Telly Savalas

Birth Name: Aristotelis Savalas

Date of Birth: January 21, 1922

Place of Birth: Garden City, New York, U.S.

Date of Death: January 22, 1994

Place of Death: Universal City, California, U.S.

Ethnicity: Greek

Telly Savalas was an American actor and singer.

He was the son of Greek parents, Christina (Kapsalis), a native of Sparta, and Nicholas Savalas. Telly spoke Greek fluently.

He was married to travel agent Julie Hovland, until his death. He had a daughter with his former wife Katherine Nicolaides; two children with his former wife, theatre teacher Marilyn Gardner; a son with his former partner, actress Sally Adams; and two children, entrepreneur, singer, and songwriter Christian Savalas, and singer, songwriter, actress, and burlesque performer Ariana Savalas, with Julie.

He was the godfather of actress Jennifer Aniston, whose father is Greek-born actor John Aniston. Telly and John were friends.

Telly’s paternal grandfather was named Costantine/Constantinos Tsavalas.

Telly’s paternal grandmother was named Katerina/Catherine Papageorgiou/Popugruge.

Telly’s maternal grandfather was named Kestar Kapsalis.

Telly’s maternal grandmother was named Gioncule Koivelier.

Source: Genealogy of Telly Savalas (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com