Telly Savalas-his rough and tough TV roles, his multiple marriages and romantic associations, urinary bladder cancer and his death! Find all details of his life here!

Browse to know more about Telly Savalas’s Age, Bio, wiki, Net Worth, Income, career, Education, and Family. Also know details about Telly Savalas’s  Parents, Childhood, Relationship, body measurements, Images, and many more.

Telly Savalas is known for his rough and tough roles and deep voice ad bald head. His career has spanned more than 4 decades on American television and this legendary actor and singer have left an indelible mark that can never be erased.

His most memorable role was that of detective in the TV serial of the 1970s called Kojak.

Telly Savalas’ birth, age, parents, brother, early childhood and education

Telly Savalas was born on 21 January 1922 in the Garden City, New York. His parents were Greek immigrants. Money was scarce and he and his brother Gus sold newspapers to make ends meet. His parents were Christina Kapsalis, an artist from Sparta, and Nick Savalas who owned a Greek restaurant.

He was the second of five children in the family.

Telly Savalas attended Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park, New York, having graduated in 1940.

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Telly Savalas and his early work and further education

Telly Savalas soon after his graduation started work as a lifeguard. He then joined Columbia University School of General Studies, also taking courses in English, radio, and psychology at the same time. He graduated in 1948. It was here that he fell in love with TV and radio and decided to take up acting as his career.

In between for three years (1943-1946), Telly had served the US Army during World War II.

Telly Savalas- TV and movie stint

Firstly, Telly started working as an executive director of special news events at ABC before being promoted to the post of senior director. He then took up as an executive producer of Gillette Cavalcade of Sports. He did other notable direction jobs.

He first began acting in 1958 in the TV show ‘And Bring Home a Baby’. He also appeared on 2 more episodes on this show in the years 1959 and 1960.

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From 1959 to 1967, Telly appeared in several TV serials which included The Eleventh Hour, Arrest and Trial, Naked City, Empire, and the like. He was cast as brother Hendricksen in the highly popular crime drama series called 77 Sunset Strip. He also appeared in the TV film Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story.

He played Lucky Luciano in The Witness when he was noticed by actor Burt Lancaster who cast him in 4 movies. He soon became a famous actor to play police officers and detectives. He had shaved his head for 1965’s The Greatest Story Ever told and rightfully made a decision to keep his head shaved at all times.

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He played Archer Maggott in 1967’s The Dirty Dozen. His best-talked about the role is that of bald NY detective named Kojack who loves lollipops in Kojak which started airing in 1973. The constant sucking on the lollipops for the role had given Telly 3 cavities, he had admitted later.  He won an Emmy in 1974 and Golden Globe in 1975 and 1976.

He was also a singer and had some chart success. He did commercials, hosted TV shows and events, and also appeared in the Australian supernatural TV show The Extraordinary.

Telly Savalas family life, relationship, marriage, wife, and children

Telly has been married three times. In 1948, he married his college sweetheart Katherine Nicolaides. His daughter Christina was born in 1950. By 1957, the couple had divorced. He met Marilyn Gardner who was a theater teacher and married her in 1960. His second daughter Penelope was born in 1961 and Candace in 1963. Marilyn and Telly separated in 1974.

He met actress Sally Adams in 1969 on the sets of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. She was 25 years younger than him and had a daughter from a previous relationship. He had a live-in relationship with her and the couple had a son Nicholas in 1973. They separated in 1978.

In 1977, he met Julie Hovland who was a travel agent and married her in 1984. They share two children-Christian and Ariana.

Telly Savalas’s cancer and death

Telly was diagnosed with urinary bladder cancer in 1988 and succumbed to it on 22 January 1994.

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Reference: (Wikipedia, people)