‘Taxi’ star dies at 35
NZPA-NYT New York Andy Kaufman, the unorthodox young comedian who starred in “Taxi” and on “Saturday Night Live,” has died of lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles. He was 35.
Kaufman was best known for his portrayal of the character “Latka Gravas,” an immigrant auto mechanic, on the television programme “Taxi.” But some of his “Saturday Night Live” programmes and personal appearances outraged as many people as they entertained — particularly feminists. Their ire was directed at a character called the Intergender World Wrestling Champion, in which guise Kaufman
offered $lOOO to any woman who could pin him in a match.
In April, 1982, he suffered neck and back injuries in a bout with a professional male wrestler, Jerry Lawler. Lawler reportedly had been angered by the comic’s disparaging on-air remarks about wrestling and challenged him.
Kaufman had made 14 guest appearances on “Saturday Night Live” when he was dropped after the audience voted him out in an unusual, live call-in ballot on November 20, 1982. Viewers voted 195,544 to 169,186 to keep him off the programme. Except for reruns, he never appeared on "Saturday Night Live” again.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840519.2.85.9
Bibliographic details
Press, 19 May 1984, Page 11
Word Count
194‘Taxi’ star dies at 35 Press, 19 May 1984, Page 11
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in