May 16th marked the 30th anniversary of the passing of legendary comic/performance artist Andy Kaufman. Although he was best known for his role as Latka Gravas on the TV show Taxi, he also gained notoriety for his feud with pro wrestler Jerry Lawler, which led up to an infamous appearance in 1982 on Late Night with David Letterman where Lawler slapped Kaufman (who was wearing a neck brace due to "injuries" suffered in a wrestling match in Memphis four months prior) out of his chair in front of a shocked Letterman, and an angry Kaufman came back and launched a profanity-laced tirade against Lawler. It wasn't until years later that the whole feud was revealed as being staged and that Kaufman and Lawler were actually close friends in real life.

Andy Kaufman died from lung cancer on May 16, 1984, yet rumors persist to this day that he actually faked his death and is still living incognito somewhere.

Kaufman was a controversial and polarizing figure, and people either loved him or hated him. Any thoughts or recollections?

He never really made much of a mark in our culture, but his life was certainly an 'interesting' one to say the least...

Personally, I think he IS dead - you can't keep a charade going for that long - especially in today's media climate!

He was a little out there for me. 

I do remember seeing the Mighty Mouse bit on Snl probable the night it originally aired or later in a rerun. I thought that was funny and Layla was a great character.


Nothing else Kaufman did made me laugh. Not as a child nor as an adult.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1352612!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/kaufman24f-5-web.jpg

Some believe this is Andy Kaufman. ^

Andy Kaufman died from lung cancer on May 16, 1984, yet rumors persist to this day that he actually faked his death and is still living incognito somewhere.

They always say that he faked his death and is living somewhere. Well, seeing is believing.

I remember Andy's appearances on SNL. Who was this warped kid? Made me giggle.
His role as Latka on Taxi was excellent.

I remember the Jerry Lawlor incident, but like Q I don't recall too much else that he did was funny.

I know Kaufman from Taxi and a movie he did in 1981 called Heartbeeps where he played a robot who fell in love with another robot (played by Bernadette Peters).  If you never saw this movie, it's just as bad as it sounds.

I do believe he is dead, despite what 'Man on the Moon' led you to believe.  I really enjoyed that biopic of his life, but the one thing I didn't like about it was how David Letterman and Paul Shaffer did not change their appearance so they would look like they did then

http://www.headstuff.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/andy-kaufman-alive-faked-death-daughter.jpg