Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey " Andy " Kaufman ( January 17 , 1949 – May 16 , 1984 ) was a popular and eccentric American entertainer , actor and performance artist . While often referred to as a comedian , Kaufman did not consider himself to be one . He disdained telling jokes and engaging in comedy as it was traditionally understood , referring to himself instead as a " song - and - dance man " . Elaborate ruses and pranks were major elements of his career . His body of work maintains a cult following and he continues to be respected for his original material , performance style , and unflinching commitment to character . Professional wrestling . Inspired by the theatricality of " kayfabe " , the staged nature of the sport , and his own tendency to form elaborate hoaxes , Kaufman began wrestling women during his act and was the self - proclaimed " Inter - Gender Wrestling Champion of the World , " taking on an aggressive and ridiculous personality based upon the characters invented by professional wrestlers . He offered a $ 1 , 000 prize to any woman who could pin him . He employed performance artist Laurie Anderson , a friend of his , as a stooge in this act for a while . Kaufman initially approached the head of the World Wrestling Federation , Vince McMahon Sr . , about bringing his act to the New York wrestling territory . McMahon dismissed Kaufman ' s idea as the elder McMahon was not about to bring " show business " into his Pro Wrestling society . Kaufman had by then developed a friendship with Wrestling magazine reporter / photographer Bill Apter . After many discussions about Andy wanting to be in the Pro Wrestling business , Apter called Memphis ' iconic Jerry " The King " Lawler and introduced him to Kaufman by telephone from Apter ' s apartment in Queens , New York . The battles between Kaufman and Lawler became legend and were really the first " sports entertainment " angle that became known worldwide and is being seen even today on TV stations such as Comedy Central . Later , after a challenge from professional wrestler Jerry " The King " Lawler , Kaufman would step into the ring ( in the Memphis wrestling circuit ) with a man — Lawler himself . Kaufman taunted the whole city of Memphis , sending " videos showing residents how to use soap " and proclaiming it to be " the nation ' s redneck capital . " Their ongoing feud , often featuring Jimmy Hart and other heels in Kaufman ' s corner , included a broken neck for Kaufman as a result of Lawler ' s piledriver and a famous on - air fight on a 1982 episode of " Late Night with David Letterman " . For some time after that , Kaufman appeared wearing a neck brace , insisting that his injuries were worse than they were . Kaufman would continue to defend the Inter - Gender Championship in the Mid - South Coliseum and offered an extra prize , other than the $ 1 , 000 : that if he were pinned , the woman who pinned him would get to marry him and that Kaufman would also shave his head . Kaufman and Lawler ' s famous feud and wrestling matches were later revealed to have been staged , or a " work , " as the two were actually friends . The truth about its being a work was not disclosed until more than 10 years after Kaufman ' s death , when the Emmy - nominated documentary " A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman " , aired on NBC in 1995 . Coincidentally , Jim Carrey , the one who revealed the secret , later went on to play Kaufman in the 1999 film " Man on the Moon . " In a 1997 interview with the " Memphis Flyer " , Lawler claimed he had improvised during their first match and the " Letterman " incident . Although officials at St . Francis Hospital stated that Kaufman ' s neck injuries were real , in his 2002 biography " It ' s Good to Be the King . . . Sometimes " , Lawler detailed how they came up with the angle and kept it quiet . Even though Kaufman ' s injury was legitimate , the pair pretended that the injury was more severe than it was . He also said that Kaufman ' s explosion on " Letterman " was Kaufman ' s own idea , including when Lawler slapped Kaufman out of his chair . Promoter Jerry Jarrett would later recall that for two years , he would mail paychecks to Kaufman , with payments comparable to what other main - event wrestlers were getting at the time , but Kaufman never cashed any of them . Kaufman also appeared in the 1983 film " My Breakfast with Blassie " with professional wrestling personality " Classy " Freddie Blassie , a parody of the art film " My Dinner With Andre . " The film was directed by Johnny Legend , who employed his sister Lynne Margulies as one of the women who appears in the film . Margulies met Kaufman for the first time on camera , and they later became a couple , living together until Kaufman ' s death . In 2002 Kaufman became an unlockable character in the video game " Legends of Wrestling II " and a standard character in 2004 ' s " Showdown : Legends of Wrestling " . Personal life . Kaufman never married . He met his partner Lynne Margulies on the set of " My Breakfast With Blassie , " in 1982 , and they were together until Andy ' s death in 1984 . She was portrayed by Courtney Love in the movie " Man on the Moon " . Lynne is a film editor and producer who resides in Los Angeles . He was survived by his father and a daughter , Maria Bellu - Colonna , who was born in 1969 out of wedlock to a high - school girlfriend and placed for adoption . Bellu - Colonna learned in 1992 that she was Kaufman ' s daughter when she traced her biological roots by winning a petition of the state of New York for her biological mother ' s surname . She soon reunited with her mother , grandfather , uncle , and aunt ; later she married New York insurance salesman Joe Colonna . On December 5 , 1969 , Kaufman learned Transcendental Meditation at college . According to a BBC article , Kaufman used transcendental meditation " to build confidence and take his act to comedy clubs . " For the rest of his life , Kaufman meditated and performed yoga three hours a day . " He trained as a teacher of transcendental meditation in Majorca , Spain , from February to June 1971 . Illness and death . At Thanksgiving dinner on Long Island , New York , in November 1983 , several family members openly expressed worry about Kaufman ' s persistent coughing . He claimed that he had been coughing for nearly a month , visited his doctor , and been told that nothing was wrong . When he returned to Los Angeles , he consulted a physician , then checked himself into Cedars - Sinai Hospital for a series of medical tests . A few days later , he was diagnosed with an extremely rare type of lung cancer ( though Kaufman never smoked ) . After audiences were shocked by his gaunt appearance during January 1984 performances , Kaufman acknowledged that he had an unspecified illness which he hoped to cure with " natural medicine " including a diet of all fruits and vegetables , among other measures . Kaufman received palliative radiotherapy , but by then the cancer had rapidly spread from his lungs to his brain . His last resort was " psychic surgery , " a New Age procedure performed in Baguio , Philippines , in March 1984 . Kaufman died at Cedars - Sinai Medical Center in West Hollywood , California on May 16 , 1984 of kidney failure caused by metastasized large - cell lung carcinoma , and his body was interred in the Beth David Cemetery in Elmont , New York , ( Long Island ) . He was 35 years old . Death hoax rumors . Kaufman allegedly told many people that he wished to fake his own death , leading some fans to believe that Kaufman ' s death in 1984 was staged . Kaufman himself reputedly claimed that if he were to fake his death , he would return 20 years later , which would have been in 2004 . The 1999 Miloš Forman film " Man on the Moon " leaves the question open ended . " Tony Clifton " performed a year after Kaufman ' s death at The Comedy Store benefit in Kaufman ' s honor , with members of his entourage in attendance . Bob Zmuda has acknowledged death hoax rumors over the years quite tongue in cheek , admitting that Kaufman and he had discussed faking his death at times and that he seemed " obsessed with the idea " , but he says that Kaufman truly did die and his death was not faked ; he does not think Kaufman would be cruel enough to go this long without making contact with his family if he were still alive . His official web site states that his death was not a hoax . During the 1990s , " Tony Clifton " made several appearances at L . A . nightclubs , prompting speculation that perhaps Kaufman was still alive and working under the makeup . Jim Carrey stated on the NBC special " Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman " that the person doing the Clifton character was in fact Bob Zmuda and that the character had been passed on to him by Kaufman while he was still alive . Kaufman ' s death certificate is on file with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and is also available on the web site " The Smoking Gun " . In November 2013 at the 9th Annual Andy Kaufman Awards at the Gotham Comedy Club in New York a woman came forward claiming to be Andy Kaufman ' s daughter . She said that he is alive and wanted to live a quiet life and raise a family . However , " The Smoking Gun " reported that the woman is an unrelated actress who was recruited by Kaufman ' s brother Michael to play the role of Andy ' s daughter . Michael Kaufman later agreed it seemed like a hoax , though he claimed he ' d been duped and not involved in planning it .