Born Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman on the 17th January 1949 in New York City, USA, and was a comedian and actor, probably best recognized for starring as Foreign Man in the TV show “Saturday Night Live” (1975-1982), and appearing in the role of Latka Gravas in the TV series “Taxi” (1978-1983). Andy passed away in 1984.
Have you ever wondered how rich Andy Kaufman was? According to authoritative sources, it was estimated that the total size of Andy’s net worth was as high as $3 million, an amount accumulated through his successful career in the entertainment industry, which was active from 1971 to 1984.
Andy Kaufman Net Worth $3 Million
Andy Kaufman grew up in Great Neck, Long Island, raised with two younger siblings in a Jewish family by his father, Stanley Kaufman, a jewelry salesman, and his mother, Janice Bernstein, who was a former fashion model, and housewife. When he was only nine years old, he started with performances at friend’s birthday parties as a stand-up comedian. During that period, he wrote not only stories, but also poetry, and later became known as an author of the unpublished novel “The Hollering Mangoo”. He attended Saddle Rock Elementary, and later Baker Hill Elementary school, and then Great Neck North High School. Upon matriculation in 1967, he enrolled at Grahm Junior College Kaufman in Boston to study television and radio production. Subsequently, he started performing in local clubs, and soon founded his own college TV show, entitled “Uncle Andy’s Fun House”, and his professional career began. After graduation, Andy began performing stand-up comedy at nightclubs on the East Coast.
Slowly he became more popular, and after appearing as a guest in such variety shows as “The Dean Martin Comedy World” (1974), and “The Joe Franklin Show” the same year, he was called up by Lorne Michaels to appear in the first episode of “Saturday Night Live”. His character, the Foreign Man, was a smashing success, Kaufman having previously honed the act during his nightclub performing days. He continued to appear as a cast member until 1982 when the SNL viewers booted him off the show via a call-in poll. Parallel with his stint on “Saturday Night Live”, Kaufman appeared with another iteration of the Foreign Man character in the ABC sitcom “Taxi” (1977-1983), going on to portray Latka Gravas over the course of five seasons. While Kaufman wasn’t much of a sitcom fan, he was persuaded by his agent to stick with the show in order to gain fame, and later start his own act. The role of Latka also brought him two nominations for Golden Globe Awards.
During his time on “Taxi”, he premiered another character, his alter-ego Tony Clifton, who was actually signed on as a separate actor, to play the role of Louie’s brother on the show. However, due to Clifton’s trademark rudeness and obnoxious behavior, he was finally replaced, however, Tony Clifton may be Kaufman’s best-known character, even though he wasn’t played exclusively by him, but also by his writer, Bob Zmuda. In many ways, Clifton was the opposite of Foreign Man – vulgar, loud and abusive towards his audience. He continued to appear on shows long after Kaufman’s death, portrayed by Zmuda.
Apart from “Taxi” and “Saturday Night Live”, Kaufman is mostly known for his guest starring roles, appeared playing his various characters in shows such as “Last Night with David Letterman”, “Good Morning America”, and “The Merv Griffin Show”. Additionally, he released an ABC special entitled “Andy’s Funhouse” (1979), as well as “The Andy Kaufman Show” (1983). He ventured briefly onto the big screen, starring as Armageddon T. Thunderbird in the comedy film “In God We Tru$t” (1980), alongside Marty Feldman, Louise Lasser and Peter Boyle, and played the main role in the romantic science fiction comedy film “Heartbeeps” (1981), opposite Bernadette Peters.
Kaufman also tried his hand at wrestling, which first started as a parody of the over-the-top wrestling personas presented by professional wrestlers. He first started to wrestle women and invented his own Inter-Gender Championship. Later, he appeared on “CWE Wrestling” (1983), squaring off against Jerry “The King” Lawler. It wasn’t until almost ten years after Kaufman’s death, that it was revealed that their feud and the matches were staged and that Kaufman and Lawler were actually good friends.
Regarding his personal life, Andy Kaufman never married, however, he was in a relationship with actress Lynne Margulies. He had a daughter from an early relationship, who was put up for adoption. During his life, Andy enjoyed practicing Transcendental Meditation. He passed away on the 16th May 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA from lung cancer at the age of 35. However, due to his showmanship and pranks, there are rumors about him faking his own death as a part of a grand hoax. Also, his alter-ego Tony Clifton continued to appear in comedy clubs, after Andy’s death.
