Personal Side
When he wasn't acting, Telly played golf (the one constant
love of his life) everywhere possible and for as many
charity tournaments as he could find. He was truly a man
possessed when it came to golf. When there were no tournaments
to be played he would gather three friends and spend all
day on the golf course. He purchased a house in Palm Desert
specifically because he enjoyed the courses there so much.
Telly also enjoyed the horse track. Eventually, he
and buddy Howard Koch purchased a horse and named it
"Telly's Pop." Many thought the name stemmed
from Kojak, but truthfully Telly named it after his
father. Telly's Pop was a very successful horse. In
one year he won the Santa Anita Derby, the Del Mar Stakes
and the Hollywood Park Stakes - a feat that hadn't been
accomplished since the 1800s. A career-ending leg injury
prior to the Kentucky Derby prevented Telly's Pop from
furthering his record.
In 1984, Telly married long-time girlfriend Julie Hovland.
They had two children together, Christian and Ariana.
Telly was thrilled with their arrival. For Telly, his
children came above and beyond anything else in his
life, and he was enormously proud of them.
On January 22, 1994, 70-year-old Telly died from complications
of bladder cancer. He was laid to rest in the George
Washington section of Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los
Angeles. Inscribed on his headstone, a familiar quote
from Plato reads: "The hour of departure has
arrived, and we go our ways - I to die and you to live.
Which is better God only knows."
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