Net Worth Ranker
What Was Andy Kaufman’s Net Worth?
At the time of his death in 1984, after adjusting for inflation, Andy Kaufman’s net worth was estimated to be $3 million. This figure represents the culmination of his work as an entertainer, actor, writer, producer, and performance artist. While specific details regarding the breakdown of his assets are not readily available, his earnings primarily stemmed from his diverse career endeavors.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Born Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman on January 17, 1949, in New York City, Andy spent his formative years in Great Neck, Long Island. He was raised in a Jewish household with his mother, Janice (a former model turned homemaker), his father, Stanley (a jewelry salesman), and his younger siblings, Carol and Michael. Even as a young boy, Andy displayed a penchant for performance. By the age of 9, he was entertaining at children’s parties, where he would showcase cartoons and play records for the young audience. His creative pursuits extended to writing; at 16, he penned a novel entitled “The Hollering Mangoo,” although it never saw publication. Andy attended Great Neck North High School, graduating in 1967. He subsequently pursued television production at Grahm Junior College in Boston. During his college years, he hosted his own campus TV show called “Uncle Andy’s Fun House.” One summer, driven by admiration, he hitchhiked to Las Vegas in hopes of meeting Elvis Presley, even going so far as to hide in a service kitchen at one of Elvis’s concert venues. Andy approached Elvis and gave him a manuscript of a book he’d written about him. He graduated from college in 1971, then he started performing comedy at small East Coast clubs. These early experiences laid the groundwork for his multifaceted career in entertainment.
“Taxi” and Television Success
Kaufman’s career gained considerable momentum with his role as Latka Gravas on the ABC/NBC sitcom “Taxi,” which aired from 1978 to 1983. The character Latka, an immigrant mechanic, was essentially based on Kaufman’s “Foreign Man” persona. While specific salary details for his role on “Taxi” are not publicly available, it is known that he received two Golden Globe nominations for his performance: one in 1979 for Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Television Series and another in 1981 for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. “Taxi” aired 114 episodes over five seasons. Beyond “Taxi,” Kaufman made appearances on “Saturday Night Live” between 1975 and 1982, showcasing his Elvis Presley impersonation and characters like Foreign Man and Tony Clifton. He also featured on “Van Dyke and Company” (1976), “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” (1976–1978), “The Midnight Special” (1978; 1981), and “Late Night with David Letterman” (1982–1983), further solidifying his presence in the television landscape. Kaufman also wrote, produced, and starred in the 1979 special “Andy’s Funhouse,” and he wrote and starred in the specials “Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall” (1980) and “The Andy Kaufman Show” (1983). These television appearances significantly contributed to his overall income and fame.
Film Roles and Performances
Kaufman’s foray into film included roles in “God Told Me To” (1976), “In God We Tru$t” (1980), “Heartbeeps” (1981), and “My Breakfast with Blassie” (1983). While details regarding his specific earnings from these film roles are not widely available, they added to his overall income as an entertainer. He co-starred with Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Louise Lasser, and Richard Pryor in 1980’s “In God We Tru$t” and with Bernadette Peters, Randy Quaid, and Christopher Guest in 1981’s “Heartbeeps.” Andy’s final film was 1983’s “My Breakfast with Blassie” in which he played himself alongside wrestler “Classy” Freddie Blassie. In April 1979, Andy performed at Carnegie Hall, inviting his “grandmother” to watch from a chair at the side of the stage. At the end of the performance, she was revealed to be Robin Williams. Kaufman also got an elderly woman to fake a heart attack and pretend to die onstage, then he came out onstage wearing a Native American headdress and “revived” the woman by performing a dance over her. At the end of the show, Andy took the entire audience out for milk and cookies. Later that year, he starred in the TV special “Andy’s Funhouse,” which featured Foreign Man and his famous Elvis Presley impersonation. He did a similar show, “The Andy Kaufman Show,” for “Soundstage” on PBS in 1983.
Professional Wrestling and Feud with Jerry Lawler
Kaufman’s involvement in professional wrestling, particularly his feud with Jerry “The King” Lawler, was a significant aspect of his performance art. While the exact financial arrangements of his wrestling engagements remain undisclosed, it is known that the staged feud generated considerable attention and controversy, contributing to his overall notoriety. The feud culminated in a memorable appearance on “Late Night with David Letterman” in 1982. More than a decade after Kaufman’s death, it was revealed that the feud and the fights were fake. Kaufman’s wrestling career added another dimension to his persona and likely contributed to his earnings.
Personal Life and Relationships
In 1969, Andy and his high school girlfriend had a baby and gave her up for adoption. Their daughter, Maria Bellu-Colonna, discovered that she was Kaufman’s child in 1992, and her daughter, Brittany, had a small role in the 1999 film “Man on the Moon,” playing Andy’s sister as a child. In late 1969, Kaufman studied Transcendental Meditation while he was in college and used it “to build confidence and take his act to comedy clubs.” Until the end of his life, Andy spent three hours a day doing yoga and meditating, and in 1971, he went to Spain and trained to become a teacher in Transcendental Meditation. In 1982, Kaufman began a relationship with Lynne Margulies after meeting on the set of the film “My Breakfast with Blassie,” and they remained together until his death. Margulies directed 1989’s “I’m from Hollywood,” a Kaufman wrestling compilation, and she published a book of “hundreds of angry letters” that had been sent to him titled “Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts!” in 2009. Lynne also co-wrote the 2014 book “Andy Kaufman: The Truth, Finally” with Bob Zmuda.
Death and Legacy
During Thanksgiving dinner in 1983, several of Kaufman’s relatives expressed concern about his persistent coughing, but Andy reassured them that his doctor had told him that nothing was wrong. After returning to Los Angles from Long Island, Kaufman underwent tests at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and was informed that he had large-cell carcinoma of the lung. Andy received palliative radiotherapy, but the cancer spread to his brain, and he made his last public appearance at the “My Breakfast with Blassie” premiere in March 1984. The following day, Kaufman and Lynne Margulies traveled to the Philippines to receive psychic surgery, a pseudoscientific procedure that has since been recognized as medical fraud. Andy initially felt better, but after returning to L.A., he passed away on May 16, 1984, at Cedars-Sinai at the age of 35. Kaufman had spoken about faking his death, so rumors swirled that Andy wasn’t really dead. His character Tony Clifton appeared at comedy clubs after Kaufman’s death, but on the 1995 NBC special “A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman,” Jim Carrey revealed that Bob Zmuda had been playing Clifton. In 2013, an actress claimed to be Andy’s daughter and said that he was still alive, and the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office responded by re-releasing his death certificate, which confirmed he had been buried at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, New York. Andy Kaufman’s net worth at the time of his death reflects the culmination of his diverse and unconventional career. His influence on comedy and performance art continues to be recognized, evidenced by Jim Carrey’s portrayal of him in the 1999 film “Man on the Moon,” for which Carrey won a Golden Globe.
