"Hello my name is Andy and this is my biography."

Andy Kaufman's life began on January 17, 1949. He was born in New York City and rasied in the Long Island suburb of Great Neck. Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman, the eldest son of Janice Kaufman and Stanely Kaufman was a show business person since an early age. He would sit on his bed and pretend to have a television show right in his wall. Sometimes his sister would be the audiance. Still at an early age Andy began performing magic tricks and pratical jokes for his friends and family. At the age of eight, he began making something out of his performances as an entertainer at children's parties. He did these performances for free untill he was fourteen, when he got paid for some of them. Around the age of ten or so, Andy saw a performance by West African percussionist Olatunji at his school. He then got inspired by this person and started to devolp his conga skills from his ability.                 Andy was a bright kid, and he even scored a one hundred and fourteen on the "Otis Gamma" intelligence test. At age fourteen Andy's father, Stanley, took Andy and his brother Micheal, to a wrestling match at Madison Square Garden. Andy witnessed "Nature Boy" Buddy Rodgers loose his world Championship to Bruno Sammartino, and this gave Andrew the thought of having a carrer in Wrestling. Since Andy's teenagehood, he began writing. His pieces include at least a hundred or more poems, short stories, novels, plays, and, even movies. Including a famous play of his called, "God".

Young Andy Kaufman.

Andy graduated from North Neck High School on June 23, 1967. He had a C average of seventy point six percent. He was the four hundred and nineteenth out of a class of four hundred and sixty one. Andy was prevented from the draft of Viet Nam due to a zero on the psychology test. During his high school days, he became a user of alcohol and drugs, which the habit DID die quickly . He went from job to job, and from place to place and basically drank his life away. But after Andy enrolled at Boston's Grahm Junior College to study television and radio production, he used drugs for the last time. Andy soon after got introduced to Transcendental Meditation courses to ease his shyness and to keep himself balanced emotionally and spiritually. These Meditations become a part of his life and they became a regular two time a day thing for him.

Andy Kaufman in his High School Yearbook.

On September 14, 1969 Andy performs his play, "God" at "Al's Place", a campus coffeehouse run by his friend, Al Parinello. From February to June 1971 Andy traveled to Marjoca, Spain to attend a Transcendental Meditation teaching corse. Andy spended leisure time all over Europe while he was there.                  Andy played at all kinds of clubs and pubs and bars. He did acts that were different and zany. They had the intention of confusing and challenging the crowd. Some of those acts were playing an inept foreign comedian, a low-life Las Vegas crooner, wrestling with women, singing the entire song of "One Hundred Bottles Of Beer On The Wall", Inpersonating Elvis Presley, reading The Great Gatsby aloud, or appearing on stage with a sleeping bag and sleep throughout the entire show.                   He was soon, "Discovered" by an Improvistaion Comedy Club owner named Budd Friedman. Andy was doing his, "Foreign Man" act at a Long Island rock pub called My Father's Place when Friedman's eye was caught on Andy. Not too much longer after this meeting, Andy begins doing shows at Friedman's Clubs In Los Angeles and New York City. One of Andy's major acts was opening for The Temptations in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Andy does an Elvis Presley impersanation.

Andy made his very first television appearance as Elvis Presley In June, 1972. He was a guest on Chicago's "Kennedy at Night". In 1973, while performing at a New York City improvisation show, Andy meets a comedy pair, Bob Zmuda and Chris Albrecht, who performs as the dismal. Their title was, "Zmuda and Albrecht, Comedy from A to Z". Andy Kaufman begins a lifelong realtionship with Bob Zmuda.             On June 6, 1974, Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman made his national television debut on Dean Martin's Comedyworld. Also, early in the year of 1975, NBC executive Dick Ebersol sees Andy's act and asked him to audition for the new late night show called, "Saturday Night". Not too much longer after this Andy appeared on "Saturday Night Live" for the first time lip synching, "The Theme From Mighty Mouse". His last appearance on "Saturday Night Live" was January 22, 1983. He was thanking the viewers who voted him in vain from a voting of the viewers to keep Andy playing on "Saturday Night Live" or not. The viewers voted him off.

Bob Zmuda

Andy Kaufman lip synching, "The Theme From Mighty Mouse" on "Saturday Night Live". October 11, 1975.

From June 23, of 1976 to March 27, 1977, Andy makes many appearances on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and does some opening act for, "The Sonny and Cher in Concert Tour". After many long, months apart, Andy meets up with his good friend Bob Zmuda agian at Los Angeles Bob assits Andy in the production of "The Andy Kaufman Special" .The show is based upon, "The Midnight Snack" shows that Andy and Mel Sherer created months earlier.                Andy starts performing his act of a rude Las Vegas lounge singer called Tony Clifton. Andy played this charachter and wanted the public to not know that. It was his joke. So make the charachter more real, and possibly as a kind of "proof" Andy gets Bob Zmuda to play the act of Tony Clifton after Andy does one last show in 1982 Playing Tony, and there on after Andy no longer does the character. Towards the end of February, 1978 Andy Kaufman and Tony Clifton appear at a comedy club called, "The Comedy Store". Writers from the television show, "Taxi" saw Andy's performance and invited him to join the ensemble cast.               On July 5, 1978, the sitcom "Taxi" begins production. Andy plays the roll of a foreign mechanic named "Latka Gravas". Andy doesn't like the idea of being a part of Taxi and loosing his "Foreign Man" act, but he does it for the National Exposure. He required a certain contract with the show deal taht was suitable to his own prefrence.

Andy Kaufman on "The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson"

Bob Zmuda as Tony Clifton.

Andy as Latka Gravas from the sitcom "Taxi"

Andy as a busboy

In August of 1978 Andy Begins working as a professional Busboy for Posh Bagel on Santa Monica Blvd. Shortly after, Andy begins his "National College Sex Concert Tour". He booked performances at various colleges across the country based upon fanmail recieved from beautiful college girls. Any woman who would write Andy a fan letter and supply with it a personal photo of her, would recieve a card from Andy. Showing this card at the night of the concert gained the holder of the card to meet Andy in his dressing room and get a backstage pass.                On November 21, 1978, Andy appaers as a contestant, Baji Kimran, on a television show called "The Dating Game". In mid December of 1978, Andy performs in concert at the Huntington Hartford Theatre in Hollywood, California. When the show ended, Andy took everyone out to "The Olde Spaghetti Factory" for milk and cookies. After this show, treating his audiances with milk and cookies became and Andy Kaufma tradition.

Andy Kaufman On "The Dating Game"

In 1979, Andy begins his reign as a World Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion, challenging any woman in the audience for his championship belt. He also offered to pay one thousand dollars to any woman who could pin his sholders down to the mat. In August of 1979, Andy's special "The Andy Kaufman Special" or "Andy's Fun House" aired on ABC. This special was originally taped in 1977. Also, at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in 1979, Andy was on a float =) In January of 1980 the Showtime cable network broadcasts "Andy Kaufman at Carnegie Hall".

Andy takes the audiance from Carnegie Hall out for milk and cookies. Mid December of 1978.

Andy Kaufman had very extreme coughing late in year 1983. He went to a docter and basically nothing had been found. But his coughing had gotten even worse. So Andy went to get a series of tests done to check his health. Docters were very shocked to find that Andy had Lung Cancer and it was already in advanced stages. No one could think that Andy Kaufman, a man who never smoked or did drugs could end up like this. Docters advised Andy that all he had were three months to live. After he heard this, he made sure to keep this secret. He didn't want the world to know. For Andy was a man of trickery, and made a fool of others, and now he was forced to get serious and be on the low end. Andy of corse, went somewhat into denial over his death and tried his hardest to stay alive. He had all kinds of healing medications that he wanted. Andy began to not sleep. He was afriad to never wake up. Day and night, he kept his eyes wide open. All the time, his eyes were wide open, despretely trying to see everything he could and enjoy every moment of life.           At 6:27 PM, on May 16, 1984, thirty five year old Andrew Geoffery Kaufman died, with his eyes wide open. Because of Andy's nature of fooling and tricking of the past, some people still believe that Andy is alive. He will always be in our hearts forever and be my personal inspiration. This site doesn't tell much about Andy. It doesn't say much about his personal life and who he really was. But with all do respect, I leave that at his business. Andy's accomplishments are good enough for me. Thank you so much for reading my article on Andy Kaufman. It means so much to me that people care about such a hard working man.

We Love you Andy, may you rest in peace.

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