May 16, 1984: Andy Kaufman Dies

May 16, 1984: Comedian Andy Kaufman dies of lung cancer -- even though he didn't smoke cigarettes, which was the leading cause of that ailment.

Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman was born on January 17, 1949 in Manhattan, and grew up in nearby Great Neck, Long Island. He developed a routine where he would play a record of the theme to the cartoon Mighty Mouse, stand still while it played, and then lip-synch only the line, "Here I come to save the day!" For some reason, this proved popular.

He became known for his "Foreign Man" routine, with an unplaceable accent. In that voice, he would say, "And now, I would like to imitate... " and do an impression of someone famous, but it would be that person's tagline in the "Foreign Man" voice.

The exception was, "And now, I would like to imitate the Elvis Presley." (Always "The Elvis Presley.") Then he would turn his back to the audience, and start combing his hair as Also Sprach Zarathustra played, as it would to start Elvis' concerts. And when the overture and the combing were done, Andy would turn around, and his impression, quivering lip and all, would be perfect. And he would sing a song associated with Elvis, and it would be perfect. And he would close with Elvis' tagline, "Thank you very much" -- but back in the Foreign Man voice. Not only did he do this while Elvis was still alive, but Elvis himself admitted that Kaufman did the best impression of him.

In 1978, Kaufman was hired for the ABC sitcom Taxi, where the Foreign Man character became immigrant mechanic Latka Gravas. This made him a bigger star than ever, and paved the way for Bronson Pinchot to play Balki Bartokomous on a later ABC sitcom, Perfect Strangers.

Another Kaufman character was Tony Clifton, an absurd, audience-abusing lounge singer, who began opening for Kaufman at comedy clubs, and eventually even performed concerts on his own around the country. Sometimes it was Kaufman performing as Clifton, sometimes it was his brother Michael Kaufman, and sometimes it was Bob Zmuda, another comedian who was a friend of the brothers.

For a brief time, it was unclear to some that Clifton was not a real person. News programs interviewed Clifton as Kaufman's opening act, with the mood turning ugly whenever Kaufman's name came up. Kaufman, Clifton insisted, was attempting to ruin Clifton's "good name" in order to make money and become famous.

Kaufman kept his personal life quiet. He never married, although a high school relationship resulted in the birth of a daughter who was given up for adoption. Her adult name is Maria Bellu-Colonna, and she eventually found the Kaufman family, who welcomed her with open arms.

Andy dated female comedians, including Elayne Boosler, who still speaks well of him. For the last 2 years of his life, he dated a woman named Lynne Margulies, who later published a book titled Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts! The title was nothing more than an attention-grab, as she still loved him. (She should not be confused with Lynn Margulis, a prominent biologist who was once married to astronomer Carl Sagan.)

Kaufman made 16 appearances on Saturday Night Live. On November 20, 1982, Drew Barrymore, then just 7 years old, became the youngest host in SNL history. That night, as a joke, NBC held a telephone poll to decide whether Kaufman – 4 months after an incident with pro wrestling figure Jerry Lawler on another NBC show, Late Night with David Letterman, but who apparently had done nothing to offend the SNL brass – should ever be allowed to host the show again. The vote was close, but it was "No."

Whether executive producer Lorne Michaels would have ever lifted the ban is unknown: On May 16, 1984, having not hosted the show again, Kaufman died, only 35 years old. He had been fighting lung cancer for 6 months.

He had often spoken of faking his death, as a hoax, so many people presumed that he had done so. This was taken to a new level when Zmuda resumed appearing in public as Tony Clifton. But an official website sanctioned by the Kaufman family includes a picture of Andy's death certificate.

In 1992, the rock band R.E.M. recorded "Man On the Moon," a tribute to Kaufman. That also became the title of the 1999 film about him, starring Jim Carrey, with Courtney Love playing Lynne Margulies. Brittany Bellu-Colonna, Andy's granddaughter, played the child version of Andy's sister Carol.

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May 16, 1984 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-6 at Yankee Stadium. The A's scored a run on an error in the top of the 10th inning. But Don Mattingly led off the bottom of the 10th with a single, and Dave Winfield hit a home run to win it. Mattingly and Butch Wynegar had homered earlier in the game. Rickey Henderson entered the game as a pinch-runner, and stayed in as the left fielder, but did not come to bat.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the California Angels, 5-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Mike Boddicker pitched a 6-hit shutout. Eddie Murray went 0-for-2, but with 3 walks and an RBI on a groundout. Cal Ripken went 3-for-4. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4. Rod Carew went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Nolan Ryan pitched a 5-hit shutout, striking out 11.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners, 10-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-6 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. George Brett did not play.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Texas Rangers, 5-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-7 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Montreal Expos beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Pete Rose, briefly an Expo, went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Tony Gwynn, forever a Padre, went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Steve Carlton not only won the game, he hit a grand slam off Fernando Valenzuela. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-5.

The NBA was in the middle of its Conference Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers would beat the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference, the Boston Celtics would beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference, and the Celtics beat the Lakers in the Finals.

The Stanley Cup Finals were underway, and the Edmonton Oilers were in the process of avenging their Finals defeat of the previous season, leading the New York Islanders, 2 games to 1. The Oilers would win the series, 4-1, ending the Isles' 4 straight Cups, and beginning their own run of 5 Cups in 7 seasons.