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Andy Kaufman

Age: 35 (passed away May. 16th, 1984)
Height: 6' 0"

Birth Place: New York City, New York, USA
Born: Jan. 17th, 1949

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Andy Kaufman's Main TV Roles

Show	Character(s)
Taxi	Latka Gravas
Van Dyke and Company	Regular
Fridays	Guest Host
Redd Foxx	Andy Kaufman
The Dean Martin Comedy World	Andy Kaufman

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:

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 441-442. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.
Had one granddaughter, 'Brittany Colonna' (qv), who played his younger sister as a child in _Man on the Moon (1999)_ (qv).
Was piledriven twice by 'Jerry Lawler' (qv)
Museum of TV and Radio presented 90-minute film of Kaufman highlights to honor him posthumously in New York and L.A. in October, 1999.
Wrestled "Playboy" Playmate 'Susan Smith (II)' (qv) in a match for the "intergender championship of the world" belt. Although Smith clearly bested Kaufman in this fierce bout, he was nonetheless declared the winner. There was a pictorial of this match in the February, 1982 issue of "Playboy".
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.
During the height of his _"Taxi" (1978)_ (qv) fame, he worked part-time at "The world famous Jerry's Deli" on Ventura Blvd. in Los Angeles as a busboy just to stay grounded.
His style of entertainment is now known as "performance art."