A “Dashing” Trio of Classic TV Detectives — “One White, One Armenian, One Greek and Bald”

A Look Back at Michael Cole as Pete Cochran, Mike Connors as Joe Mannix, and Telly Savalas as Theo Kojak

In the history of television, a countless number of “cool” detectives and private-eyes of all genders have been portrayed by a distinguished group of performers.

In my book, Dashing, Daring and Debonair: TV’s Top Male Icons From The ’50s, ’60s, And ’70s, I profile several actors from the machismo sector, three of which I have also addressed in the past year on Medium.com:

• Michael Cole as Pete Cochran on The Mod Squad (ABC, 1968–1973)
• Mike Connors as Joe Mannix on Mannix (CBS, 1967–1975 )
• Telly Savalas as Theo Kojak on Kojak (CBS, 1973–1978).

In each case, the actors were surrounded by an additionally-charismatic group of male and female co-stars and/or supporting players, such as Clarence Williams III, Peggy Lipton and Tige Andrews beside Cole on The Mod Squad (“one white, one black, one blond”), Gail Fisher as Connors’ dedicated sidekick on Mannix, and Kevin Dobson who shared the screen with Savalas on Kojak.

But for the moment, the focus is on Cole, Connors, and Savalas in the three separate links below.