Andy Kaufman

Appearances:

10/11/75
10/25/75
11/8/75
2/28/76
1/15/77
10/15/77
12/10/77
3/11/78
2/24/79
10/20/89
12/22/79
1/30/82
5/15/82
11/20/82
1/22/83

No matter what he was doing on the stages of Studio 8H, Andy Kaufman was always enigmatic, original, and sometimes just plain confounding. From lip-synching the theme to "Mighty Mouse," doing a spot-on Elvis impersonation, or asking the audience to vote to keep him on the show, he always kept everyone – including the cast and crew – guessing.

Born in New York City in 1949, Kaufman always knew he wanted to be a performer. After a brief stint at a two-year college, he refined his dada-ist style performance art by playing small venues along the east coast. His unique style caught the attention of SNL writers and they booked Kaufman for the very first show.

He would go on to make an additional 14 appearances before the audience voted to ban him for his controversial "wrestling with women" performances.

Kaufman died of lung cancer in 1984, but to this day rumors persist that he faked his own death.

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