Avery was born in Philadelphia. 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. Avery’s pock-marked face and shifty appearance allowed him to frequently be cast as a gangster, or other menacing heavies. Avery’s TV roles include the Columbo episodes A Friend in Deed (1974), Dead Weight (1971), The Most Crucial Game (1972) and Identity Crisis (1975). Other TV appearances include The Untouchables, Gunsmoke, The Asphalt Jungle, Daniel Boone, The Twilight Zone, The Munsters, The Odd Couple, Kojak, Quincy, M.E., Law & Order, and Friday the 13th: The Series. Some motion pictures Avery appeared in are the John Cassavetes films, Too Late Blues (1961), Faces (1968), Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) and Gloria (1980). His many other film credits include The Long, Hot Summer (1958), The Magnificent Seven (1960), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), Hud (1963), The Hallelujah Trail (1965), Nevada Smith (1966), Assault on a Queen (1966), Hombre (1967), The Brotherhood (1968), A Dream of Kings (1969), The Traveling Executioner (1970), The Anderson Tapes (1971), Black Caesar (1973), Papillon (1973), The Laughing Policeman (1973), Russian Roulette (1975), Let’s Do It Again (1975), Lucky Lady (1975), Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), Love and Bullets (1979), The Wanderers (1979), The Amityville Horror (1979), Brubaker (1980), Continental Divide (1981), Sharky’s Machine (1981), Jinxed! (1982), The Sting II (1983), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), Too Scared to Scream (1985), Cobra (1986) and Donnie Brasco (1997). Avery died on December 12, 2009 at age 85 in his Greenwich Village home. His ashes were given to his daughter, actress Margot Avery.