Telly Savalas

In researching Telly I didn’t realize what a prolific actor he was.  My first recollection of Telly was in the Dirty Dozen.   As I sit here in astonishment, growing up a big James Bond movie fan, I just discovered that Telly played Ernst Stavro Blofeld.  One of Bond’s arch rivals.

Personal Bio

Savalas, the second of five children, was born as Aristotelis Savalas^[1] in Garden City, Long Island, New York to Greek American parents Christina (née Kapsalis), a New York City artist who was a native of Sparta, and Nick Savalas, a Greek restaurant owner.^[2] When he entered Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park, New York, he initially only spoke Greek, yet learned English and graduated in 1940. After graduation, he worked as a lifeguard, but on one occasion, was unsuccessful at rescuing a man from drowning, an event which would haunt Savalas for the remainder of his life. When he entered Columbia University School of General Studies, Savalas took a variety of courses, such as English, radio and psychology, graduating in 1948. At that time, he fell in love with radio and television, which led to his interest in acting. Savalas also gained life experience with a three-year stint (1943-1946) in the Army during World War II, working for the State Department as host of the “Your Voice of America” series, then at ABC News, before beginning an acting career in his late thirties. In 1950, Savalas hosted a popular radio show called The Coffeehouse in New York City.