Telly Savalas will be 100 years old
Today, the appearance of A-list actors on television is prestigious, but half a century ago it was more of a career doldrums than famous actors in blockbuster Hollywood productions or more critically acclaimed independent films (mainly for livelihood reasons). ). he suddenly appeared as the main character of the television series. Nominated for two Oscars, In the films of John Cassavetes The excellent Peter Falk, for example, gained unprecedented popularity in Colombo (1971-2003), but the television detective could no longer take off his wrinkled balloon coat forever, the smoke from the detective's cheap cigar best covered his film with fog: in the casual viewer's memory, it was basically Colombo.
Like another excellent character actor, Desire for Streetcar The famous crime series also overshadowed the career of Oscar-winning co-star Karl Malden, Streets of San Francisco (1972-1977), because as a young Michael Douglas, who played his partner on the series, his popularity with television rhymes was the starting point of his film career in Hollywood, in Malden's career in his 60s, the series was more than a parking lot.
There, Telly Savalas, who was born in Garden City as the son of Greek immigrants, played the game 117 times between 1973 and 1978. kojak Starred in the crime series The Lollipop Detective, he is also of Greek descent. He was nominated for an Academy Award early in his career, starring in feature films and later, with few exceptions after the 1970s (such as 1979 's The Poseidon Adventure , in which Malden also appeared) appeared primarily in television productions. , but Kojak was a major player here, too: Between 1985 and 1990, he once again played his most famous role in seven all-night TV movies (and also his most popular TV movie, Dirty Twelve) .Two series, in which he leads trained inmates to assassinate Nazi officers as a character in conflict with his original role).
In Savalas's case, however, the Hollywood portrayal was more than a twist on television from 1959 to 1993: its start was partly coincidental, namely World War II action.
The second son in a family of five enlisted at the age of 19, served in the WWII US Army Medical Training Regiment from 1941-1943, being discharged as a corporal after be injured in a car accident. He spent more than a year in the hospital and then studied radio and television production in the army. In the meantime, he attended Columbia University School of Medicine, eventually earning a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1946 and going to work for ABC TV with his recent military education and degrees, first as a news editor and host of Your Voice. of America from the Department of State as producer (Gillette Cavalcade of Sports) and director (Report to New York) for programs on a variety of topics.
Her acting career began in 1958, when she was Armstrong's Circle Theatre. The show's editors asked if she could recommend an actor with a European accent, and since she couldn't find a suitable one, she agreed to play the part. Buoyed by unexpected success, he became more courageous by acting in various television shows ( Sunday Show Y Ciudad Naked Y Acapulco ), until 1961 he was given a minor role based on true events mad dog genial In the movie Mafia (Gene Hackman also appeared on screen for the first time), he played the role of a detective chasing an Irish-American gangster.
His training was so convincing that Burt Lancaster took notice and recommended John Frankenheimer. Rage (1961), in which Savalas reprized his former (and later) police role.
Early film roles also made a big difference to his television acting career: by 1961 he was playing an increasing number of roles on six different shows ( New Breed & King of Diamonds & Hundred Cain etc.) and a year he later landed two more serious film assignments: he played a private investigator in J. Lee Thompson's Hitchcock-esque dark film Degree of Dread In (a remake of the Martin Scorsese-directed film we write here ) and Disassociated from Police Role , actually parades in prison as Feto Gómez from the events that occurred, The man from AlcatrazIn – which was again directed by Frankheimer, and again alongside Lancaster (in which Karl Malden also starred).
From a dangerous criminal to a famous prison bird expert, Robert Stroud's life returns The Man from Alcatraz In Savalas, he played an imprisoned fellow protagonist with this raw experience and naturalness, showing the human face of a corrupt evil that was nominated to an Academy Award for his work.
However, his Hollywood career did not take a sharp turn; In fact, he couldn't get out of supporting roles in the American film industry and had to travel to Europe to do so, but it wasn't until 1969 that he landed his first leading role in Thieves and Koronets in British crime comedy (Jim O'Connolly ).
For Hollywood superstar productions, Telly Savalas became a supporting star. Especially after 1965, when the actor, already very bald, shaved off his remaining hair to play Poncio Pillati with a tar skull. The most beautiful story in the world. In the movie of the Bible (George Stevens).
Total baldness gave Savalas a strangely masculine appearance (as he did a little earlier) yul brennernik And from now on he was only bald in front of the cameras, and his cottony skull became not only a special attribute, but also a a trademark of the actor.
Nearly a decade of his film career - from the mid-1960s to kojak During his prime, Savalas used his baldness in different roles and forms: becoming manly and comical at the same time, greedy and restless, cruel and charming, or perverted and crazy. During this period, he made three memorable World War II movies, 50 Hours of Death -t (1965, p.: Ken Anakin), Dirty Twelve -t (1967, r: Robert Aldrich) and Kelly's Heroes (1970 , r: Brian G. Hutton) and the two best westerns, The Scalp Hunters -at (1968, r: Sydney Pollack) is a Little Golden Machine (1969, r: J. Lee Thompson) played Bond's leg blofeld inOn Her Majesty's Secret Service In Film 007 (1969, r: Peter R. Hunt).
During this period he also tried his hand at low-budget European films, starring Charles Bronson, for example. city of violence The hybrid genre of science fiction and horror (Sergio Solima, 1970) Terror Express (1972, p.: Eugenio Martin), with James Coburn and Bud Spencer Life or death Italian Western (1972, p.: Tonino Valeri ), played the Mexican independence fighter panchovilla in a western (1972, r.: Eugenio Martín), and starred in lisa and the devil Al horror español-italiano (1974, p.: Mario Bava).
Then came the role of Kojak, which largely determined his life's career path: he starred in the series between 1973 and 1978 (and then in 1985-1990 as Golden Globe and Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Series), and it was in reality to star in superhero productions, as already mentioned The Poseidon Adventure , to travel to earth (1978, p: Peter Hyams), British war adventure film Art collectors and adventurers are preferred. (1979, p.: George B. Cosmatos) or later canyon race 2. (1984, p.: Hal Needham), in which he played a leading role (in addition to a television production) in his homeland only in movies of low budget grade B.
He himself directed an "independent film" like this medical-horror drama, Beyond Reason . In 1977, he took on the role of a psychiatrist who was in touch with reality, but the film, which was particularly sensitive in places but not it worked, it didn't make it to theaters eight years later, and of course the cassette cover. kojak He is known as the director, screenwriter, hero…
So as a director and screenwriter she couldn't stand out, but as a singer she did. Also, he became one of the most exciting moments of his acting career, when he was able to show the true depth of his prose arts as a singer.
Savalas made his singing debut in 1972 This is Telly Savalas… However, the biggest success of his musical career was not primarily due to his distinctively velvety, masculine voice: the band Bread. Known for his song "Best Song of the Year", "The Text" has become the most popular song for which he has topped the UK charts.
Telly Savalas has played a major role in shaping his career, making a living primarily on television and in a number of underrated movies, as a kind-hearted and ever-helpful water lifeguard, drag racer, poker player, and rival owner for their family and colleagues. He… he became president of his densely populated family. The restorer's father died in 1948, and since then Savalas has become the main breadwinner in the family, having to take care of his mother, four brothers and then six children of his three wives.
The last years of his life were bitter with the death of his younger brother George (who also died in 1985 kojak lives in the memory of viewers because he played "Cluster" and then lost his mother and his main best friend (1988). Opposing cellular processes in the actor's body also began due to mental trauma: Tillie Savalas died on January 22, 1994 from bladder cancer, the day after her 72nd birthday.
