As a singer, Savalas had some chart success. His spoken (i.e. not sung) version of Bread's If produced by Snuff Garrett was #1 in Europe for 10 weeks in 1975 and his version of Don Williams' Some Broken Hearts Never Mend topped the charts in 1980.[5] He worked with composer and producer John Cacavas on many albums, including Telly (1974) and Who Loves Ya, Baby (1976).
In the late 1970s, Savalas narrated three UK travelogues titled Telly Savalas Looks at Portsmouth, Telly Savalas Looks at Aberdeen and Telly Savalas Looks at Birmingham. These were produced by Harold Baim and were examples of quota quickies which were then part of a requirement that cinemas in the United Kingdom showed a set percentage of British produced films.[6][7] He also hosted the 1989 video UFOs and Channeling.
Savalas wrote, directed and starred in the film Beyond Reason (1977).
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Savalas appeared in commercials for the Players' Club Gold Card. These commercials were parodied by Phil Hartman on Saturday Night Live as "The Player With Yourself Club". The line from the parody was "If you're a player, you need to be where the action is, and when there's no action you have to create it yourself. That's why I'm telling you about the Player With Yourself Club." Savalas' commercials also inspired a skit on In Living Color, where Jim Carrey played Savalas, who wields a literal "player's club" and knocks successful gamblers unconscious, taking their winnings, though tossing them a chip or two out of generosity.
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