---
name: "George Savalas"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/george-savalas"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "5 December 1924"
died: "2 October 1985"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 82
updated: "2026-09-16T16:42:35.707019+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# George Savalas

Actor. Born 5 December 1924 in Bronx, New York, USA. Died 2 October 1985.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 5 December 1924, Bronx, New York, USA
- **Died:** 2 October 1985
- **Active:** 1963–1973
- **Also known as:** Demosthenes Savalas, Demosthenes
- **Works often with:** Alex March, Chester Krumholz, Christian Nyby, John Meredyth Lucas, Joseph Sargent, Leo Penn

## Fi1m on George Savalas

> George Savalas gives *Kojak* some welcome warmth as the rumpled Sgt. Stavros. We value his knack for making a supporting character feel like a colleague, while recognising that Telly Savalas remains the main attraction.

The rumpled Sgt. Stavros helps *Kojak* (1973) feel like a programme about people at work, even when its leading man is doing most of the persuading. George Savalas brings warmth and humour to a police procedural whose central authority can be a little too comforting. We like him here because he makes the company worth keeping without demanding that the programme stop for him. Telly Savalas remains the main attraction, and George’s contribution is easier to appreciate when we do not ask it to be something larger.

Guest television appearances, including *The Fugitive* (1963), and supporting film parts in *Genghis Khan* (1965) and *Kelly’s Heroes* (1970) preceded his sustained work on *Kojak*. His 114 episodes as Stavros became the centre of his screen career. That continuity suits an actor whose strengths are warmth, humour and the ability to fit into an ensemble. It also makes *Kojak* the sensible place to begin, rather than hunting through guest appearances for a few minutes of him.

In Abby Mann’s series, Dan Frazer as Frank McNeill and Kevin Dobson as Bobby Crocker share the work of making the policemen around Kojak worth noticing. We warmed to this company because the men seemed to have a working life beyond receiving the leading man’s instructions. Savalas’s naturalistic playing is useful here: Stavros comes across as an ordinary colleague, with room for humour, rather than someone competing for attention. The effect depends on the ensemble, and it would be misleading to credit Savalas alone for it.

There are limits to what this sympathetic company can do. *Kojak* sometimes makes its central policeman so reassuring that the moral difficulties of the cases lose their force. The supporting performances help us enjoy spending time there, but they cannot make every police story less familiar. For Savalas, start with *Kojak* and allow the supporting cast time to become familiar.

## Biography

George Savalas (1924–1985) was an American actor of Greek descent. He is best known for playing Detective Sergeant Stavros on the television series *Kojak* (1973–1978), opposite his elder brother Telly Savalas. For the first two seasons he was credited simply as Demosthenes to avoid confusion with his brother.

Savalas appeared in guest roles on series including *The Fugitive* (1966), *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1967), *All in the Family* (1971) and *Kolchak: The Night Stalker* (1975). His film credits include *Kelly's Heroes* (1970). He also worked in theatre and studied drama at Columbia University.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, latimes.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Kojak* (1973), Fi1m 80, as Sgt. Stavros — [page](https://film.one/tv/kojak.md)
- *The Fugitive* (1963), Fi1m 84, as Prisoner — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-fugitive-1963.md)

## Also known for

- *Kelly's Heroes* (1970), 1st Sgt. Mulligan (Artillerly Unit)
- *All in the Family* (1971), Joe Frouge — [page](https://film.one/tv/all-in-the-family.md)
- *Violent City* (1970), Shapiro
- *The Outfit* (1973), Kenilworth Finance Employee (uncredited)
- *Kolchak: The Night Stalker* (1974), Kaz (as Demosthenes)
- *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1964), Greek Merchant
- *Alice* (1976)
- *Good Neighbor Sam* (1964), Truck Driver (uncredited)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/george-savalas