We had 1924 as the birth year for Telly Savalas, but our friends at Answers.com asked us to double-check the date.
We did, by writing to CMG Worldwide, the management company that runs the official Telly Savalas website and manages his image for his estate. Their reply:
Hello, thank you for your inquiry on Telly Savalas. I have confirmed his birthdate was Jan. 21, 1922.
Thank you for you time and concern.
Regards,
Matt Graves
CMG Worldwide, Inc.
Telly may have fudged the date a bit during his career, as so many other actors have done. His NY Times obituary, for instance, says 1924. And various sources note that he died in 1994 just one day after his “70th” birthday.
But we’re comfortable with that confirmation from CMG Worldwide, and have changed our official word to 1922.
(Heh! Nice coincidence: Doris Day made the exact same fudge — from 1924 to 1922.)