Tony Danza

Danza now hosts his own TV talk show, The Tony Danza Show. The song was also used as the title track for the film of the same name. He received critical acclaim for his performance in the 1999 Broadway revival of the Eugene O'Neill play The Iceman Cometh. wrote and recorded a song about Kaufman, "Man on the Moon", for their 1992 album Automatic for the People. His movie debut was in the comedy The Hollywood Knights (1980), which was followed by Going Ape! (1981). The rock band R.E.M. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for a guest-starring role in the TV series The Practice. It has also been humorously suggested that Ann Coulter might actually be Andy Kaufman.

Danza is probably best-known for his appearances in the TV sitcoms Taxi (1978-1983) and Who's the Boss? (1984-1992). More likely is that Carrey's sense of humor was influenced by and is similar to Kaufman's. He was a boxer when he began his acting career. However, even if one were to discount Carrey's childhood as a fabrication, he first emerged as an actor in 1983, which is a year too early. Born Antonio Iadanza in Brooklyn, New York, he attended the University of Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa. (Incidentally, Zmuda was in Batman Forever, which co-starred Carrey.) To "support" this theory, parallels are often drawn from Kaufman's life to Carrey's movies, which include The Majestic, in which Carrey plays a man who loses his memory and lives another person's life, and Me, Myself, and Irene, in which Carrey plays the white father of three African-American males. Tony Danza (born April 21, 1951) is an American actor. (Also interestingly, he and Kaufman share the same birthday: January 17th.) Additionally, Carrey's acting was considered uncannily close to the way Kaufman was normally, even according to Kaufman's friend Bob Zmuda.

Family Law (2000) ... Joe Cortese. Carrey is a long-time fan of Kaufman's and fought hard for the role, and even owns Kaufman's conga drums. The Practice (1999). Usually the celebrity mentioned is Jim Carrey, who starred in the Man on the Moon, the 1999 film about Kaufman's life that was directed by Milos Forman. Norman Waters. Another partly facetious theory making the rounds on the Internet is that Kaufman got plastic surgery to dramatically alter his appearance and is a current-day comedian or celebrity. Noah (1998) .. Potentially dozens of fake Kaufmans were expected to appear around this time and this appears to be another example of urban legends inspiring real events.

Barney Gorman. Since the passing of this date, there have been unsubstantiated reports claiming that Kaufman is back from the dead and has a blog apparently chronicling his comeback (http://andykaufmanreturns.blogspot.com/). However, these claims are highly questionable and are even self-contradictory in places (on the blog he contradicts the, now suspended, press release which he apparently wrote and paid for himself). The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon (1998) .. Kaufman himself even said that were he to fake his death, he would return 20 years later, on May 16, 2004, a claim which has become urban legend. Tony DiMeo. Over the years, many people doubted Kaufman's death, thinking that he staged it as the ultimate Andy Kaufman stunt. The Tony Danza Show (1997) (series) .. Kaufman apparently died on May 16, 1984 of lung cancer and was allegedly interred in the Beth David Cemetery, Elmont, New York (Long Island).

Juror #7. Throughout his entire professional career, Kaufman kept his day job, bussing tables at Jerry's Famous Deli. 12 Angry Men (1997) .. It was of course entirely a hoax. Sal. At one point in the show, he invited gospel singer Kathie Sullivan on stage to sing a few gospel songs with him and announced that the two were engaged to be married and talked to the audience about his newfound faith in Jesus. North Shore Fish (1996) .. Later that year, Kaufman returned to host Fridays.

Co-host. Regardless, Kaufman appeared the following week in a videotaped apology to the home viewers. Bob Hope: Laughing with the Presidents (1996) .. The entire incident was apparently a gag conceived by Andy Kaufman, but how many people were in on the gag (if any) was never made clear. Cameo. A stagehand stormed onto the stage, leading to a brawl on camera before the show finally cut away to commercial. Sinatra: 80 Years My Way (1995) .. Andy responded by splashing Michael Richards with water.

Tony Canetti. In response, Michael Richards walked off camera and returned with a set of cue cards and dumped on the table in front of Kaufman. Hudson Street (1995) (series) .. The other comedians were embarrassed by the position that Kaufman had put them in on a live television show. Tom Acton. During a sketch set in a restaurant, Kaufman broke character and refused to say his lines. Deadly Whispers (1995) .. Kaufman's first appearance on the show proved to be the most memorable one.

Vinnie, the Alligator. In 1981, Kaufman made a couple of memorable appearances on Fridays, a variety show on ABC that was similar to SNL. The Mighty Jungle (1994) (series) (voice) .. Kaufman was devastated. Constible Farace. In a gag gone wrong, the SNL audience voted to ban Kaufman from the show for good. Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace (1991) .. Kaufman also made a number of legendary appearances on NBC's Saturday Night Live, until he angered the audience with his female wrestling routine.

Mickey Campbell. Kaufman made ten appearances on David Letterman's morning and late-night shows, including one where he claimed to be homeless and begged the audience for money, and one where he talked about his adopted children, who turned out to be three full grown African American men. Baby Talk (1991) (series) (voice) .. In reality, Kaufman was not injured while wrestling Lawler, and in fact, the two were friends. Rowdy Patron. Kaufman and Lawler's famous feud and wrestling matches were all later confirmed as a gag and not real as many believed at the time. The Whereabouts of Jenny (1991) .. Lawler's ongoing feud included an apparent broken neck for Kaufman, and a famous on-air fight on the Late Night with David Letterman television Show.

Vic Ross. Later, after a challenge from Professional wrestler Jerry Lawler, Kaufman would step into the ring with a man — Lawler himself. Freedom Fighter (1988) .. He offered $1,000 reward to any woman that could pin him. Jerry Rosenberg. For a brief time, Kaufman began wrestling women during his act and was the self-proclaimed "Inter-gender Wrestling Champion of the World". Doing Life (1986) .. Kaufman grew up admiring professional wrestlers and the fantasy world that they perform in.

Tony Micelli. At the end of the show, his grandmother stood up, took her mask off and revealed to the audience that she was actually comedian Robin Williams in disguise. Who's the Boss? (1984) (series) .. In 1979, Kaufman performed in front of a Carnegie Hall audience, which he later took out for milk and cookies, via 35 buses that were waiting outside. At the beginning of his Carnegie Hall performance, Kaufman invited his grandmother to watch the show from a chair he had placed at the side of the stage. Dennis. Much to Kaufman's delight, this incident was reported in the local newspapers. Single Bars, Single Women (1984) .. Clifton was, at Kaufman's insistence, hired for a guest role on Taxi, but after throwing a tantrum on stage, had to be escorted off of the ABC studio's lot by security guards.

Pony Lambretta. The interviews would usually turn ugly whenever Kaufman's name came up, because Clifton would claim that Kaufman was using him to get rich. Murder Can Hurt You (1980) .. News programs actually interviewed Clifton as Kaufman's opening act. Tony Banta. For a brief time, it was unclear to some that Clifton was not a real person. Taxi (1978) (series) .. Sometimes it was Kaufman performing as Clifton, sometimes it was his brother Michael or his friend Bob Zmuda.

New York Cab Driver. Clifton began opening for Kaufman at comedy clubs and eventually even performed concerts on his own around the country. Meet Wally Sparks (1997) .. Kaufman's second most well known character would be "Tony Clifton", the abusive lounge singer. Louie Crisci. They were soon horrified to find out that he was completely serious and would read the entire book to them. A Brooklyn State of Mind (1997) .. The audience would laugh thinking that Kaufman was joking.

Moe. Scott Fitzgerald to them. The Girl Gets Moe (1997) (on video) .. Kaufman would announce that he was going to read The Great Gatsby by F. Sid. On a few occasions, audiences would show up to one of Kaufman's performances requesting to see "Latka". Glam (1997) .. In one episode, Kaufman's character came down with a condition which made him act like the character played by Judd Hirsch.

Himself. In order to allow Kaufman to demonstrate some comedic range, his character was given multiple personality disorder which allowed Kaufman to display other characters. Dear God (1996) .. Kaufman hated sitcoms and was not thrilled with the idea of being on one. D'Avalon. Kaufman later reprised his "Foreign Man" character, renamed "Latka Gravas", for the Taxi sitcom in 1978. Illtown (1996) .. The audience would realize they had been tricked, which became a trademark of Kaufman's comedy.

Mel Clark. At that point, "Foreign Man" would launch into an Elvis Presley impersonation good enough that Elvis Presley himself would later describe it as his favorite. Angels in the Outfield (1994) (Disney) .. Thenk you veddy much." The audience would be torn between outrage at seeing such a bad act, and sympathy for the hopeless "Foreign Man", who would cry on stage once heckled enough. Cameo. For example, he might say in a phony accent, "I would like to imitate Meester Carter, de President of de United States." He would then say in the same voice, "Hello, I am Meester Carter, de President of de United States. I'm From Hollywood (1992) .. "Foreign Man", who claimed to be from an island in the Caspian Sea, would appear on the stage of comedy clubs and perform a number of bad impersonations (Archie Bunker, Nixon, etc).

Doug Simpson. Kaufman first caught people's attention with a character named "Foreign Man" in the early 1970s. She's Out of Control (1989) .. He graduated in 1971 from a now-defunct Grahm Junior College where he studied television and completed projects that informed his later work. Terry. He was also a composer. Cannonball Run II (1984) .. He is one of the most famous practitioners of anti-humor.

Foster. Though many refer to him as a comedian, Andy himself hated this, saying "I never told a joke in my life". Going Ape! (1981) .. Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman (January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was a New York-born American self-described "song and dance man". Duke. The Hollywood Knights (1980) ..