Telly Savalas

Telly Savalas was a legendary Greek-American actor and singer.

Early Accomplishments

Telly's earliest known role was in the 1961 movie titled Mad Dog Coll where he played the Lt. Darro character.

Best Known For

Throughout his career, Telly attained the most recognition and fame from starring in the crime series Kojak. This role later led to a movie called Kojak as well introduced him to other series portraying the same role. The Kojak character won him an Emmy Award and 2 Golden Globe Awards.

He got an Oscar nomination for his role in nominated Birdman of Alcatraz (1962).

Sexual Orientation

Telly was straight. For 9 years beginning from the late 40's, he was married to Katherine Nicolaides. In 1960 he gave marriage another try as he tied the knot with the Canadian actress Marilyn Gardner. Unfortunately, this union also fell apart within the period of 14 years.

Family

Telly's parents were Christina and Nick Savalas. 

At the point of his death, Telly was married to a lady named Julie Hovland. 

As a result of his first marriage, he had a daughter named Christina. 

From his marriage to Marilyn he had Penelope and Candace while Christian and Ariana are from his 3rd marriage. His daughter Ariana walked in her father's career path creating a name for herself in the entertainment industry. 

He also had a son Nick Savalas with Sally Sheridan.

Religion

Regarding his religious inclinations, Telly kept this aspect of his life private therefor his beliefs cannot be determined. Still he was proud of his Greek origin and was even baptized in Greece. He could belong to Greek Orthodox Church.

Worth To Know

The name Telly was derived from his first name Aristotelis.

Telly was a very skilled poker player as well as a motorcycle racer.

He fluenly spoke Greek.

Telly was Jennifer Aniston godfather.

His song Some Broken Hearts Never Mend reached the top charts in 1980.

He died of cancer complications.