Andy Kaufman: His Strange And Mysterious Life, Career, and Death
He was one of the most unique performers in the history of entertainment. He made people laugh and fascinated and confounded audiences like no other before him to hit the screen or stage. He was known for his bizarre sense of humor, behind and in front of the camera and curtains. He is no longer alive, but rumors claiming otherwise still persist.
His name? Andy Kaufman, the famed comedian/actor who played the bumbling Latka Gravas in the 1970s TV sitcom, Taxi. He died of lung cancer on May 16, 1984, at the age of 35.
Kaufman had been diagnosed with large-cell carcinoma of the lung — a disease usually caused by years of smoking cigarettes. But according to what Estelle Endler, his publicist once told The New York Times, Kaufman did not smoke. “In fact,” Endler said, “he was a health-food fanatic.”
And as journalist Andrew Katz once reported for People Magazine, a 24-year-old woman claiming to be Kaufman’s daughter had renewed rumors his death was a hoax and that he’s actually alive.
However, her age would calculate that she was born five years after Kaufman’s demise.
The woman took the stage in 2013 at the Andy Kaufman Awards after Kaufman’s brother, Michael, made a startling revelation. According to Katz, Michael “told the audience…
