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 Savalas had a showy role in "The Dirty Dozen" (1967), playing a role that Jack Palance turned down, Archer Maggott, the worst of the dozen. It was a huge commercial success. He guest-starred on the TV series "Garrison's Gorillas" and "Cimarron Strip," then focused on features. He did an action film directed by Brian Hutton, "Sol Madrid" (1968), then did a Western with Lancaster and Pollack, "The Scalphunters" (1968). Savalas was in two comedies, "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell" (1968), one of his favorite roles, and "The Assassination Bureau" (1969) and did an all-star action film for Thompson, "Mackenna's Gold" (1969).