“Telly Savalas is set to spearhead”
– Girlfriend’s Finished With Him
So… what do we know about Telly Savalas?
The A to Z of HMHB
The A to Z of HMHB
“Telly Savalas is set to spearhead”
– Girlfriend’s Finished With Him
So… what do we know about Telly Savalas?
GOK WAN ACOLYTE
The famous Kojak lollipop was because Savalas was a very heavy smoker and (allegedly) couldn’t get through scenes without lighting a fag – so the directors gave him something to occupy his hands and mouth as distraction. Presumably he was wishing he could kill himself and come back as a beagle at such points
2 March 2017
queen of quick wit
In one of the greatest ever “phoned-in” performances, Telly Savalas extolled the glories of 1970s Birmingham.
https://youtu.be/GxZ1xn2ml10
2 March 2017
Chris The Siteowner
A classic of its genre. Telly also voiced films on Aberdeen (q.v.) and Portsmouth, and the story behind them is fascinating.
2 March 2017
Bobby svarc
Kojak was easily the best of the “had to sit through it” programmes that preceded Match of the Day back in the early seventies. Sitting through Ironside and Cannon was purgatory to a footy mad kid. Loved his Big Joe character in the iconic Kelly’s Heroes.
2 March 2017
Eric olthwaite
Even better than Starsky and Hutch? I think not!
2 March 2017
paul f
Jennifer Aniston’s godfather.
2 March 2017
dr desperate
Which may account for why she was playing Ol’ Television’s 1975 disco waxing ‘Who Loves Ya Baby?’ as she emerged from the shower after a ‘Telly Savalas’ wax job in that scene in ‘The Break-Up’. You know, that scene.
2 March 2017
Brumbiscuit
@QoQW: That video was made just after the inner ring road had been completed and Birmingham was keen to show itself as the model city. Model as in ‘car is king’, so pedestrians were relegated to second class, subterranean citizens consigned to underpassses and subways. I worked with the wife of a city planner and people came from all over the world to see how good Birmingham’s solution was, strange as that now sounds. (Oh, and we had the King Kong sculpture to boot.)
The City Council is currently spending vast sums levelling this monstrosity junction by junction and restoring some semblance of equality to pedestrians. Mind you, Coventry’s solution is even worse!
2 March 2017
EXXo
Surprisingly up-to-date that Aberdeen one. He’s only managed to curse two entire industries (shipbuilding, d. 1992 and textile d. c. 2004), though how long the last remaining paper mill will cling on is moot.
I can’t quite decide where I stand on Starsky and Hutch v. Kojak, but the latter was my mum’s favourite so that meant loads more sweeties. But we can be sure that there will not be many on here disagreeing about Ironside or Cannon.
And yes, Kelly’s Heroes was my birthday treat when it came out. Big Joe and Archer Maggott. Great actor.
2 March 2017
Brumbiscuit
Wasn’t Trini Lopez in Kelly’s Heroes, or am I mixing it up with the Dirty Dozen?
2 March 2017
BOBBY SVARC
Dirty Dozen, Brum..
2 March 2017
BOBBY SVARC
Eric. The early seventies? I think not
2 March 2017
Peter Mcornithologist
Bobby whilst awaiting Match of The Day in wonderful pre Shearer era I would scuttle through the hedges of Hartlepool seeking a discarded Teenage Mongoose .
2 March 2017
hendrix-tattoo
Academy award nominee for his role in the Birdman of Alcatraz.
This YT clip is bloody awful.
https://youtu.be/J94-_w9ARX0
2 March 2017
BOBBY SVARC
@Peter: I thought you were perhaps an H&E subscriber?
2 March 2017
hendrix-tattoo
Was his brother also in Kojak?
2 March 2017
Peter Mcornithologist
I subscribe to sad grandpa. Loves Biscuit, Can ,Magma and the joy of the Sanderling in winter. I await a reply
2 March 2017
FEATURELESS TV PRODUCER STEVE
Was doing a crossword a week ago, and the clue was “70s role for Telly Savalas.” I confidently wrote KOJAK in the last five letters, and then scoured every nook and cranny of my brain, but could not find his first name anywhere. Took nearly all the crosses to finish.
2 March 2017
BOBBY SVARC
@H-T: Stavros was that man, AKA George Savalas
@Peter: It’s a Leicester Fiesta, check it out on YouTube
2 March 2017
dickhead in quicksand
Came across all Greek in the earliest episodes of Kojak, saying things like “τίποτα”. The network soon put a stop to that subversive foreign nonsense.
3 March 2017
dr desperate
As in:
Kojak: “Retsina? Spoil? You buy it rotten.”
Det. Nick Ferro: “What?”
Kojak: “τίποτα.”
3 March 2017
Eric Olthwaite
@Bobby – Kojak ran from August 1974 through to 1978, Starsky and Hutch from April 1976 to 1979, so Kojak wasn’t ‘that’ early 70s, and there was a fair bit of overlap.
3 March 2017
Huddersfield’s very own… Steve malkmus
Was apparently livid at Steve Malkmus (q.v.) for being overlooked in favour of Yul Brynner as the subject of his minor hit, “Jo-Jo’s Jacket”. Real problem was his name didn’t scan, though.
#alternativefacts
3 March 2017
Bobby svarc
Hmmm, so you were right all along.
3 March 2017
dr desperate
I wish I had a pound for every time that particular comment had been posted on this site. I’d have a pound.
4 March 2017
dirk hofman
When not wearing his Kojak mac he was Blofeld and Pontius Pilate. Covered ‘If’, a song by Bread.
Theodore.
Crooked finger ..
5 March 2017