Born Aristotle Savalas in Garden City, LI, NY; attended Columbia University, New York City. Best known as the bald-headed, elegantly dressed, lollypop-sucking New York police detective "Kojak" (CBS, 1973-78), this veteran character player served in the Army for three years during World War II, worked for the Information Services of the State Department, and then at ABC News before beginning an acting career in his late 30s. In the early 1950s, Savalas was an announcer for Voice of America's Greek Service. At ABC, first as executive director and then as senior director of news special events, he created and produced the "Your Voice of America" series. His first acting role was on the TV show "Armstrong Circle Theater" (1959) and then on the series "The Witness" as Lucky Luciano, where actor Burt Lancaster purportedly first saw him. Savalas was cast opposite Lancaster in the melodrama THE YOUNG SAVAGES (1961), whose plot featured a slaying and an avenging D.A. In the early 1960s he played a string of heavies, winning acclaim and an Oscar® nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance as sadistic Feto Gomez in BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ (1962). After playing Pontius Pilate in THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1965), he chose to remain completely bald, and this signature look -- somewhere between the comic and the ominous -- stood him in good stead in the years that followed. After being cast in THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), the seminal ensemble film by director Robert Aldrich which later gave Savalas work in the two TV movie reprises, his career took off with the lead role in THE MARCUS-NELSON MURDERS (1973), in which the pop culture icon Theo Kojak was born. He perfected the hard-boiled image as "Kojak" (1973-78); during those years, he co-bought racehorse Telly's Pop; recorded two albums, "Telly" (1974) and "Who Loves Ya, Baby" (1976); and directed and wrote the film BEYOND REASON (1977). On the personal front, Savalas maintained a high-stakes gambler's life, crowded with lovers, children, and ex-wives. After the very popular series ended, Savalas reprised the Kojak persona in several Kojak-based TV movies, furthering his public canonization.  Nominated for Supporting Actor 1962: BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ 1 nomination