RisingForce says on 8/Nov/09
Well I'll be damned. Most people thought this guy was 6'1".

"For the most part, however, the 6-ft. 1-in., 200-Ib. actor does not have to invent a character for Kojak, because he is playing himself."- Time Magazine Click Here

"Telly, who is more than 6 feet tall and weighs more than 200 pounds,"- 1964 Chicago Tribune

"For one thing, he gives an impression of great size. I was astonished to find he is 6 feet 1 and 200 pounds of Greek charm. I thought he was 8 feet and 300 pounds of Greek charm."- Daily News, 1975 Click Here

"He stands an inch over six-feet, is sallow skinned and has been bald-shaven"- The Ledger, 1973 Click Here

I think 5'10.5" is shortchanging him a bit, most people thought he was 6'1" so he had to have been atleast 5'11". Although there was an article where a lady claimed she towered over Telly and she was shocked at how short he was. Then again that sounds a lot like the stories 5'4" women told of how they looked eye to eye with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

RisingForce says on 1/Aug/09
Telly's heels apparently fooled a lot of people if he was only 5'10". He was listed at 6'1" in 1976!

This book described Telly Savalas as a "striking tall gentleman". Click Here

I guess that's the magic of lifts.

RisingForce says on 8/Jun/09
I think Telly was shorter than John Ritter when Ritter was on Kojack. I'm not 100% sure though. How long did you get to talk to Telly Brad?

Brad says on 8/Jun/09
I've never seen shoes outside of U.K. glam rock fans 1974 being worn like Telly's. This was not long before he died. Kept saying "and another thing about these mfers down the hill...". He really hated the suits at Universal. I always ask TV stars of they got beat out of money.

RisingForce says on 8/Jun/09
The shocking thing about the Christopher Lee photo is that it was taken on the golf course. Imagine Telly trying to golf in his 2.5" heels!

Doug says on 7/Jun/09
He was about 5'10.5". But he wore lifts and seemd to have a complex about his height as below so in shoes he reached 6'. Compared to Christopher Lee he is standing close to 6' in that photo in shoes. Lee is 4-5 inches taller. In 1974 Lee was close to 6'5", about 195cm peak.

RisingForce says on 5/Jun/09
I took some stills of those heels and they look over 2 inches!Click Here I wear cowboy boots with 2 inch heels and Telly's heels there are easily bigger. I'd guess 2 1/2 inch heels. Here's another good picture of his footwear. Click Here In this picture with Bob Hope his heels aren't exposed as much, but you can still see that they're massive. Click Here It seems that he didn't just wear them in films and Kojak, but also for public appearances.

That's really interesting about the crew making fun of him for that. Do you think you can elaborate a bit on that. Did they mention lifts or his 5'10" height? Was Telly bothered by the jokes. I guess 5'10" + 3 inches in footwear is how he appeared to be a legit 6 footer on Kojak and some films.

Here's an interesting picture of Telly and Sidney Poitier. Click Here Telly must have been wearing some massive lifts there.

Frank2 says on 4/Jun/09
Like I've said, Telly was 5'10". He wore Frankenstein boots in KOJACK. Two inch heels with at least another inch inside. In fact, the crew on the show used to poke fun at him for trying to look so tall.

RisingForce says on 7/May/09
looked about 6 ft in cape fear next to 6-3 gregory peck in cape fear, his shoes seem normal. maybe he always wore lifts?

RisingForce says on 17/Mar/09
Thanks, finding out Telly's height will help us figure out Charles Bronson's height who I'm still unsure of as well.

Kojak had a lot of guest stars. Here he was with Harvey Keitel from that same episode that the shot of the heels was from. Click Here

Interestingly enough on a sheet Keitel's character was listed at 5'9".

glenn says on 17/Mar/09
those heels are nuts.strange,cause i remember nothing of te show,but i remember the heels.lol.or that he was a heel wearer.i thought he was short or rather 5-8 to 5-10 cause of it.

glenn says on 17/Mar/09
yes.that was 1989.it became full a time hobby in 1990.business by 1992.i know people who have seen telly.not sure if they can tell us his height.ill ask.my closest friend did actually.

RisingForce says on 16/Mar/09
That's interesting, I imagine that was before you became an autograph dealer. So I guess that puts Telly at 5'11"? Have any of your friends met Telly?

By the way look at these pictures of Telly's heels from an episode of Kojak. Atleast 2.5", maybe 3 inch heels.
Click Here
Click Here
Click Here

I guess Brad wasn't kidding when he said Telly had regular shoes with the biggest heels he's ever seen when he met him. No wonder I always thought Telly was a 6 footer.

glenn says on 15/Mar/09
i did meet lee 20 years ago.too nervous and starstruck to ask him for a photo immediately.then lost my chance.seemed 6-4.

glenn says on 15/Mar/09
i dont know about lee.6-4 min peak.could be more.

RisingForce says on 14/Mar/09
How tall was Christopher Lee in 1974?
Click Here

I could see Lee being 5 inches taller than Telly if he wasn't leaning. That picture was taken on the golf course so it's the best evidence there is as far as Telly's height. There's no chance Telly had his big heels on the golf course.

Whatever Christopher Lee was in 1974, take off 5 inches and I'd say you have Telly's height.

RisingForce says on 6/Feb/09
I honestly never thought Redford looked short. Telly and Redford were probably about the same height, Telly just probably forgot that he had his huge heels on. Telly always gave the impression of a 6 footer to me, but Rob has him listed about right. A strong 5'10" guy.

You're right Brad about Telly's heels. I don't ever remember seeing him in normal shoes.

Brad says on 5/Feb/09
The biggest heel guy Universal ever had. Redford has a broad build, he looks shorter than he is.

RisingForce says on 3/Feb/09
That's interesting that 5-10 Michael Parkinson would call him a big guy and that Telly was a lot taller. It's also interesting that Telly called 5-10.5 Robert Redford short. He looked 5-10 at best in the Bond film he did though and he didn't look very tall in The Dirty Dozen. Maybe he wore lifts later on? In fact I've heard he did.

Chrislondon says on 5/Jan/09
Maybe the best reference is when he was on the Michael Parkinson show in the 1970's. I remember Savalas came on and was a lot taller than Parkinson (5'10") who commented "what a big guy" Telly was. Also I remember a restaurant called "Kojaks Greek Taverna" in Theydon Bois Essex which had a "life size" signed cut out which was 6ft tall. RIP Telly.

RisingForce says on 4/Dec/08
Telly wears big heeled boots usually though. I've heard he wears lifts too.

Here are his boots from The Dirty Dozen
Click Here

Luke says on 2/Dec/08
I saw a film HORROR EXPRESS with him, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Chris Lee in his peak was 6' 4" or 5", I read Peter Cushing was about 5' 11", Savalas did look about heights, if not a shade shorter that Cushing (if memonery serves :S I could always watch it again)

RisingForce says on 6/Nov/08
I'm now convinced. He was 5'10". Just watched the Bond film that Telly was in. Unfortunately there wasn't a good full body shot of Lazenby and Telly although they made them look very close in height. Click Here

However what convinced me of 5'10" was how he looked barely taller than 5'8.5" Diana Rigg....and he was wearing boots! I think she was too but still she couldn't have had that much of a footwear advantage if any at all.

RisingForce says on 5/Nov/08
Rob, after some research it seems like it's actually widely known that he's 5'10" flat. I guess I was initally wrong. Maybe 5'10" flat would be more accurate? He passes for 6 foot probably because he always wears big heeled boots.

Listed 5'10" here Click Here

Listed 5'10" here as well Click Here

And listed 5'10" here Click Here

5'10" again Click Here

Once again 5'10" Click Here

RisingForce says on 5/Nov/08
That's interesting, I'm going to watch the Bond film he did with 6'2" George Lazenby. I always pictured Telly as a big 6 foot guy but it could be those big heeled boots he always wears. He was almost always in big heeled boots even off screen as Frank2 and Brad can confirm.

The Dirty Dozen also could be a good one for comparing. Too bad there wasn't a good shot of Telly and Sly when Sly appeared on Kojak. That'd be interesting considering both were wearing big heeled boots even back then.

RisingForce says on 4/Nov/08
Rob, I can't remember, was he listed 5'11" here or was he downgraded? If so what was the reason?

RisingForce says on 3/Nov/08
Maybe Bronson is taller than 5'8" though. Charles could have been 5'9" or 5'10" peak.

^OdDiTy^ says on 2/Nov/08
.... Just saw the Dirty Dozen and stopped the DVD at one point where Charles Bronson and Telly were standing side by side and upright.... it was a full shot and you could see they appeared to be wearing the same footware and he was no more than 1 inch above Bronson....Savalas DEFINITELY looks about 5'9" or perhaps 5" 9 1/2 throughout that movie but I wouldn't give him any more than that...

RisingForce says on 28/Oct/08
Could be but he does look tall for a 5'10" guy. Have you ever met him Glenn?

glenn says on 26/Oct/08
i thought this guy was 5-10 with the occasional lower claims too.

RisingForce says on 26/Oct/08
I've heard him described as tall as 6'1", he must have had some good shoes!

RisingForce says on 25/Oct/08
Telly wasn't that much shorter than 6'1" Anthony Quinn in a picture I saw. Maybe an inch so in his shoes he could easily reach over 6 foot.

clint says on 3/Nov/07
He didnt look 6ft to me. He was about 5ft 10 or a touch over. Savalas looked a bit sort in the dirty dozen but he could have got away with being 5ft 11.

kiefer says on 17/Jun/07
I think he looked more near 5ft 10 inches. He was the same height as 5ft 8 or 9 charles bronson in the dirty dozen but could be taller.

Pete says on 1/Apr/07
I saw him at Ceasars Palace with a beautiful blonde on his arm in 1977. He was about my height at the time....5 foot 8 inches.

Brad says on 9/Dec/06
Yeah, he was really nice til I brought up the "creative book keeping" at Universal that cost James Garner millions. He covered up his son's (I guess) ears and called them mother somethings and other dirty words even Tommy Lasorda never heard of. He was the man with the plan.

Frank2 says on 11/Aug/06
Telly lived there. And I don't mean that as a joke. He actually lived there. I'd see him in the bar as well. Telly drove a $100,000+ Rolls Royce Corniche convertable and raely if ever put the top up. The result was the leather cracked and the inside was filthy. He didn't care.

Telly loves ya baby!

Brad says on 11/Aug/06
I went into the Sheraton Universal to take a @#$%. Telly was at the bar eating peanuts and had regular shoes with the biggest heels I've ever seen.

Frank2 says on 19/Mar/06
I saw Telly many times when he did Kojak and he was 5'10" without his height-increasing shoes. He usually wore boots with two inch heels and with a possible lift inside. When he wore them he was taller than me by at leat an inch and a half. Without them and with normal shoes he was an inch shorter than me. Take a look at him in the film Birdman of Alcatraz where he's considerably shorter than 6'1" Burt Lancaster and that should give you a good reference as o his true height.

MHouillon says on 18/Mar/06
I'd say just a shade under 5'11.

5'10.5" for Mr. Savallas.

Drooperdoo says on 16/Sep/05
You guys are all scammed. My aunt was in an elevator with Mr. Savalas and said that she was astonished at the disparity between his real height and her assumptions about his stature. She, too, thought he'd be 5'10''-5'11''. She said that he was far closer to 5'6'' or 5'7''.

talker says on 1/Sep/05
i agree with the 5'11" listing.in "Kelly's heroes" he looks more than 4inches
shorter than 6'4"Sutherland and Eastwood.

Mr. R says on 19/Aug/05
When he did Kojak, he was listed as 5-10. I saw him in a 1950's film the other day with Burt Lancaster, and he seemed maybe a little taller than this.

Mr. Klaus says on 11/Jul/05
I agree with this height.
Lazenby was 10/11 cm taller than Savalas in OHMSS (1969)