Back then, amid rampant homophobia, AIDS was smeared as so-called "gay cancer," leading to horrific shows of prejudice against the LGBTQ+ community. In recent years, Kaufman's girlfriend Lynne Margulies has raised another possibility, as explained by the Advocate, which is that Kaufman may have died from a misdiagnosis (or cover-up) of AIDS complications. Nonetheless, Kaufman combined conventional treatments like chemo and radiation with unorthodox solutions like a macrobiotic diet and "psychic surgery." Sadly, nothing worked. With only three months to live, the doctor's only recommendations were the care-and-comfort variety. until suddenly, out of nowhere, he would conclude with a stunning, spot-on Elvis impersonation, according to The New Yorker, thereby amazing crowd-goers with the realization that the entire "lackluster" show had been a brilliant subterfuge act. Employing an imaginary accent, Kaufman carefully crafted the role so as not to exacerbate any existing stereotypes, as explained by Doyle Green's Politics and the American Television Comedy: Depending on the platform, the background of the "Foreign Man" could sometimes seem Slavic, Mediterranean, or just about anything else. The point wasn't to mock immigrants, either, but to present the character as a kindhearted, well-meaning neophyte who wants to make people laugh with his lackluster impressions of American stars but possesses zero talent at it. In an average skit, the Foreign Man would perpetually bomb, growing frustrated to the point of having tears in his eyes, or even asking for the camera to be turned off. (It would finally be broadcast on the network two years after it was made–and draw better ratings than NBC’s Tonight Show, a fact that isn’t in the movie.Andy Kaufman's ride to fame was his "Foreign Man" character, a personality he first developed as a little boy, according to. In life, as in Man on the Moon, apoplectic ABC execs declined to air the special. The 90-minute program included segments such as Kaufman chatting with his idol, Howdy Doody, and renditions of songs such as “It’s a Small World.” As Kaufman’s co-writer Bob Zmuda reports in his book Andy Kaufman Revealed!, it also contained a few seconds in which the screen was made to deliberately roll. In the film, Kaufman is given the special as an incentive for starring on Taxi, whereas in life, it was made a year before Taxi went into production.
He was far more excited about the money ABC gave him to film his own special in 1977. As Man on the Moon correctly shows, Kaufman hated sitcoms and wasn’t crazy about the Taxi job: He eventually felt trapped by the “foreign” character that viewers adored. Always trying to purify himself through meditation and a strict vegetarian diet, he was at the same time addicted to chocolate and sex, and he often visited prostitutes.Īnd while Kaufman was desperate for fame, he deeply resented the vehicles that were best equipped to deliver him fame.
Even though he was earning good money at Taxi, Kaufman took a night job as a busboy. A devotee of transcendental meditation, he was also prone to temper tantrums, and his stage personae–particularly the sexist wrestler–upset some fellow travelers (in life, as in the movie, the TM movement threw him out at one point). The film does a good job of capturing the contradictions in Kaufman’s personality.
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