism and the importance of preserving and strengthening his roots.
Kojak is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theophilus "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular Cannon series, it aired on CBS from 1973 to 1978.
- It started with a TV movie based on real-life murders. TV writer Abby Mann introduced Savalas’ Kojak — spelled “Kojack” at the time — in the 1973 CBS movie The Marcus-Nelson Murders.
- The show was a family affair — though that wasn’t evident for two seasons. Telly Savalas’ brother George Savalas starred as Detective Stavros on Kojak.
- Savalas used lollipops to curb his smoking habit. Viewers often saw Telly Savalas’ detective character sucking on a lollipop while working a case — a quirk first seen in Kojak’s eighth episode, “Dark Sunday,” per MeTV.
- The show won Emmys, Golden Globes, and even an Edgar. Savalas won the Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmy Award for his Kojak work in 1974. The following year, guest star Zohra Lampert won an Emmy for her performance in Season 2’s “Queen of the Gypsies.”
Telly Savalas. Actor: Kojak. Of Greek descent on both sides, the son of immigrants, Savalas was a soldier during World War II, although most of his enlistment records were destroyed in a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1973.
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Kojak. Savalas’s best-known role was as the star of the television series Kojak. The series originated with the TV movie pilot The Marcus-Nelson Murders (CBS, 1973), which was based on the real-life Career Girls Murder case. Savalas’s character was named Theo “Kojack” in his first appearance.
