Did Andy Kaufman Fake His Own Death?
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What happened at Andy Kaufman's 1984 funeral and why did friends suspect a prank?
It's May twentieth, nineteen eighty-four, and Andy Kaufman is about to be laid to rest. Allegedly. A few days earlier, the comedian had died of lung cancer at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. It was shocking. He was only thirty-five. He was not a smoker. His publicist calls him a health food fanatic. Mourners pack Temple Bethel in Great Neck, New York. They're at his funeral to pay their respects to a man who'd built his legend on irreverence. In his eulogy, the rabbi describes Andy as courageous enough to do what he wanted to do, even though it was sometimes risky. His own instincts were the ones he would choose to follow. He'd introduced himself to America in a way that only he can by lip-syncing the theme from Mighty Mouse on the Air during the first episode of Saturday Night Live.
The bit is silly, but also a comedic master class. The lanky Kaufman makes the audience uncomfortable by acting like he doesn't know the words, then sheds his foe nervousness for the triumphant chorus. Now the crowd explodes in laughter. And by the late 1970s, that kind of reaction to Andy Kaufman is a common occurrence. On the Tonight Show, he slips into Foreign Man, a character who does bad celebrity impressions while speaking with an ambiguous accent. Then, almost like magic, Andy snaps out of it and breaks into a perfect impersonation of Elvis Presley, blowing away. Away everyone in the studio, including Johnny Carson. The producers of the new ABC sitcom Taxi like Foreign Man so much that they hire Andy.
They want him to turn the character into an eccentric mechanic named Latka Gravis. The role makes him a Hollywood star. But instead of parlaying his newfound fame into his own network TV show or a movie career, he uses it to get. Weird. Andy is intrigued by the theatricality of professional wrestling, which in those days does not bill itself as scripted. He starts calling himself the intergender wrestling champion of the world. And offers women a $1,000 prize if they can pin him. He also sparks what seems like a true feud with pro wrestler Jerry the King Lawler and the grapplers' hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. The rivals even face off in the ring. The King doesn't take it easy on Andy either. At one point, Lawler pile-drives the skinny comedian into the mat.
The Beef Climaxes in the summer of nineteen eighty two with a joint appearance on late night with David Letterman. That evening, the king attacks Andy with a thunderous slap, and Andy throws a cup of coffee at him. It is, of course, an act. Some of the women Andy takes on in the ring are likely plants, and Andy and Jerry are in cahoots. Now Andy never admits any of that. While he's alive, his public life is an elaborate ruse. It's as if he's designed it to make people question if what they're seeing is real. Or fake. Talk about commitment to the bit. Some still believe that Andy Kaufman's death is just another prank he's pulled. And that's been the case since the day he died. That is, allegedly died. At Andy's funeral, his taxi co star Carol Kane is so unconvinced that he's actually gone that she walks up to his open casket.
and pokes his body. Even then she's not certain. And really How could she be? Well, after all, there are signs that may be Just maybe. Andy hasn't. Left the building. Welcome to Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify podcast. I'm Carter Roy. New episodes come out every Wednesday. We would love to hear from you. So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts, or check us out on Instagram at theConspiracy Pod. This episode includes discussions of death. Consider this one deciding how and when you'll listen. Stay with us.
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