Telly Savalas Telly Savalas Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (January 21, 1924 – January 22, 1994) was an American actor and singer whose career spanned four decades of television, noted for his resonant voice and his bald head. He also released the one-hit wonder song, "If?," which he introduced in the UK in 1975. Savalas's career began in films in 1961. His movie credits include "The Young Savages" (1961), "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965), "Battle of the Bulge" (1965), "The Dirty Dozen" (1967), "The Scalphunters" (1968), supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969), "Kelly's Heroes"
Telly Savalas Luciano in one episode and Al Capone in another), "The United States Steel Hour," and "The Aquanauts." Savalas was a regular on the short-lived NBC television series "Acapulco" (1961) with Ralph Taeger and James Coburn. Savalas made his film debut in "Mad Dog Coll" (1961), playing a cop. Savalas's work had impressed Burt Lancaster, who arranged for the actor to be cast as a cop in "The Young Savages" (1961), directed by John Frankenheimer. Pollack worked on the film as an acting coach. Savalas returned to guesting on TV series such as "The New Breed," "King of Diamonds," "The Dick