| 22 years ago, Andy Kaufman, costar of the hit | | | | funded a welcome back home party for the Man |
| ABC comedy series "Taxi" was | | | | on The Moon at |
| | | | |
| diagnosed with Large Cell Carcinoma - the | | | | The House of Blues, in Los Angeles, |
| most deadliest form of lung cancer | | | | California. Andy wanted |
| | | | |
| known to man. Kaufman, ever-optimistic, was | | | | to do something big. Something gigantic, |
| determined to annihilate the | | | | according to Bob |
| | | | |
| ungodly disease that was mercilessly | | | | Zmuda and Lynne Margulies - Kaufman's last |
| attacking his lungs with the aide of | | | | girlfriend.Andy was so obsessed with the |
| | | | concept of his "death," that |
| psychic surgeon, Jun Labo. Accordingly, Andy | | | | |
| flew to the Phillippines accompanied | | | | he couldn't contain himself. He disclosed |
| | | | his sinister plan |
| by girlfriend, Lynne Margulies, to vist | | | | |
| "Dr." Labo.Andy Kaufman, 35, underwent a | | | | to at least five people: Bob Zmuda, Lynne |
| grueling 6 weeks under the hands of | | | | Margulies, brother |
| | | | |
| Mr. Labo. He came home changed. He thought | | | | Michael Kaufman, Alan Abel, and finally, |
| he was cured, friends | | | | John Moffit - producer |
| | | | |
| and family members recalled. Indeed. Kaufman | | | | of "Fridays." (Fridays, despite some of its |
| thought the "operations" | | | | young talents, |
| | | | |
| were a success, and that he'd be back to | | | | was a miserable show, and apparently, Andy, |
| work in no time. That was, | | | | sensed this and |
| | | | |
| of course, before his body proceeded to | | | | decided to perk it up by breaking character |
| function in excruciating pain; | | | | and wreaking |
| | | | |
| Consequently, He had no other choice, but to | | | | havoc onstage. America went wild. Once |
| go see a real doctor....Unfortunately, all of | | | | again, you couldn't |
| Andy Kaufman's attempts to cheat death were | | | | |
| in vain. | | | | tell what was real....May 16th, 2004, marked |
| | | | the 20th aniversary of Andy Kaufman's |
| And he died on May 16, 1984, at Cedars-Sinai | | | | |
| Medical Center, in Los Angeles, | | | | demise. The day was significant for |
| | | | Kaufman-freaks world |
| California.Above is the standard conclusion | | | | |
| regarding the death of Song-and-Dance-Man, | | | | wide because this was the day he told |
| | | | friends and acquaintances |
| Andy Kaufman. The prospect of Andy being, in | | | | |
| fact, alive has fascinated | | | | he would "reappear." Precisely 20 years |
| | | | later Bob Zmuda summoned |
| me for quite some time now. That's why I | | | | |
| have decided to do some make-shift | | | | comedian Andy Dick, Jerry Lawler, Lynne |
| | | | Margulies, Tony Clifton, |
| detective work. To delve a little deeper | | | | |
| inside the ground, and see, with | | | | and others, to The House of Blues on Sunset |
| | | | Strip, in Los Angeles |
| the assitance of one of his friends, if he's | | | | |
| really gone.The question most frequently | | | | CA, to tell some jokes, recite some amusing |
| asked by fans invariably is: "If he faked his | | | | stories, and |
| death, don't | | | | |
| | | | hopefully, greet the entertainer back from |
| you think he'd come back by now?" My | | | | the dead.I first heard about the event about |
| assesment: No. His goal was never to | | | | a month before it happned. |
| entertain | | | | |
| | | | My friend, Joe, called me. "Hey!" he said |
| anyone but himself. For instance: When the | | | | frantically. "There's |
| Andy hates [Jerry] Lawyer saga | | | | |
| | | | going to be an Andy Kaufman tribute at the |
| was in its prime, Kaufman made Jerry Lawler | | | | House of Blues in |
| and (best friend/writer) Bob Zmuda | | | | |
| | | | LA." "Excellent," I said, "who'll be there?" |
| swear on their lives that they'd never | | | | "Jerry Lawler, |
| reveal the truth - that all the animosity | | | | |
| | | | Bob Zmuda, Rodney Dangerfield, and maybe |
| between Kaufman and Lawler was, in truth, | | | | Andy Kaufman.""You're busting my balls, |
| bogus.Before his death, Andy Kaufman felt | | | | aren't you Joe?""No. I'm not.""Where did you |
| angry and rejected: "Taxi" had been canned, | | | | hear this from?""The Internet.""The |
| | | | Internet?" I laughed. "Don't believe |
| he was booted from his Transcendental | | | | everything you |
| meditation courses on account of his | | | | |
| | | | read on the net, Joseph. That's your |
| wrestling act being too risky. And, most | | | | problem--you're |
| notably, being voted off "Saturday Night" | | | | |
| | | | too damn gullible. How many--""Would you |
| Live", (the same place he lip-synched the | | | | shut up for one minute? I'm not an idiot, |
| Mighty Mouse theme song years earlier,) by | | | | Jack! |
| | | | |
| the Iscariot-esque Dick Ebersol.It's quite | | | | This is 100 percent authentic. You can even |
| plausible that all of these painful | | | | preorder tickets |
| situations provoked Andy Kaufman | | | | |
| | | | on Ticket Master.Sure enough, he was telling |
| to start a new life. A life Far away from | | | | the truth. Tony Clifton was even |
| Hollywood. A place where he could eat | | | | |
| choclate | | | | sheduled to play last, accompanied by his |
| | | | dancers, the Cliftones.As a long time |
| ice cream and meditate consistently. A place | | | | Kaufman-Freak I felt I was destined to see |
| like Aruba....Not long ago, I had the | | | | |
| privledge of interviewing one of Andy | | | | the show. Besides, I thought, even if Andy |
| Kaufman's old friends, Alan Abel, | | | | doesn't show I'll |
| | | | |
| via telephone. Here's the transcript:JB: Hi, | | | | still have a good time. But, of course, |
| Alan.AA: Hello, Jack.JB: How are you?AA: Very | | | | there was a huge obstacle |
| fine, yourself?JB: Good. Ok. Let's start with | | | | |
| the first question: Where, and when, did you | | | | in the road: I was completely broke. Had no |
| | | | money whatsoever.... |
| meet Andy Kaufman?AA: I met Andy in the | | | | |
| summer of 1980 when he was introduced to me | | | | I wanted to go so bad I even tried selling |
| in | | | | my Harley FXRT, but |
| | | | |
| NY by a mutual friend, Bob Pagini. Bob had | | | | unfortunately, no bites.At least four days |
| interviewed Andy on a cable access | | | | before Dead or Alive, I received an email |
| | | | |
| TV show where they became friends.... Andy | | | | from my friend Stephen Maddox - mastermind |
| and I hit it off immediately and I | | | | behind one of the |
| | | | |
| hooked up with him in NY about a dozen times | | | | most famous Andy Kaufman sites on the net: |
| we walked on Broadway for several | | | | |
| | | | He told me that he had two spare tickets, |
| hours....he stopped to talk to | | | | and, if I wanted |
| everybody....and had dinner, often at the | | | | |
| Hilton | | | | them (which of course I did), they were up |
| | | | for grabs. He sent them |
| Hotel with room service so he wouldn't be | | | | |
| interrupted by fans.JB: [Coughs] excuse me. | | | | promptly (and expensively). I received them |
| What was that story you told me a while back, | | | | within a day.The exterior of The House of |
| about | | | | Blues was swarming with Kaufman-fanatics |
| | | | |
| that girl?AA: He once told me about the time | | | | world wide. One guy was even flashing around |
| he received a call in LA from a high | | | | in a shirt that read: " |
| | | | |
| school girl's mother who said her daughter | | | | If Andy doesn't return, I'll kill him."I |
| was dying in a hospital in Mat- | | | | arrived a little late on account of the long |
| | | | line outside. |
| oon, IL from leukemia and wanted to talk | | | | |
| with Andy, her favorite TV person- | | | | Bob Zmuda was on stage wistfully |
| | | | recollecting amusing |
| ality. He called her one Sunday afternoon, | | | | |
| talked for several hours and she | | | | never-before-heard anecdotes about Andy. He |
| | | | then brought out |
| asked him if he would visit her.... Andy | | | | |
| hopped on a plane that night to ch- | | | | Jerry Lawler, who reflected about Andy and |
| | | | their wrestling |
| ichago, rented a car and drove to Matoon in | | | | |
| a raging snow storm. He stayed | | | | days together in Memphis. Jerry looked about |
| | | | the same as |
| with the girl for several days and nights | | | | |
| until she died. Meantime, "Taxi" | | | | in the early 80s - with the exception of a |
| | | | few wrinkles. |
| was without him, had no idea where he was | | | | |
| and had to write him out of that | | | | He emerged on stage with a Superman t-shirt |
| | | | tight on his |
| week's script. When he returned to LA he | | | | |
| explained everything to the producer | | | | back.After Jerry, the always-outrageous Andy |
| | | | Dick zipped onstage. (Andy [Dick] |
| but he was still docked $10,000 for that | | | | |
| week he was absent. I was rather mo- | | | | was profoundly hooked on Kaufman after |
| | | | seeing him pour water water over the |
| ved by that episode that has never been | | | | |
| revealed publicly, but I did confirm | | | | head of a young Micheal Richards on |
| | | | "Fridays.")Needless to say, the other Andy |
| it with one of the staff on his show.JB: | | | | didn't show. The show |
| Awesome.... What did Andy think about your | | | | |
| fake obituary?AA: Andy was extremely | | | | was fun and moving and a tribute to a |
| fascinated by my obituary in January | | | | comedic genius the |
| | | | |
| 1980 and insisted on knowing every single | | | | world had never seen the likes of. Andy Dick |
| detail of my plan | | | | didn't play his portion of |
| | | | |
| that worked so well. I became a bit annoyed | | | | the show sober, but what the hell? After his |
| at his persistence | | | | epitaph I was |
| | | | |
| and teased him that he had probaly never | | | | quite moved and the sight of him moving back |
| done anything signifi- | | | | and forth to |
| | | | |
| cant except his role on "Taxi."JB: What was | | | | the restoom didn't bother me at all.... Was |
| your reaction to Andy's untimely death? Do | | | | he consuming |
| you think he's | | | | |
| | | | crank? LSD? Or merely suffering from a bad |
| still alive?AA: When Andy "died" I was | | | | bout with the flu? |
| indeed shocked. Then, in retrospect, | | | | |
| | | | The world shall never know.One thing I know |
| I remembered all the questions he had about | | | | is, once entering Kaufman's old apartment - |
| my own departure. | | | | accompanied |
| | | | |
| So I retain a bit of doubt; but not enough | | | | by Tony Clifton - who was no doubt Bob Zmuda |
| to lose any sleep | | | | that night - I noticed two |
| | | | |
| over it. I would certainly be ecstatic if he | | | | Ventura beach postcards. One that read: Keep |
| turned up on some | | | | up the work. It is not over. |
| | | | |
| island or on "American Idol" as a | | | | And another one with a link to is not all. |
| contestant.JB: Hey, thanks a lot for taking | | | | There have been many other experiences that |
| my call and providing me with | | | | night - and around it - that have truly |
| | | | |
| the new information!AA: I hope this | | | | shocked the hell out of me. Not to make me |
| information helps your article.JB: It does, | | | | go out of my mind - but to make me think. And |
| take care.AA: Bye.On May 16th, 2004, Bob | | | | that it |
| Zmuda [Kaufman's best friend and writer] | | | | |
| | | | did. |