Telly Savalas He attribute his success to "his complete ability to be himself." Savalas had his first lead role in a film in "Crooks and Coronets" (1969), a British crime comedy. More widely seen was the James Bond movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969), where Savalas played Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Savalas had the lead in a Western shot in Spain, "Land Raiders" (1970), then was second-billed to Clint Eastwood in the war-heist film "Kelly's Heroes" (1970), shot in Yugoslavia, directed by Hutton. He was second-billed to Charles Bronson in an Italian–French crime film, "Violent City" (1970), then went to Hollywood to
Telly Savalas (1970)", Pretty Maids All in a Row" (1971), "Lisa and the Devil" (1973), "Inside Out" (1975), and "Escape to Athena" (1979). He then starred as television's "Kojak" (1973–78), co-starring his brother George Savalas. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962). The second of five children, Telly Savalas was born Aristotelis Savalas on January 21, 1924, in Garden City, New York, to Greek American parents Christina (née Kapsalis; 1904–88), a New York City artist who was a native of Sparta, and Nick Savalas [Tsavalas] (1904–48), a Greek restaurant owner.