Biography
Telly Savalas frequently appeared in motion pictures as a hard-edged character, yet his signature achievement came as the title character on the CBS series Kojak throughout the 1970s. Viewers came to associate him indelibly with the image of a bald New York police lieutenant who closed each episode by uttering the same suave, masculine line: “Who loves ya, baby?”
Attempts to translate that same persona onto disc proved less fruitful. MCA issued the album Telly in 1974 and followed it a year later with Who Loves Ya Baby. Although both projects arrived while Kojak was at peak popularity, they failed to establish an enduring music career. The discs are now regarded chiefly as curiosities of the sort produced by other primarily non-musical celebrities, among them Star Trek’s William Shatner. Critical respect for his recordings remained limited, while his screen work earned far greater recognition: an Academy Award nomination for his supporting performance as Feto Gomez in the 1962 Burt Lancaster feature The Birdman of Alcatraz, plus an Emmy Award tied to the Kojak role.
Savalas entered into three marriages. He wed Katherine Nicolaides in 1948; the couple had one daughter and divorced in 1957. He married Marilyn Gardner in 1960; that union produced two daughters and ended in divorce in 1974. His third marriage, to Julie Hovland, took place in 1984; together they raised two children and remained married until Savalas died of prostate cancer in 1994. His goddaughter is Jennifer Aniston, the actress known for the sitcom Friends.
Born Aristotle Savalas to Greek immigrant parents in New York, he was occasionally billed in films as Telly Aristoteles Savalas. He earned a Purple Heart during World War II and made his first television appearance in 1959.
Attempts to translate that same persona onto disc proved less fruitful. MCA issued the album Telly in 1974 and followed it a year later with Who Loves Ya Baby. Although both projects arrived while Kojak was at peak popularity, they failed to establish an enduring music career. The discs are now regarded chiefly as curiosities of the sort produced by other primarily non-musical celebrities, among them Star Trek’s William Shatner. Critical respect for his recordings remained limited, while his screen work earned far greater recognition: an Academy Award nomination for his supporting performance as Feto Gomez in the 1962 Burt Lancaster feature The Birdman of Alcatraz, plus an Emmy Award tied to the Kojak role.
Savalas entered into three marriages. He wed Katherine Nicolaides in 1948; the couple had one daughter and divorced in 1957. He married Marilyn Gardner in 1960; that union produced two daughters and ended in divorce in 1974. His third marriage, to Julie Hovland, took place in 1984; together they raised two children and remained married until Savalas died of prostate cancer in 1994. His goddaughter is Jennifer Aniston, the actress known for the sitcom Friends.
Born Aristotle Savalas to Greek immigrant parents in New York, he was occasionally billed in films as Telly Aristoteles Savalas. He earned a Purple Heart during World War II and made his first television appearance in 1959.
Singles
