NYPD detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak’s eponymous CBS series represented something new in police dramas when it debuted fifty years ago. It had to—in 1973 there were more than a score of crime-oriented shows on prime time. What Kojak offered to separate itself was a more gritty, straight-from-the-headlines realism in its sympathetic portrayal of police work. Over five seasons, it became a global phenomenon, and deserves revisiting today.
It was a bit of a gambit to cast Greek-American Aristotelis “Telly” Savalas as Kojak, as a 1973 New York Times feature explained. Savalas was a “perennial heavy” whose previous screen roles included a religious fanatic and sex deviant in “The Dirty Dozen,” as well as “a variety of convicts and gangsters, sadistic army sergeants, supercriminals and assorted unlovables ranging from Al Capone to Pontius Pilate.” The imposing six-foot-plus Greek emanated menace, with his bald cranium, hooked nose, thick neck, and heavy-lipped mouth.
Read Full Article »