Andy Kaufman Revealed!: Best Friend Tells All

Kaufman's closest friend, producer, and writer presents an intimate portrait of the late comedian who was best known for his role as Latka on Taxi, from his rise to the pinnacle of success and the development of his extraordinary personas to the private man behind the actor and comedian. 100,000 first printing.

The brilliantly subversive comedian Andy Kaufman is remembered today not only for his ability to make people laugh but also for his unnerving blend of shock humor and high-concept performance art. Fifteen years after Kaufman's death from lung cancer at the age of 35, his close friend and collaborator Zmuda unveils an intimate portrait of the enigmatic performer. In 1972, Zmuda, then a struggling writer/comedian, first saw Kaufman perform at New York's Improv as Foreign Man, a lovable dork, who, after bombing miserably on stage, would burst into a dead-on impersonation of Elvis Presley. Foreign Man would become Kaufman's signature act, leading to regular appearances on Saturday Night Live and a role as Latka on the TV sitcom Taxi. Yet Kaufman, according to Zmuda, often grew bored with celebrity and constantly pushed the comic envelope: inventing an alter ego, the swaggering, foul-mouthed lounge singer Tony Clifton; taking a Hollywood audience out for milk and cookies (a concept for which Zmuda claims credit); going on tour to wrestle college-age women, an idea apparently dreamed up by Kaufman in order to get women to sleep with him. Kaufman's unpredictability was such that audiences never knew whether or not they were in on the joke; when the comedian succumbed to cancer, many wondered whether he was faking it. Zmuda reveals some long-kept secretsAincluding the truth about the infamous feud with wrestler Jerry Lawler, which landed Kaufman in the hospital. Although Zmuda touches upon Kaufman's obsessive-compulsive behavior and the possibility that he might have exhibited a form of multiple personality disorder, this highly absorbing memoir will be read less for its insights into Kaufman's psyche than for the immediacy with which it recounts his brief but blazing career. (Sept.) FYI: The Andy Kaufman craze continues this fall as Universal Pictures releases the Andy Kaufman biopic, Man on the Moon, directed by Milos Forman and starring Jim Carrey. In November, Delacorte will publish Lost in the Fun House: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman by Bill Zehme.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Andy Kaufman's best friend may be taking us for one last ride in his tell-all biography, but his rendition of their shared lunacy is so heartfelt and funny that it hardly matters. All the anecdotes seem kosher, but since most of Zmuda's tales are about himself and Kaufman duping their audiences, it's hard to be absolutely sure. Like much of Kaufman's humor, half the fun is just guessing. The other half is sitting back and letting the action happen. After all, this is the story of a man whose friends didn't even believe he had really died of cancer in 1984, and they had watched him waste away for months. Zmuda, who executive produces HBOs Comic Relief, starts the story off in the early 70s, when he and Kaufman collided on the New York comedy scene. They were nut cases, both of them. Kaufman was the performer, Zmuda was the guy who handled the details. The sheer outrageousness of their exploitsfrom the mysterious screenwriter Zmuda worked for to Kaufman's insatiable libido to the comic's final days trying to beat cancer through psychic surgerymakes for a great read. Neverthelss, Zmuda is a reluctant storyteller. Much of his motivation for revealing secrets is the upcoming movie Man on the Moon (of which he is an executive producer), starring Jim Carrey and directed by Milos Forman, which is going to spill what Kaufman's friends have kept quiet over the years. The revelationssuch as what really went on with the public feud with wrestler Jerry Lawler and who exactly was dressed up as Kaufman's obnoxious alter ego Tony Cliftonare anticlimactic because our interest was never about the truth anyway. The one intriguing mystery that Zmuda can't unpuzzle and that guides the entire narrative is the mysterious nature of Kaufman's comic gifts. Was he a genius or was he absolutely crazy? Zmuda's story is a riot, but Kaufman took that answer to the grave. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

With a movie about Kaufman forthcoming, his manager and friend Zmuda's recollection of the late comedian is timely. Best remembered as English-challenged immigrant Latka Gravas on the '70s sitcom Taxi, Kaufman also appeared regularly on Saturday Night Live, did stand-up, and wrestled women. He baited pro wrestling in general and Jerry Lawler in particular, a gambit that, it seemed, eventuated in his own grievous physical harm. His comedy involved a high degree of audience manipulation, never better displayed than in his wrestling-related endeavors. Whether his injury at Lawler's hands was real or a hoax has long been debated. The movie spills the beans, and the book does, too. So Lawler's apparently brutal "pile driver," Kaufman's subsequent neck brace, and the final, violent confrontation on David Letterman's Late Night set--were they just hype? Finding out is just one reason to read this thoroughly entertaining, illuminating showbiz bio. Oh--Jim Carrey contributes a cutely cryptic secret message about understanding Kaufman's humor, but the book is still worthwhile. Mike Tribby