His greatest joke or yet another hoax? Friend claims legendary comedian Andy Kaufman FAKED HIS OWN DEATH and plans to make a comeback soon
- Andy Kaufman's writing partner says the legend talked often about faking his own death and is about to return, after going into exile for 30 years
- The latest claims join a list of hoaxes claiming Kaufman faked his own death
- Friends and fans still believe the comedian sauntered off into the sunset
- Kaufman, 35, died from lung cancer in May 1984
Could this be Andy Kaufman's best joke yet — or just another hoax claiming the legendary comedian is still alive?
A friend of Kaufman's claims in a new book that the comedian faked his own death in 1984 and will soon emerge for a comeback.
Bob Zmuda, who is famous for being Kaufman's close friend and writing partner, says that Kaufman began talking about faking his passing long before his lung cancer death in May 1984, aged 35.
'Could you imagine how this is going to blow everyone's mind?' Kaufman told Zmuda, according to claims from his book 'Andy Kaufman: The Truth, Finally,' as reported by the New York Post.
Zmuda — who is not the first person to make fake-death claims about Kaufman — says he had many conversations with his comedic partner about pulling the macabre stunt.
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Best joke ever? A new book about legendary comedian Andy Kaufman claims he faked his own death in 1984 and is about to make a comeback, after his self-imposed 30 years away from the spotlight
Kaufman became serious about the issue in 1982 and wasted no time confiding his plans to Zmuda, the Post claims. The two met at the Canters Deli in Los Angeles, where Zmuda refused to take part in the stunt fearing legal repercussions.
Shortly after that, Kaufman told him he would 'fake my death by making people believe I had terminal cancer,' the Post reported.
'People get really wigged out when you start f---ing with death,' Zmuda told the comedian, according to the newspaper.
Later, when Kaufman began to cough randomly, Zmuda confronted him and said: 'Stop with the coughing already — I think it's a dead giveaway.'
'I don't know,' Kaufman shot back, according to the Post. 'Everyone seems to believe it.'
Kaufman then began joking that he was dying because he 'ate too much chocolate,' but later changed his mind. 'Maybe I'll just stick with cancer,' he said, according to the tabloid.
Zmuda points to one of Kaufman's scripts — written some four years before he died — as evidence that the comedic genius was already planning on making a swift escape from life.
The script, from 1980's 'The Tony Clifton Story,' says: 'Tony Clifton, at the age of 45, died of cancer at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Hollywood, California.'
Four years later, 35-year-old Kaufman would die of the same disease — at the same hospital.
Then he outlined his plan for Zmuda.
'If I was going to be a little boy about it, I'd go into hiding for one or two years,' he said, according to the Post. 'But if I was going to be a man about it, it'd be 20 or 30 years.'
Kaufman's comedic collaborator, Bob Zmuda, co-wrote the book that claims Kaufman is returning soon with the comedian's girlfriend, Lynne Margulies. She does not think Kaufman may still be alive
By that point, Zmuda says, the whole thing started to feek 'pretty f---ed up.'
'Bob it's who I am and what I do,' Kaufman told Zmuda, according to the Post. 'Nothing could ever top it.
'I've given it great thoughts. Besides, I'm getting psyched — I'm starting an entire new life.'
Kaufman then apparently found a body double — who was actually dying of cancer — and started to mimic the man's condition and appearance so his illness appeared legitimate.
Once that man died, he was buried as Kaufman while the comedian took off to begin a new life away from the spotlight.
Zmuda says he's finally telling his story after giving Kaufman the 30 years he said he'd take to hide before coming back and revealing his prank.
Andy Kaufman portrays character Latka Gravas on the sitcom 'Taxi' in 1979
He co-wrote the book, which comes out October 7, with Kaufman's girlfriend Lynne Margulies.
But Marguiles — who Zmuda claims was not let into Kaufman's supposed fake death — defends yet another theory of how her boyfriend passed.
In the book, she 'floats the possibility' that Kaufman was bisexual and actually died of AIDS, the Post reported.
Marguiles and Zmuda claim that Kaufman would often pick up men for sex in San Francisco's Castro District, according to the Post.
Kaufman asked the couple to keep his sexuality a secret until his parents died, the duo claims.
Since his death in 1984, Kaufman has been the subject of many fake-death hoaxes. Even some of his closest friends still believe he may have pulled off the stunt.
Supposed Kaufman appearances, sometimes as his character Tony Clifton at comedy clubs, began shortly after his death.
Kaufman performs at Carnegie Hall in New York City
Just last year, a 24-year-old woman emerged at the Andy Kaufman Awards in New York City — and was introduced by Kaufman's brother Michael as the late comedian's daughter.
Michael Kaufman told the crowd at the Gotham Comedy Club that he had received a letter from his brother some 15 years after his passing, and that he was alive and well, according to Hollywood Reporter.
Then just a few days later, Michael Kaufman appeared on CNN to say he'd been duped.
'I believe I am part of a hoax,' Kaufman's brother said.
George Shapiro, Kaufman's longtime manager, told CNN that he saw the comedian die.
'Andy's very much alive in our hearts, but I don't think his body is around,' Shapiro told CNN. 'He died. I was in the hospital.'
The hoaxes have become so intense, the Los Angeles County Coroner last year re-released Kaufman's death certificate to put an end to the speculation.
In a statement, the coroner's office said only: 'Andy Kaufman is dead.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2772794/His-greatest-joke-hoax-Friend-claims-legendary-comedian-Andy-Kaufman-FAKED-HIS-OWN-DEATH-plans-make-comeback-soon.html#ixzz3xdTaXlt4
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