41,1•0001

ee)11®

At The Movies

:

MAN ON THE MOON

from page 97

CONEY ISLAND

Greek and American Cuisine
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

154 S. Woodward, Birmingham
(248) 540-8780

Halsted Village
(37580 W. 12 Mile Rd.)
Farmington Hills
(248) 553-2360

6527 Telegraph Rd.
Corner of Maple (15 Mile)
Bloomfield Township
(248) 646-8568

4763 Haggerty Rd. at Pontiac Trail
West Wind Village Shopping Center
West Bloomfield
(248) 669-2295

841 East Big Beaver, Troy
(248) 680-0094

SOUTHFIELD SOUVLAKI
CONEY ISLAND
Nine Mile & Greenfield
15647 West Nine Mile, Southfield
(248) 569-5229

FARMINGTON SOUVLAKI
CONEY ISLAND
Between 13 & 14 on
Orchard Lake Road
30985 Orchard Lake Rd.
Farmington Hills
(248) 626-9732

UPTOWN PARTHENON
4301 Orchard Lake Rd.
West Bloomfield
(248) 538-6000

HERCULES FAMILY RESTAURANT
33292 West 12 Mile
Farmington Hills
(248) 489-9777

Serving whitefish, lamb shank,
pastitsio and mousaka

I

I

not to go with any other offer
with coupon
Expires 12/30/99

is N.

98

OT11
"' I
a
tire Bill

mu NEI me im• on am am 1•11

dryer. During another concert, he
spent some 15 minutes lying in a
sleeping bag without saying a word.
Esquire magazine told the story
about the time Kaufman was invited
to Kutsher's hotel in the Catskills and
accepted only when the hotel offered
to comp his entire extended family.
"He agreed to do it, even though
he warned Kutsher's that he wasn't
going to do his regular comedy-club
act but rather something special," the
article reported. "Andy brought three
generations of his family out onstage,
and an audience expecting state-of-
the art hip comedy from a famous
TV star was treated instead to Andy's
brother singing 'La Bamba,' Andy's
sister doing a Maurice Chevalier ren-
dition of 'Thank Heaven for Little
Girls,' and Andy's grandmother
telling a long, almost pointless joke
about a dog who wanted to become
a rabbi. ... The audience became
bored, restless, then hostile and
began to walk out, unaware that this
was the cutting-edge performance-
they'd wanted."
All along, Kaufman had
an alter ego named Tony
Clifton, an obscene lounge
singer with a bad toupee,
sunglasses and a tacky
sport coat. Many times
he'd have Tony Clifton
open for him, not letting
on to the audience that he
was Tony.
Obsessed with
wrestling,
to Kaufman took
up the sport with female
opponents as part of his stage act, a
step that alienated the public. He also
challenged professional wrestler Jerry
Lawler to a match in Memphis.
In a crowded arena, Kaufman took
quite a beating and wound up being
taken away by ambulance. He had to
wear a neck brace for months. "Andy
went into the ring at the Mid-South
Coliseum to a tremendous chorus of
boos," George Shapiro, Andy's friend
and manager, recalls in Lost in the
Funhouse.
"For the first five minutes Jerry
Lawler offered to let Andy put him in
a headlock. ...Then Lawler grabbed
him and gave him a pile driver, which
is illegal. ... He did this twice. It
looked like Andy's neck was broken.
He was out for a couple of minutes,
then he woke in a lot of pain and the
audience was hooting and cheering
and really happy that Andy was
hurt.
Kaufman was in the hospital for a
week, and on the eighth day, he went

home to Great Neck to celebrate
Passover with his family.
In 1982, Kaufman's career began
taking a downward plunge. After an
appearance on Saturday Night Live,
viewers were asked to phone in and
vote whether or not the comic should
be asked back. He was voted out, and
NBC executive Dick Ebersol read a
statement saying he would no longer
be on the show. "That hurt him terri-
bly," says Zmuda.
"Andy was about 15 years ahead of
his time," he goes on to say. "A lot of
people didn't get his humor at the
time. He would ruffle peo-
ple's feathers so much that it
was dangerous. He wanted
to get the audience to boo
QUIET, PLEASE
and hate him, to get those
reactions. Only the real
SERVICES NOW 91 insiders got it."
What was the side to
PROGRESS
Kaufman that nobody knew?
SABBATH EvE. SERvicE. 8 3 "When he wasn't doing his
SABBATH MONK, SERVICE IC/
acts, he was almost like a
BAR MITZVAH
wallflower," says Zmuda.
ANDREW G KAurmot
When he wasn't being out-
landish, he was quiet and
very respectful of people's space."
In his personal life, Kaufman's
friends believe, it was Lynn
Marguiles, whom he met while film-
ing My Breakfast With Blassie, who
was the love of his life. (See sidebar.)
When Andy learned that he was
dying, he and Lynn flew to the
Philippines in hopes of a medical
miracle. Unfortunately, there was
none.
Shortly after Kaufman's death,
actor Judd Hirsch, who starred
with him in Taxi, published a
final tribute.
In the essay, Hirsch said:
"Many thought Andy was reclu-
sive, difficult, even downright
ornery. But I think those were the
knee-jerk reactions people have to
an easily misunderstood presence,
to a special kind of genius. ...
Andy's gift was not his talent or
his skills — it was his genius, the
genius of what he dared. His was
Top to bottom:
a
rare spirit — an indomitable
Kaufman's daughter, Maria, with her
one.
He gave himself the right to
late father.
fail — and much more coura-
Andy with younger brother Michael and
geously than most."
sister Carol on his bar mitzvah day.
The Kaufman family celebrates Thanksgiving
Man in the Moon; rated R,
(1979) at Kutsher's in the Catskills.: left to right,
opens in area theaters
standing, Bob Zmuda with friend; Andy's sister,
Wednesday, Dec. 22.
Carol; fizther, Stanley; mother, Janice; Andy;
A&E's Biography features
brother, Michael; and seated, Grandma Pearh
the life of Andy Kaufman 8
Grandma Lillie and Andy's friend Gregg Sutton.
p.m. Monday, Dec. 27.
Andy takes the Carnegie Hall Audience
\\
out for cookies.
\
\ \
‘‘. \

• \\:,, \'‘

\ \ \

\ \

• •