Andy Kaufman Add to My Celebs Age 35 (passed away May. 16th, 1984) Birthday Jan. 17th, 1949 Born in New York City, New York, USA Height 6' 0"

Andy Kaufman's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Taxi Latka Gravas Fridays Andy Kaufma… Van Dyke and Company Regular Redd Foxx Andy Kaufman The Dean Martin Comedy World Andy Kaufman

Main Movie Roles 1976 - God Told Me To

NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at IMDB


BIOGRAPHY:

Referred to by some as a dadaistic comedian, Andy Kaufman took comedy and performance art to the edges of irrationality and blurred the dividing line between reality and imagination. Born in New York City on January 17, 1949, the first son of Stanley and Janice Kaufman, Andy grew up on New York in the town of Great Neck. He began performing for family and friends at the age of 7, and by the time he was 9 was being hired to entertain at children's parties. After a year at a Boston junior college, Andy began performing his unique brand of stand-up comedy at coffee shops and nightclubs on the east coast. Discovered by Improvisation comedy club owner Bud Friedman, Andy quickly earned a reputation as a talented, yet eccentric performer. Impressed by his abilities, Lorne Michaels asked Kaufman to appear on the inaugural broadcast of Saturday Night Live (October 11, 1975). Best known for his work as Latka Gravas on the TV sitcom Taxi, Andy appeared in several TV shows and movies, on Broadway, did a one man show at Carnegie Hall, enjoyed a brief professional wrestling career and performed in concerts nation-wide.


TRIVIA:

• Was working on a novel loosely based on his life that weaves in and out of reality titled The Huey Williams Story but had to stop because of his illness.
• Often read from the the book "The Great Gatsby" at performances. But, unlike the movie, never made it further than the second page of the first chapter.
• He was such a hardcore 'Elvis Presley' (qv) fan that he drove into a town that had an Elvis movie playing, with a TV set, so that he could plug in the set somewhere to see the movie on television!.
• He once skipped a photo shoot for TV Guide with the _"Taxi" (1978)_ (qv) cast to see a 'The Three Stooges' (qv) midnight showing with good friend 'E.M. Fredric' (qv).
• Kaufman and 'Jerry Lawler' (qv)'s famous feud, including their infamous _"Late Night with David Letterman" (1982)_ (qv) appearance, was all later confirmed by Lawler to be a setup and not real as many believed.
• One of his most famous performances was on the 1975 summer replacement show _"Van Dyke and Company" (1976)_ (qv), hosted by 'Dick Van Dyke' (qv). As his "Foreign Man", he did two very poor celebrity impressions, and then broke into a dead solid perfect impression of 'Elvis Presley' (qv). After the audience gave him thunderous applause, he replied, in his "Foreign Man" voice, "Thenk yew veddy much!" The audience went into hysterics.
• Despite their publicized, but fake, feud, Kaufman was actually a great admirer of 'Jerry Lawler' (qv).
• According to 'Jim Carrey' (qv) as stated in _A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman (1995) (TV)_ (qv), Kaufman created and originally played the "Tony Clifton" character. The secret kept for 15 years (according to Carrey) was that he did so only briefly and the character was soon passed off to 'Bob Zmuda' (qv) (Kaufman's writer). Most of the TV appearances of Tony Clifton are actually Zmuda, not Kaufman.

Andy Kaufman Photos

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