Scott Bowden presents Kentucky Fried Rasslin

Controversial comedian–and professional wrestling’s Intergender champion–Andy Kaufman passed away from lung cancer on this day in 1984. Less than two years removed from his memorable performance with Jerry Lawler on the David Letterman show, most of the “Late Night” staff assumed it was a put-on and that Kaufman alter-ego Tony Clifton would be delivering the eulogy at the funeral.
Because Andy was so private, many mourners did not see him as his condition worsened in his final days, leaving many to discreetly poke his lifeless body in the casket at his funeral on May 18. Even some of his closest friends were holding out hope that this was simply his most twisted comic switch to date and that Andy would pop up and break into song and dance. Sadly, it wasn’t a gag.

Those who had spent Thanksgiving with him months before knew just how serious it was when he repeatedly coughed and hacked during dinner. I was only 12 at the time, but I can recall thinking that Andy didn’t look good during one of his final Memphis wrestling TV appearances on the “Jerry Lawler Show” on November 20, 1983. A few weeks later, a doctor informed Kaufman that he had lung cancer, despite the fact that he had never smoked.

Because it was the kayfabe era, when wrestlers stayed in character at all times, Lawler never let on for one second that the hatred between the two was anything but real when besieged with interview requests following his death–besides, that’s the way Andy would have wanted it. (Although Eddie Gilbert claimed that Lawler’s piledrivers likely caused Kaufman’s cancer, a recent study at UCLA confirmed that there is no correlation between the potentially lethal hold and the deadly disease.)

Although Andy confessed to Letterman months later that the Lawler slapping incident was prearranged, he largely kept the secret about his adventures in pro wrestling. Letterman told GQ in 1985 that he was scared to death during the Andy/Lawler segment, thinking the studio crowd was going to riot after the King smacked the “Taxi” star out of his chair.

Even Andy’s parents continued to despise Lawler for years until the King was able to share with them the details of their epic showdown.Honoring Andy’s request, legendary wrestler/manager “Classy” Freddie Blassie joined his family in the pew during the service. Never at a loss for words, Blassie was so distraught that he couldn’t bring himself to speak with reporters afterward.

National Enquirer account of Andy's bizarre healing methods.

Rumor has it that near the end, Kaufman slept with his eyes open, hoping that it would prevent the inevitable–when the nurse tried to close them after he passed, they actually opened again. Close friend Elayne Boosler wrote in the November 1984 edition of Esquire that she was reminded of a critic’s review of Andy years earlier: “This guy doesn’t know when to get off.”

He stepped off much too soon.

Let’s play Twister, let’s play Risk. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
See you in heaven if you make the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are we losing touch?

For more details on Andy’s Memphis rasslin’ performances, click Jerry Lawler vs. Andy Kaufman.

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Andy Kaufman and Jimmy Hart pose with a wooden dummy featured in the comedian's act. Oh, wait--that's Mr. Guy Coffee.

I recently stumbled upon the blog allegedly written by Andy Kaufman, who claims to be alive and well. With anyone else, this might be tacky, but Andy probably would have approved of some guy perpuating the myth that he faked his own death and is planning to re-emerge one day to complete the greatest practical joke ever pulled on the American public. (His writing partner, Bob Zmuda, for years predicted that Andy would return.) Wait–I just read where the blogger refers to Jerry Lawler as an “asshole.” Hey, maybe it is Andy after all.

At one point, the guy behind the blog was receiving threats, which could explain why the site hasn’t updated since June 2008. Amazingly enough, the blog received hundreds of posted comments, with several people questioning the author’s identity. Like it wasn’t painfully the obvious the guy was a fake. Or perhaps the 55-year-old Andy finally died before he could complete the ruse. You decide: Andy Kaufman Returns.

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Head start: Lawler offered Kaufman a free headlock, and the comedian obliged.

On Nov. 23, 1981, 10-year-old Scott Bowden sat in the ringside area at the Mid-South Coliseum as “TV star”  Andy Kaufman entered the ring and proceeded to insult women–and the South in general–before preparing to do battle with four ladies (and I use that term loosely) selected from the audience. Kaufman had upped the ante from his previous appearance on Oct. 12 in Memphis, in which he retained his $500 after pinning four women in under 12 minutes. This time, in addition to putting up $1,000 of his Hollywood cash, Kaufman offered to not only shave his head if he lost but also marry the woman who was lucky enough to pin his shoulders to the mat.

My dad and I were huge fans of the show “Taxi,” and Kaufman’s lovable Latka Gravis character was easily my favorite on the show. However, the Kaufman in the ring this night was the antithesis of Latka, with the Hollywood celebrity mocking all 5,392 of us Memphis rednecks in attendance.  I didn’t know what to make of this at first, but in no time at all, I hated his guts. Looking back on it now, Kaufman was fortunate to have landed in Memphis after Andy’s proposal to wrestle women in Madison Square Garden was rejected by Vince McMahon Sr. Yes, he got heat nationwide with his challenges to women on “Saturday Night Live” and his variety show, but the explosion he ignited in the South was his greatest feat in the business, in part due to a videotaped series of ”hygiene tips” that WMC-TV received numerous complaints over. (“This…is a roll of toilet paper!”)

By the time the first woman entered the ring to lock horns with the Inter-Gender Champion of the World, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy hoping to see Kaufman humiliated. He struggled with the first woman before quickly pinning the next two. The “bouts” mainly consisted of Kaufman and his female challengers rolling all over the mat, with the star mainly grabbing headlocks and locks of hair before eventually overpowering them. A black woman, introduced only as “Foxy,” was the final challenger. By this point, blown up worse than Kevin Nash on his worst day (hard to pinpoint that one, really), Kaufman still nearly managed to pin Memphis’ answer to Pam Grier when the time limit expired. Kaufman proceeded to push her around after the match until the staunch advocate of feminism himself, Jerry Lawler, came to ringside and asked Andy to give her three more minutes, which he declined. As you can imagine, little Scotty Bowden was going berserk at this point.

In fall 2007, when Lawler introduced the documentary “I’m from Hollywood” at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, I discussed those inter-gender bouts for the first time with him. Lawler told me that all four ladies were indeed chosen at random from the audience that night after Andy assured Jerry Jarrett that he could handle himself in the ring. Lawler admitted that he was worried a bit that Kaufman was going to get his ass kicked. After seeing how well Kaufman got over, the promotion asked him return to face Foxy in a rematch, this time with the finish predetermined, with Lawler in her corner. The ending to that bout, with Lawler shoving Kaufman, was designed set up the eventual showdown between the King and the comedian on April 5, 1982.

When it comes to annoying women, Andy Kaufman wrote the book.

A new book, “Dear  Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts!” is a collection of  actual letters written by would-be adversaries, along with their photos, and in some cases, bizarre illustrations. This coffee-table-style book illustrates just how well Andy excelled in his heel role. Kaufman received a wave of impassioned challenges, threats and even love letters from hundreds of women. (Some women appeared to in on the joke, others not so much.) The letters in “Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts!” provide a bizarre take on both ’70s culture in general and post-feminist attitudes of the decade. Kaufman’s girlfriend at the time of his death, Lynne Margulies, helped put together the collection and wrote the foreword. Bob Zmuda, longtime friend and partner in crime, wrote the foreword. You can order it from amazon.com  by clicking the link below. Also, DVDs are available featuring the entire Lawler vs. Kaufman feud, which are definitely worth ordering if you’ve never seen complete feud.

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