Andy Kaufman: 1949 – 1984
Biographical Summary
January 17, 1949
Born Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman in New York City, the first son of
Stanley and Janice Kaufman. Grew up in the suburb of Great Neck, Long Island.
(Note: In an interesting irony, Jim Carey, who portrayed Andy Kaufman in the 1999 movie "Man on the Moon," also has the same birthday.)
1957
First performed as the featured entertainer at children’s birthday parties.
June 23, 1967
Graduates from Great Neck North Senior High School.
August of 1968
Enrolls at Boston’s Grahm Junior College to study Radio and Television.
September 14, 1969
Performs his original play,"God," at "Al’s Place" a campus coffeehouse run by his
good friend, Al Parinello. This is the first time Andy is paid to perform in public. He
earned $5.00.
1970
Hosts "Uncle Andy’s Fun House" on the Grahm Junior College campus in their
closed circuit television station (WCBS-TV). Offers children milk and cookies to be
a part of his audience.
May 29, 1971
Graduates from Grahm junior College with an Associate’s Degree in Applied
Science.
1972
Discovered by Budd Friedman, "Improvisation" comedy club owner. Andy
begins doing his stand-up act at Friedman’s Improv Clubs in New York and, later,
Los Angeles.
June 6, 1974
Makes his national television debut on Dean Martin’s "Comedyworld."
October 11, 1975
Lip-synchs the theme from Mighty Mouse on the inaugural broadcast of
"Saturday Night Live."
June 23, 1976
Makes his first guest appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.
Fall, 1977
Andy hires Tony Clifton to open for him at "The Comedy Store" and wrestles a
woman for the first time at the L.A. "Improv." He later became the self-
proclaimed "Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion."
1978 – 1983
Andy works part-time as a bus-boy at "Posh Bagel" and "Jerry’s Famous Deli" in
L.A., as a way to keep himself grounded and in touch with regular people.
September 12, 1978
First broadcast of "Taxi" airs on ABC, where Andy play the role of an immigrant
auto mechanic, Latka Gravas, based on his "foreign-man" character.
Later that year, Andy gets Tony Clifton a job on "Taxi," but Tony gets fired for
insubordination and ineptitude before the shooting begins.
1979
Nominated for a Golden Globe award as Best Supporting Actor in
a Comedy or Musical Series by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for his
work on "Taxi."
After his sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall, takes audience of 2,800 in
buses to the New York School of Printing, where they were seated in
kindergarten chairs and given milk and cookies.
August 29, 1979
Stars in his own ABC comedy/variety special, "Uncle Andy’s Fun House."
1980
Andy co-stars with Richard Pryor and Marty Feldman in the movie "In God We
Trust," playing a televangelist.
February 20, 1981
On ABC’s late night show "Friday’s," Andy refuses to play stoned, disrupting and
ending the show in a fight with cast, crew and director.
December 18, 1981
Stars with Bernadette Peters as robot in the movie "Heartbeeps."
April 5, 1982
Wrestles heavyweight Jerry Lawler in Memphis, resulting in a serious neck injury for
which he was hospitalized.
July 28, 1982
On "Late Nite with David Letterman," Andy provoked Jerry Lawler with insults,
whereby Lawler retaliated by slapping Andy out of his chair. Andy shouted
obsentities and threw coffee at Lawler.
February 18, 1983
The final episode of "Taxi" is filmed.
April 20, 1983
Performs in Broadway play "Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Fly-Trap." The play closed
on opening night.
January 26, 1984
Makes last television appearance as host of "The Top," introducing Cindy Lauper
for her first television appearance.
March 20, 1984
In his last public appearance, Andy attends the premiere of his film "My Breakfast
with Blassie" in L.A.
May 16, 1984
Dies at age 35 from a rare lung cancer.
Note: Additional biographical data about Andy Kaufman can be found at:
"Lost in the Funhouse – The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman"
by Bill Zehme. Random House, Inc. 1999.
Click Here to Find the book at Amazon.com
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001412/bio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Kaufman
http://andykaufman.jvlnet.com