Taxi
1978
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Sep 7, 2022 · Andy Kaufman was a comedian who often played pranks and created alter-egos, such as Tony Clifton. He was fired from Taxi after four seasons because of Clifton's disruptive behavior and the producers' doubts about their identity.
- Who Was Andy Kaufman?
- Early Comedy Career
- Rise to Fame: 'SNL' and Carnegie Hall
- Erratic Reputation and 'Taxi'
- Legacy and Death
Andy Kaufman began performing at age 8. His later stand-up routine was unorthodox, but it caught the attention of Hollywood, and he was soon appearing on TV, including on a new show called Saturday Night Live, Van Dyke and Company, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,The Mike Douglas Show,The Dating Game and the comedy show Fridays. In 1979, Ka...
Andy Kaufman was born in New York City January 17, 1949. Raised in the affluent suburb of Great Neck, Long Island, New York, Kaufman early on began practicing his unorthodox brand of comedy, staging a make-believe television show in his bedroom and performing at children's birthday parties from the age of 8. He graduated from high school in 1967 an...
Kaufman made his national TV debut in 1974 on The Dean Martin Comedy Hour. In 1975, the NBC executive Dick Ebersol saw Kaufman's stand-up routine and invited him to audition for a new comedy program called Saturday Night Live. Kaufman made his first of 14 appearances on the show during its first-ever broadcast on October 11, 1975, when he lip-synch...
Kaufman's reputation for being completely unpredictable had been well-established by the time he won the role for which he became most well-known: as Latka Gravas, an auto mechanic of indeterminate nationality, on the hit sitcom Taxi, which ran from 1978 to 1983. As a condition of his employment, Kaufman convinced the producers of the show to cast ...
In January 1984, Kaufman was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. He had never smoked, and some even accused the consummate performer of faking his illness, even in its most advanced stages. He died on May 16, 1984, in Los Angeles, at the age of 35. Though Kaufman never married, it was later revealed that he and his high school sweetheart had...
Best TV Supporting Actor – Andy Kaufman (1979, 1981) Best TV Supporting Actor – Tony Danza (1980) Best TV Supporting Actress – Marilu Henner (1979–1983)
Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( / ˈkaʊfmən / KOWF-mən; [1] January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984 [2]) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes been called an "anti-comedian". [3] He disdained telling jokes and engaging ...
Latka Gravas is a fictional character on the television sitcom Taxi portrayed by Andy Kaufman. A sweet-natured and lovable-but-goofy mechanic, Latka is an immigrant from an unspecified nation. He was based on a character Kaufman created known as Foreign Man.
Andy Kaufman was a versatile and eccentric performer who starred as Latka Gravas on Taxi and appeared on Saturday Night Live. He also did stand-up comedy, wrestling, music and performance art, blurring the lines between reality and fiction.
Taxi: Created by James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, Ed. Weinberger. With Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza. The staff of a New York City taxicab company go about their job while they dream of greater things.
