Savalas, Aristotelis “Telly”.

Savalas, Aristotelis “Telly”, born 21-01-1922 in Garden City, Nassau, New York, to the Greek immigrant parents, Nicholas “Nick” Savalas (1893–1948) and his wife Christina Sarantakos Kapsalis Savalas (1902–1988) Telly had one sister and two brothers, Constantine Socrates “Gus” Savalas (1920–2017), Gus was a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, ushering the USA’s entry into World War II. George Savalas (1924–1985) and Theodore “Teddy” Savalas (1930–2020)

Savalas initially spoke only Greek when he entered grade school, but later learned English. He attended Cobbett Junior High School in Lynn, Massachusetts. He won a spelling bee there in 1934. Due to an oversight, he did not receive his prize until 1991, when the school principal and the Boston Herald awarded it to him

As a child, Telly was a bit of a daredevil. He enjoyed a variety of stunts, from skipping through the subway turnstile without paying, to balancing on the train track right next to a high voltage line.Telly also loved to swim, which he did as often as possible for hours on end. He swam like a whale, methodically and tirelessly. In his teens, Telly worked as a lifeguard at Jones Beach. He would often tell two stories about his years lifeguarding. Once, after a long day, he wanted to take a relaxing swim before going home. When he attempted to head back to shore, a rip tide prevented him. Telly tried swimming parallel to the shore to get around it, but after numerous attempts he gave up. Instead, he changed direction – and swam to New Jersey.The second story, about the only person Telly ever lost while he was a lifeguard, is much more tragic. Telly rescued the man, but was unable to revive him. He happened to be the father of two young children, who were with him at the beach that day. Telly was haunted by the memory of the young children crying next to their father and begging him to wake up. Later in life, Telly made sure that all of his children were capable swimmers, educated in the potential dangers of swimming unsupervised.Telly joined the Army in 1941. He was a member of Company C, 12th Medical Training Battalion, 4th Medical Training Regiment   at Camp Pickett, Virginia. Although Telly received a Purple Heart for his service in World War II, little is known about his time with the armed forces. He ended the war with the rank of Corporal. Telly did not talk about his experiences as an enlisted man, and most of his records were destroyed in a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. He was released from the Army in 1943 after suffering serious injuries in a car accident. While on authorized leave from Camp Pickett,   Telly and eight friends were involved in a head-on collision. Telly sustained a broken pelvis, sprained ankle and concussion. He spent over a year in the hospital recovering.

Savalas then attended the Armed Forces Institute, where he studied radio and television production. In 1946, Savalas received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Columbia’s School of General Studies,  and started working on a master’s degree while preparing for medical school.

After the war, he worked for the U.S. State Department as host of the Your Voice of America series, then at ABC News. In 1950, Savalas hosted a radio show called The Coffeehouse in New York City.

Savalas began as an executive director and then as senior director of the news special events at ABC. He then became an executive producer for the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, where he gave Howard Cosell his first job in television. Before his acting career took off, Savalas directed Scott Vincent and Cosell in Report to New York, WABC-TV’s first regularly scheduled news program in fall 1959.

Savalas did not consider acting as a career until asked if he could recommend an actor who could do a European accent. He did, but as the friend in question could not go, Savalas himself went to cover for his friend and ended up being cast on “And Bring Home a Baby”, an episode of Armstrong Circle Theatre in January 1958. He appeared on two more episodes of the series in 1959 and 1960, one, acting alongside a young Sydney Pollack. He was also in a version of The Iceman Cometh.

He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983. In 1999, TV Guide ranked him number 18 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.

Savalas was married three times. In 1948, after his father’s death from bladder cancer, Savalas in 1948 married his college sweetheart, Katherine Nicolaides. (1924-2006) Their daughter Christina, named after his mother, was born in 1950. In 1957, Katherine filed for divorce. She urged him to move back to his mother’s house during that same year.

While Savalas was going broke, he founded the Garden City Theater Center in his native Garden City. While working there, he met Marilyn Gardner, a theater teacher. They married in 1960. Marilyn gave birth to their daughter, Penelope, in 1961. A second daughter, Candace, was born in 1963. They divorced in 1974, after a long separation.

Savalas later moved in with Sally Adams, who gave birth to their son Nicholas Savalas on 24-02-1973. Although Savalas and Sally Adams never legally married, she went by the name Sally Savalas. They stopped living together in December 1978. She filed a palimony lawsuit against him in 1980, demanding support for herself, their son, and for Nicollette.

Death and burial ground of Savalas, Aristotelis “Telly”.

Savalas died on 22-01-1994, of complications of prostate and bladder cancer, at the Sheraton-Universal Hotel in Los Angeles, the day after his 72nd birthday. He had lived at the Sheraton in Universal City for 20 years, becoming such a fixture at the hotel bar that it was renamed Telly’s.

Savalas was interred at the George Washington section of Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. The funeral, held in the Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, was attended by his third wife, Julie, and his brother Gus. His first two wives, Katherine and Marilyn, also attended with their own children.

Message(s), tips or interesting graves for the webmaster:    robhopmans@outlook.com