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"
James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his organisation SPECTRE; however, this was changed to avoid a possible lawsuit over the rights to this character, which originated from the novel "Thunderball". The paperback edition became an instant bestseller in the UK, staying on the British bestsellers list for several months. Critical reception of the novel were mixed, though most praised Wood's skill as a writer. Marghanita Laski, writing in "The Listener", called Wood "an apparently promising thriller writer struggling to emerge from obligatory bits of set-piece nastiness." Former Bond author Kingsley Amis wrote in "The New Statesman" that, despite several reservations, "Mr Wood