Telly Savalas
Birth:  Jan. 21, 1922 Garden City Nassau County New York, USA Death:  Jan. 22, 1994 Universal City Los Angeles County California, USA Motion Picture and Television Actor.  He was born Terry Aristotle Savalas in Garden City, New York, to Greek immigrant parents. Telly Savalas dropped out of Columbia University, where he was studying psychology, and enlisted in the army during World War II receiving a purple Heart during his service.  During the early 1950's he worked for ABC radio and became an executive producer of his own popular talk show, "Telly's Coffee House". He was well into his thirties when he decided to give Hollywood a try becoming a familiar easy to recognize figure with his shaven bald head.  Undoubtedly, his most famous role was that of the tough detective on the TV series "Kojak", which was a number one show between 1973-1979. It was further made into a number of made for TV movies. His movie roles found him being cast as a villain: "Birdman of Alcatraz", "The Greatest Story Ever Told", "Battle of the Bulge" and "Dirty Dozen" are but a few. Telly Savalas contacted bladder cancer early in the 1990's and ultimately succumbed to the disease. He was proud of his heritage. His Greek roots were displayed by his funeral service which was held at St Sophia's Creek Cathedral in Los Angeles. This is the facility personally constructed by Charles Skouras, one of three famous Shouras brothers, who once dominated the Hollywood scene and with whom Telly Savalas shared Greek roots. He was the brother of actor George Savalas. Family links:  Spouse:   Katherine Savalas (1924 - 2006)* Cause of death: Prostate cancer   Burial: Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Los Angeles Los Angeles County California, USA