Talk:Andy Kaufman

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Image:WikiWorld_icon.JPG Andy Kaufman was featured in a WikiWorld cartoon:
(click image to the right for full size version.)

Dick Van Dyke Variety Show

Why is there no mention of Kaufman on the Dick Van Dyke variety show (circa 75-76)? My earliest memory of him was when he 'lost' an Elvis look-alike contest on the show to an African-American gentleman with a large Afro-haircut. If I remember correctly (30 years later) Dick told the seemingly-dejected Kaufman to "come back anytime" which was the supposed excuse for Kaufman to pop up from time-to-time in the following weeks. He primarily played the Foreign Man during these skits. I have read that these were Kaufman's first prime-time appearances. Dick must have been somewhat connected to the SNL crowd back then because I think Chevy Chase's first primetime appearance was on his show too. --Drunken Corgi Master, 9/4/07 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Drunkencorgimaster (talk • contribs) 14:05, 6 September 2007 (UTC)


Contents

[edit] Andy Kaufman: Dead or Alive?

I have to leave for the weekend, therefore since I can't follow this up, please feel free to act as you feel appropriate:

Andy Kaufman died on May 16, 1984. He said that if he were to fake his own death, he'd re-emerge 20 years later (more info in the link). Maybe this can be featured as a brief event notice somewhere on the 'pedia. Some might want to know about it in advance, even if only to remember the character. I didn't know where to put this information, and whether it's appropriate, so here it is, in case anyone cares. --Gutza 13:14, 30 Apr 2004 (UTC)

One can only hope. Anyway, I mentioned it in the article. Alcarillo 15:37, 30 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Today I read a press release that Kaufman is alive, and May 16 was only a couple days ago. So either the death was a hoax or this "revival" is...which is which? (EDIT: The late Andy Kaufman is, alas, still late. Oh, well.)

--Furrykef 01:07, 20 May 2004 (UTC)

It's a hoax - see the link to Snopes at the bottom of the article. --bodnotbod 00:51, May 21, 2004 (UTC)

I found that (I'm a regular reader of snopes) -- hence my edit to my post. :) --Furrykef 02:05, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

Oops. Sorry. I've just added Snopes What's New to my "Watch That Page" list (non Wikipedia watching device). --bodnotbod 21:31, May 21, 2004 (UTC)

How do we stand if we want to publish a photo of Andy Kaufman? Obviously, we cannot take one and Gnu FDL it as he's gone - are there any photots which may be in the public domain which we could obtain?

Our options are:
  1. Get a current photo owner to release one under the GFDL
  2. Wait until one enters the public domain (creator's life plus 75 yrs)
  3. Try and justify one under fair use. This is problematic at best; talk to User:Jamesday or raise a question on Wikipedia:Help desk and Wikipedia:Village pump.
Good luck, [[User:Meelar|Meelar (talk)]] 06:52, 26 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Thanks - Andy died some time ago now and it may be difficult to even find the creator of these images. Kabads 07:10, 26 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I changed the following passage on his death:
Kaufman apparently died on May 16, 1984 of lung cancer and was allegedly interred in the Beth David Cemetery, Elmont, New York (Long Island).
To this:
Kaufman died on May 16, 1984 of lung cancer and was interred in the Beth David Cemetery, Elmont, New York (Long Island).
It doesn't really seem to be fitting og an encyclopedic article to be so ambiguous about the confirmed death of a modern celebrity. Peter Isotalo 17:55, May 7, 2005 (UTC)
A lot of people really believe he faked his death, and for NPOV the ambiguity has to exist. Andre (talk) 19:20, May 7, 2005 (UTC)
You can't cast doubts over easily verifiable facts like the death of a person by adding such obvious POV-wording. Either he's dead and buried or someone better present some very credible evidence that he isn't. There is no middle ground here. This kind of wording isn't even used in the article on Elvis, even though the amount of crackpot conspiracy theorists focusing on the second coming of the King must outnumber the "Andy Kaufman lives"-fanclub by at least 1000:1.
Peter Isotalo 15:25, May 8, 2005 (UTC)
Well, then the Elvis article needs work, not the Andy Kaufman article. I myself am not a crackpot conspiracy theorist, but a number of people believe that Kaufman faked his death, and this view should have equality. That's the nature of NPOV. Maybe the way we currently have it is too strong, but I think the way you had it changed to was too weak. Andre (talk) 02:28, May 9, 2005 (UTC)
Let's just dig him up from his grave and check! :P

[edit] Additional sources?

Most of the information in this article reads like an abridgement of the biographical movie Man on the Moon. Surely there were other aspects of Kaufman's life detailed in other sources? There are, for example, several books, including one written by his friend Bob Zmuda. I hope that this article is expanded; it could even become an interesting featured article. --LostLeviathan 23:55, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] My Breakfast With Blasse

The entry omits Andy's funniest short film My Breakfast With Blasse. Hard to find, but so freakin funny. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.120.170.197 (talk • contribs) .

  • It's mentioned in the article, near the bottom. -- MisterHand 16:09, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Quotes

I am disgusted that there is no Andy Kaufman Wikiquote page...

So create one, whoever you are. Tvoz 02:40, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jim Carrey

The Jim Carey claims seem to be based on a forum posting at imdb[1] Does such a wild theory, based on a internet forum posting really deserve such a large mention on wikipedia? I think not. --Windsok 23:38, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

It's Jim Carrey. C-A-R-R-E-Y. Moncrief 02:14, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Direct contradiction in first two paragraphs

Paragraph 1: He graduated from Grahm College.

Paragraph 2: He dropped out of Grahm College after one year.

WHICH IS IT?? You don't graduate from a college unless you earn a degree from it. This is a sad article for a subject so notable. Moncrief 02:10, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

You know what? All you had to do is Google it - I did, and 2 seconds later discovered that Grahm was a 2-yr college which he did graduate from in 1971. So I fixed it. The article needed work, true, but you could have improved it by finding the information and correcting it rather than just criticizing. Just saying. Tvoz 02:38, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Peer review

This article is in DIRE need of peer review. Moncrief 02:14, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Elvis Impersonation

This article fails to mention what he did after his Elvis impression had convincing the audience that they had been tricked. He would end the act by approching the mic with "Foreign Man" mannerisums and say, "Thenk you veddy much", leaving the audience doubting they had actually been tricked. --Zerothis 19:37, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Inter gender wrestling section

This section contains absolutely no sources and complete speculation. I plan on deleting it entirely if no sources are provided within one week. Stanley011 17:45, 27 August 2006 (UTC).

I just saw Man On The Moon, and it appears to me that many of the anecdotes from Kaufman's life, are actually taken from the film (F Scot Fitzgerald, Clifton in Taxi), but no-on knows howfar the film was true to its subject. --145.99.202.92
I don't see any point in deleting the section altogether. What exactly is mere speculation in your opinion? You never know the complete truth when it comes to Andy, but from what is known today, the section is accurate. I have added an article from "the Other Arena" and a Memphis newspaper in which Lawler is interviewed about the whole story to the link section.88.217.35.137 08:22, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
Jerry Lawlers book was cited. In an interview on Dave Meltzers radio show Lawler admitted the whole thing, including the Letterman incident, were scripted. Naturally, all of the actual wrestling appearances were worked. DJTodd 20 September 2006.

[edit] Laurie Anderson

I took out this reference to her spoken word:

Possibly romantically linked with him as well (implied by the spoken word recording Ugly One With the Jewels in which she talks about him).

As a fan of both performers, I was surprised not to have noticed this earlier. Except that it's not in the song mentioned: [link to copyvio website removed] Brodo 18:07, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

That's not referring to a song but actually the album with that title, which contains songs such as The Rotowhirl that mention him. I don't see anything about romance, though. Andre (talk) 22:32, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Great Gatsby

I think he usually read the entire book to the audience, not just "extensive passages." It is a fairly short book. I am looking for a source on this. 67.185.99.246 09:54, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

I believe you're right - that was the point. (At least that's what the Carrey movie depicted.) Tvoz 10:11, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Foreign Man = Latka?

User 216.55.199.122 posted a claim that the text regarding Latka being a reprise of Foreign Man was wrong, and that Kaufman "maintained" that they were separate characters. No supporting citation is given - nor did I find any. Just stating it doesn't make it so. If you have a source, please share it. Tvoz 22:21, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

And then same anonymous poster says it again, still without source. So I found the references - Latka was indeed a reprise of a version of Foreign Man, as our text said. I'm reverting again and posting the citations now. Tvoz 19:24, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "andy kaufman returns" hoaxes

The sections about the various andy-is-alive hoaxes were, in my opinion, way too long and full of hard-to-follow, repetitive, minute detail - far more than is needed to make the point. So I significantly cut that part down into one small section. If others disagree, I hope rather than just reverting you'll edit the old sections to make them more comprehensible, less repetitive, and in appropriate proportion to the rest of the article. I don't think we need more than we now have, but others might not agree. If so, good luck with that - I found it nearly impossible to work with the info dump Tvoz 02:50, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Andy's Funhouse

Merged this into main article. Tvoz 22:23, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pronunciation

Was he "Korfman" or "Kowfman"? Both are heard in Man on the Moon. Lfh 11:22, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] performance art citation?

User:WoodenTaco - not sure what citation is being requested - that he engaged in performance art? that he didn't self-identify as a comedian? please clarify what you're looking for. Tvoz | talk 06:36, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

Response from User:WoodenTaco follows - if any editors find citation, please add. Tvoz | talk 18:05, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
I was asking for a cite that Kaufman didn't self-identify as a comedian. From what I understood, that wasn't particularly true. While some called him a performance artist, he certainly didn't take that title, and I would be surprised if he didn't prefer comedian. User:WoodenTaco 16:02, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Photo

Maybe there should be a change of photo to a non Latka one? Although Andy is best known as Latka it might good to find one of Andy as Andy?Djarra 20:12, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Lol. Even when Andy was Andy he may or may not have been Andy.... —  MusicMaker 08:35, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Belt

Was there ever an intergender belt that Kaufman held? Tim Long 22:55, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

no. just the title —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.188.226.50 (talk) 02:13, August 27, 2007 (UTC)

The Sando (talk) 05:12, 18 November 2007 (UTC)Yes there was, Andy had one made which he wore to Letterman and to various wrestling events, it was made of Solid plastic though. It's mentioned in Life in the Fun House... Actually alot of the stuff with citation needed is mentioned in that biography.

[edit] Social Security Death Index (absence in)

The article says that there is no entry for Kaufman in the Social Security Death index. It also says that a citation is needed. Does it really need a citation? I think that should be removed. Imagine if there was only one phone book for the entire world. If I said, "Joe Smith's phone number is 555 555 5555" in an article, would you say that it required a citation? Probably not, because the authoritative resource for checking that fact is well-known. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Pqrstuv (talk • contribs) 05:21, 22 March 2007 (UTC).

Sadly some people are useing the Citation needed thing everywhere. Take it off it isn't needed there. Some bios even have it next to the person's name. It's a form of vandalism that is ruining Wiki.Djarra 07:50, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
As a regular contributor to Find-a-Grave (http://www.findagrave.com), I have found that the California Death Index is usually more useful than the SSDI for deaths occurring in California. I added a citation to the CDI.

[edit] Film Apperances As Self

I removed the implication that Andy Kaufman appeared in Man On The Moon as himself. This is highly improbable, considering he passed away nearly 15 years before the movie was made. As well, there is no mention of him portraying himself on the movie's page, so I removed it. Stop with the conspiracy theories, people... SkittlzAnKomboz (talk) 05:34, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] DNA testing.

The resurface of 'Kaufman' and his subsequent DNA testing under his prior solicitor and all that crap that went down with the media where he rocked up, was like "LOL, HAI!", took a DNA test, said he didn't want to be contacted any further and vanished again doesn't have a mention in this article .. why? Even if it wasn't him, it was the most notable 'return from the dead' saga since Christ. With more evidence too, if there was a DNA test done, as signed under statutory declaration by his lawyers and the testers, and distributed around the media? Can anyone fill in the blanks? Jachin (talk) 01:31, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Personal Life

Shouldn't there be some information this page about his personal life? Wife (was he married), kids (I saw a grandchild mentioned somewhere online), other family, friends? Agerard (talk) 06:47, 15 January 2008 (UTC)