Retro : Seriously, He’d Rather Go for Laughs

Telly Savalas is coming clean.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t remember sucking lollipops,” Savalas says.

Quite a confession from the Emmy-winning actor who became a household name as the lollipop-loving New York detective Lt. Theo Kojak on the 1973-78 CBS series “Kojak.” Savalas first introduced the character of Kojak on the acclaimed 1973 CBS movie “The Marcus Nelson Murders.”

So what’s the real scoop on the lollipops?

“(Kojak) had an occasional lollipop,” Savalas says. “I conceived the idea. Look, (in the series) this chick, a meter maid, wants me to stop smoking. She hands me a lollipop, so I suck a lollipop. So, it just caught on didn’t it? Like a jerk, I sucked a lollipop.”

Over the years, Savalas has resurrected Kojak for a series of TV movies but has shied away from doing episodic television. After a two-year absence, Savalas is back on the small screen, guest-starring in a trilogy of episodes on ABC’s detective series “The Commish.”

Savalas is playing Tommy Colette, a well-known mobster who moves to the small town of Eastbridge, N.Y., to retire. However, Commissioner Tony Scali (Michael Chiklis) is skeptical about Colette’s retirement. The first installment aired Dec. 19; the second last week and the conclusion will air Saturday.

So what lured Savalas back to television?

“Well, the first reward is that I have got my grandchildren up here,” says Savalas on the phone from Vancouver, Canada, where “The Commish” is filmed. “My son-in-law is the producer, so I didn’t do him any harm by doing the shows. The show is delightful, and it has been so long since I have worked on episodic television I was surprised. It is not leisurely, but the pacing is a little bit different than if you are a lead of the show. As a guest star, you can sit back for the most part and have fun with it.”

Although Savalas enjoys doing the occasional “Kojak” movie, he doesn’t think he’d want another series “unless I could do a comedy. I am a funny guy. I don’t want to play bad guys any more. Though I welcome this part to break away from my good-guy image.”

Savalas, who received a best supporting actor nomination for 1962’s “The Birdman of Alcatraz,” has tried his hand at comedy, starring in 1963’s “The Man From the Diner’s Club” and “Love Is a Ball” and 1969’s “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell” (“that is one of my favorite pictures”).

“(Tell producers) to give me a girl, not a gun,” Savalas says, laughing.

“The Commish” airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. on ABC; repeats of “Kojak” air Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on WGN, and the series gets a retrospective March 5 during the Museum of Television and Radio Television Festival at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.