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
George Savalas George Savalas Georgios Demosthenes "George" Savalas () (December 5, 1924 – October 2, 1985) was an American film and television actor. He was the younger brother of actor Telly Savalas, with whom he acted in the popular 1970s TV crime series "Kojak". Born in The Bronx, New York City to immigrants from Greece, he was one of five children: brothers Telly, Gus and Ted; and sister Katherine. He attended Holy Cross Institute in Connecticut and Mineola High School (Long Island). He served in the Pacific War as a United States Navy gunner but also acted, produced and directed stage performances