Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman (January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was a New York-born American self-described "song and dance man." Though numerous refer to him as a comedian, Andy himself hated this, saying "I never told a joke in my life." He is one of a best known practician of anti-humor. He was as well the composer. He graduated within 1971 from either the nowadays-defunct Grahm Junior College where he studied television & completed projects that informed his in the future function.

His early work
Kaufman number one caught population's attention by owning the character known as "Foreign Man" in the early 1970s. "Foreign Man", world health organization claimed to exist as from either Caspiar (the made-up island in the Caspian Sea), would appear on the stage of comedy clubs and perform the total of bad impersonations (Archie Bunker, Nixon, etc). For instance, he may say within the bogus accent, "I would like to imitate Meester Carter, de President of de United States." He would so say in the equivalent voice, "Hello, I am Meester Carter, de President of de United States. Thenk you veddy much." the audience would become torn between outrage at seeing such a bad work, & sympathy for the miserable "Foreign Man", world health organizatiin would cry on stage another time heckled plenty. At that point, "Foreign Man" would launch into an Elvis Presley impersonation good sufficiency that Elvis Presley himself would late describe it when his favourite. the audience would understand it got been tricked, which became a trademark of Kaufman's comedy.

Kaufman likewise manufactured the title for himself in NBC's Saturday Night Live, starting in 1975, as a guest on the show. He would typically clean odd items, like lip sync to the Mighty Mouse theme or even perform his "Foreign Man" character.

"Latka"
Kaufman later on reprised his "Foreign Man" character, renamed "Latka Gravas", for the Taxi sitcom in 1978. Kaufman despised sitcoms & was non thrilled by using a idea of get on 1. Sequentially to allow Kaufman to demonstrate a select few comedic range, his character tend multiple personality disorder which allowed Kaufman to display more characters. Within of these episode, Kaufman's character come down sustaining a affliction which manufactured him work rather the character played by Judd Hirsch.

In two or three occasions, audiences would indicate as much as one of Kaufman's performances requesting to watch "Latka." Kaufman would announce that he was attend scroll through The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald to them. A audience would laugh thinking that Kaufman was joking. It were presently horrified to buy retired that he was all good & would understand a entire book to the two.

"Tony Clifton"
Kaufman's 2nd virtually all swell known character would become "Tony Clifton", the abusive lounge singer. Clifton began opening for Kaufman at comedy clubs and finally potentially performed concerts in his have as much as a united states. Occasionally it wwhen Kaufman performing as Clifton, periodically it was his brother Michael or even his friend Bob Zmuda. For the brief period, it was undecipherable to the select few that Clifton was non a rattling human. News actually interviewed Clifton when Kaufman's opening work. A interviews would unremarkably turn horrible if Kaufman's title come higher, because Clifton would claim that Kaufman was utilizing him for rich.

Clifton was, at Kaufman's insistence, hired for the guest role in Taxi, but fallowing throwing the scene in stage, got to exist as escorted bump off of the ABC studio's lot by security guards. Good deal to Kaufman's delight, this incident was reported in the local newspapers.

Around 1979, Kaufman performed in front of the Carnegie Hall audience, which he later took out for milk & cookies, via 35 buses that were waiting outside. At a beginning of his Carnegie Hall performance, Kaufman invited his grandma to keep an eye on a indicate from either a chair he got positioned at the side of the stage. At a prevent of the indicate, his gran stood higher, took her mask off & revealed to the audience that she was actually comedian Robin Williams in disguise.

"Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion"
Kaufman grew higher admiring professional wrestlers and the fairyland that it perform inside. For a brief instance, Kaufman began wrestling women when you took his work & was the self-proclaimed "Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World". He offered $1,000 reward to any woman that can pin him. Late, when the challenge from either Sales person matman Jerry Lawler, Kaufman would step into the ring (in the Memphis, Tennessee wrestling circuit) with the human - Lawler himself. Lawler's on-going feud involved an apparent broken neck for Kaufman following of the piledriver by Lawler, and the far-famed in-air fight on the Late Night with David Letterman television show. Kaufman & Lawler's illustrious feud & wrestling matches were 100% late confirmed as the gag (or even, inside wrestling idiom, a "work") and not rattling when several believed at a instance. Actually, Kaufman was non wounded patch wrestling Lawler, & in point of fact, them were friends.

Kaufman mass produced x appearances in David Letterman's morning & late-nighttime shows, including of these in which he claimed to exist as homeless & begged a audience for money, and of these in which he talked just about his adoptive tykes, world health organization turned bent on become troika fully grown African American men. Kaufman likewise processed the total of legendary appearances in NBC's Saturday Night Live, until he angered the audience by owning his female wrestling routine. A SNL audience voted to ban Kaufman from either the indicate permanently, though it was never processed clear whether or even does'nt this was a gag.

The Fridays Incident
Around 1981, Kaufman made two or three of memorable appearances in Fridays, a variety show on ABC that was similar to SNL. Kaufman's 1st appearance on a indicate proved to exist as the virtually all memorable of these. within the period of the sketch placed in the eating house, Kaufman broke character & refused to say his lines. the more comedians were embarrassed per positiin that Kaufman got put the babies within on a survive tv show. Within response, Michael Richards walked off camerthe & returned by owning a placed of cue cards and dumped the babies negotiable ahead of Kaufman. Andy responded by splashing Michael Richards by having h2o. a stage technician stormed onto the stage, leading to a brawl in camera prior to the indicate eventually cut away to commercial message. the entire incident was apparently a gag conceived by Andy Kaufman, however how else several population were inside on the gag (in case any) was never mass produced clear. Disregardless, Kaufman appeared the below week within a videotaped apology to the at home viewers. Late that season, Kaufman returned to unsuspecting hosts Fridays. At one point in the indicate, he invited gospel singer Kathie Sullivan on stage to sing a few gospel songs by having him & announced that them were engaged to become married & talked to the audience all about his newfound faith around Jesus. It was course totally the dupery.

Throughout his entire agency career, Kaufman saved his day job, bussing tables at ''Jerry's Famous Deli''.

Kaufman's death, rebirth and legacy
Kaufman died in May 16, 1984 at the age of 35 of lung cancer and was interred in the Beth David Cemetery, Elmont, New York (Long Island). On top a years, numerous population doubted Kaufman's dying, thinking that he staged it when a ultimate Andy Kaufman stunt. For a single tool, friends & personal said that Andy never smoked, didn't digest regularly, & was likewise the vegetarian. Lung cancer is uncommon inside non-smokers, & these are besides rare inside humans under Fifty. Numerous humans look at that his cancer was a effect of his club times, meaning that he spent much of period inhale secondhand smoke from comedy club audiences for nearly xv years. For a second, Kaufman himself potentially said that were he to fake his demise, he would link to Twenty years late, in May 16, 2004, a claim which has be an urban legend.

Since a passing of this date, there keep around been uncorroborated reports claiming that Kaufman is back from either a dead & has [http://andykaufmanreturns.blogspot.com/ a blog apparently chronicling his comeback]. All a same, these claims come extremely confutable & come potentially self-contradictory in situ (on the web log he contradicts the, nowadays suspended, release which he apparently wrote & invite himself). Possibly twelve of fake Kaufmans were potential to come out about this instance & this appears to become another example of urban legends inspiring real cases.

A second part bantering theory making a cycles using your internet browser is that Kaufman had plastic surgery to dramatically alter his appearance & occurs as todays-day comedian or even celebrity. Normally a celebrity mentioned is Jim Carrey, who starred around Man on the Moon, the 1999 film about Kaufman's life that was directed by Milos Forman, and inspired per 1992 R.E.M. song of the same name. Carrey occurs as long-period fan of Kaufman's & fought tough for the role, & possibly owns Kaufman's conga drums. (Too interestingly, he & Kaufman part a equivalent birthday: January 17th.) Additionally, Carrey's acting was considered uncannily just about a way Kaufman was commonly, potentially based on data from Kaufman's friend Bob Zmuda. (Incidentally, Zmuda was within Batman Forever, which co-starred Carrey.) To "support" this theory, parallels come typically drawn from either Kaufman's life to Carrey's flick, which include The Majestic, in which Carrey plays the human world health organization loses his memory & experiences an additional individual's life, & Me, Myself and Irene, in which Carrey plays the whiten father of ternary African-U.s. males. Nevertheless, potentially in case a single were to forget about Carrey's childhood as a fabrication, he 1st emerged as an actor inside 1983, which is a month as well early. Further belike is that Carrey's feel of humor was influenced by & is similar to Kaufman's.

A rock band R.E.M. wrote and recorded a song about Kaufman, "Man on the Moon", for their 1992 album Automatic for the People. A lyrics refer to the conversation around his 1983 moving picture using grappler Fred Blassie, "My Breakfast with Blassie". A song wwhen as well utilized as a title track for the film of the same title. A band as well composed a song "The Great Beyond" for the film.