Will the
real Kojak please stand up?
No, it’s not
“To Tell the Truth.” Simply the case of the well-known actor, Telly Savalas,
meeting his look-alike, John T. Ervin of Valdosta, Georgia.
For years
people have been barraging Ervin with pleas for his autograph; believing him to
be the highly visible character actor. It’s gotten so that he sometimes signs
the name for the ones who are belligerently disbelieving of his look-alike
story just to get away.
All this
time he has been hoping he could meet the man whom he so closely resembles. The
end of it is that it actually came true when Ervin who is stationed in Germany
and serves as an Army vet got to meet and talk with Savalas who is on location
for a new movie.
Ervin was
born in Dasher, Georgia, and his hometown is Valdosta where his mother and
step-father also reside. He has seven brothers and sisters.
The
resemblance between the two men is striking. They have similar facial
characteristics, both have bald heads, and they weigh within three pounds of
one another.
It wasn’t
until recently, however, when Savalas began getting more choice parts in movies
and television that Ervin has reaped some of the rewards of the actor’s
acclaim.
While Ervin
was in high school at Valdosta, from which he graduated in 1950, he was just
one of the crowd.
Even when he
came back from his first four year stint in the Navy, and studied at the
University of Georgia and worked with Dr. Loyce Turner here until he went back
into the military in 1964, Ervin still retained his anonymity.
But now
people from all over the world, from Hong Kong to Las Vegas to Berlin, mistake
him for Telly Savalas.
The
similarity between the two is so real that once in Berlin, while Ervin was
waiting in the hotel to meet Savalas, that the latter’s business managers
walked up to him and began “talking shop;” according to the story Ervin told
his family in Valdosta.
One woman
who ran into Ervin on the subway told him that he should be traveling in a limo
like a star, instead of traveling on a public transit system.
Most people
are very good natured when they find he isn’t the real Telly Savalas, he said.
But some people feel like he’s a snob when he claims he isn’t the star.
Once, he
thought he was going to be tossed into the water by an irate mother who wanted
Savalas’ autograph for her daughter, he reported.
Especially
since “Kojak,” Savalas cops and robbers program has been so popular around the
world, Ervin has been dodging autograph hounds.
But it all
paid off in their final meeting when Ervin got an autographed photo from
Savalas for his step-father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. H.B and Lena Barwick, of
Rt. 2, Valdosta. Savalas inscribed the photo “To Mom and Dad. From your other
son, Telly Savalas.”
Ervin told
his family that he had been nervous about meeting the star. But as soon as the
men met, they apparently “hit it off.” Of course, they had a lot to talk about
just comparing vital statistics. Telly made John feel right at home, the
Valdostan said.
“He was
friendly and gracious. I felt welcome. As soon as he smiled, and put out his
hand, I forgot all about being nervous, and the photographers, and everything
else,” Ervin said.
“If I am
going to look like an actor, I can’t think of any actor I would rather look
alike. He could have posed for a quick picture, but he didn’t. He made me feel
real good. I’ll remember this weekend for the rest of my life,” Ervin was
quoted after he left the hotel in Berlin.
Savalas was
in Berlin shooting a movie about an Army major. Coincidentally, Ervin is also a
major in the Army.
Ervin has
about five years left in service before he retires. His family hopes he will
return to Valdosta.
by Becky Vail
The Valdosta Times Newspaper
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