Avery was born in Philadelphia to Armenian parents Megerdich and Arousiag Der Abrahamian . His father was from Sebastia and moved to America in 1907 . During the Armenian Genocide , his grandfather Bedros Der Abrahamian , a priest at the Church of the Holy Mother of God in Sebastia , was murdered . In his early years he acted in plays with the Armenian Youth Federation . Following his service in World War II , he attended the Bessie V. Hicks School of Drama in Philadelphia
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Val Avery