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Telly Savalas Quotes

Total quotes: 22
“One day he was a millionaire. The next day, with the Depression, not a penny in his pocket. He packs his five kids in the back of a van and goes to New York and begins selling cakes. That's what I call a Greek.”
— Telly Savalas, Of his late father, Nick Savalas
Tagged: Depression, Greek, Courage, Fighting Depression
“Even with the crazies I've played I've tried to give some dimension to their insanity.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Insanity, craziness, role, Acting
“It will be a sad day when I begin thinking of all this as work. I enjoy every minute of it.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Work, Acting, Enjoying Your Profession
“Everybody's always telling me they have an Uncle Harry who looks just like me. That's 90% of my appeal.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Appeal, Appearance
“It was in 1959 I got my first role. I was to play the Greek judge who decides to give a Greek boy to a visiting American journalist. It was a small role and paid only $200, but I haven't stopped since.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Acting, Work, perseverance
“Our happiest times were at the bottom of the ladder. One day he dragged us out of private schools, and the next day we started peddling cakes out of the back of a truck.”
— Telly Savalas, Of his late father, Nick Savalas
Tagged: Memories, Reminiscing, Struggle
“Calvelli: Any chance of getting outta here?

Lt. Theo Kojak: Sure.

Calvelli: Yeah, and the Devil serves lemonade, right?”
— Theo Kojak, Kojak, Season 1: Siege of Terror
“You can't corrupt it. And you know why? Because to corrupt it, you've got to show how corrupt you really are.”
— Telly Savalas, Kojak
Tagged: Corruption, character, Evil
“I don't play that far away from myself because then I think people would say I was acting.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: role, Acting, Portrayal, Natural
“I'm a romantic realist. I knew I would become a star, just as I know some day the bubble will burst.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Romantic, realist, Personality, Prediction
“I made 60 movies before 'Kojak' with some of the biggest names in the business, and people would still say, 'There goes what's-his-name.'”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Acting, Movie, Film Industry
“The second show I did on TV, I was the lead. I made $900 and I was having fun saying some other guy's words. This is a dangerous profession for the ego.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Acting, role, Profession, Ego
“You just bought yourself a lifetime supply of insomnia. Now you get your fat carcass out of here before I book you for violating the ecology.”
— Telly Savalas, Kojak
Tagged: Insomnia, Threat, Provoke
“I've taught you to love chickens, to love their flesh, their voice.”
— Ernst Stavro Blofeld, On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Tagged: Chickens, voice, Weird
“Mama says to me, 'Being an actor is fine, but what are you going to do for a living?' I took my mother to the premiere of The Dirty Dozen and she said, 'It's disgraceful!' I asked her how she liked my role and she said, 'You were ridiculous!'”
— Telly Savalas, Of his mother, Christina Savalas
Tagged: mother, Acting, Parenting
“The challenge is to live long enough to raise my children.”
— Telly Savalas, On battling cancer
Tagged: Challenge, Life, cancer, Parenting
“I was born with a romantic nature and I'll carry it to my grave.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Romantic, Nature, Personality
“I'm just a kid from New York who looks like everybody else.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Youth, Appearance, Appeal
“If they had told me about the series, I never would have done the movie, I got aboard this thing by accident. I wasn't emotionally ready for a series. I like to move around, but now at least 98 per cent of my personality is in abeyance. There is the applause; I love it!”
— Telly Savalas, On taking the risk of starring in Kojak
Tagged: role, Acting, accident, Emotional, Personality
“I came from a tough neighborhood. I used to be a 'Dirty Greek,' But my father used to say to me, 'When you grow up and realize what your heritage means, then they'll need a permit to speak to you.' He was right. I'm a proud Greek. I carry my Hellenism like a badge of merit.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Greek, Heritage, Roots
“There's no question that experience is more important and rewarding to someone who is an actor. My approach to Kojak in any situation would be my own approach. How I would react and respond? That's basically true whether I'm portraying a cop or a candlestick maker.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Experience, Acting
“Television doesn't need another cop show, that's for sure. But this is an interesting cop, a real cop from a New York City neighborhood. A basically honest character, tough but with feelings: the kind of guy who might kick a hooker in the tail if he had to, but they'd understand each other because maybe they grew up on the same kind of block.”
— Telly Savalas
Tagged: Television, Acting, character
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