Biographie

Andy Kaufman

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Date de naissance
17 janvier 1949 · Ville de New York, New York, États-Unis
Date de décès
16 mai 1984 · Los Angeles, Californie, États-Unis (cancer du poumon)
Nom de naissance
Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman
Taille
1,83 m

Usually played an unnamed character called Foreign Man, who soon evolved into Latka Gravis, the guy from Taxi.
His character Tony Clifton
Didn't like to break character, even when he was not filming.
Liked to play with the audience's heads, like reading The Great Gatsby instead of performing.
His eccentric behavior

Scored a zero on the psychological portion of his Army entrance test, thereby classifying him as ineligible for military service.
He once joked about faking his own death and returning 20 years later. In 2004, several of his friends threw a "Welcome back Andy" party. He didn't show up.
According to wrestler Jerry Lawler, when they cleaned out Andy's house after his death, many uncashed checks from Mid-South Wrestling promoter Jerry Jarrett were found. These were given as payment for his stint as a wrestler, and made many conclude that he didn't wrestle for the money, but rather for the love of it.
He was the original creator of the format television show Andy's Funhouse (1979) which has later re-vamped by Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman) into Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986). Reubens got permission from Kaufman himself right before his death.
His Tony Clifton character was supposed to appear on the Christmas episode of Taxi (1978) as Louie De Palma's brother, but "Tony" repeatedly pushed everyone's buttons and slowed down production until he was replaced (much to Andy's delight).

There's no way to describe what I do. It's just me.
There's no drama like wrestling.
Pure entertainment is not an egotistical lady singing boring songs onstage for two hours and people in tuxes clapping whether they like it or not. It's the real performers on the street who can hold people's attention and keep them from walking away.
Whenever I play a role, whether it's good or bad, an evil person or nice person, I believe in being a purist and going all the way with the role. If I'm going to be a villainous wrestler, I believe in going all the way with it and not breaking character and not giving away to the audience that I'm playing a role. I believe in playing it straight to the hilt.
They say, "Oh wow, Andy Kaufman, he's a really funny guy." But I'm not trying to be funny. I just want to play with their heads.