Tony Clifton

...times on Taxi on his terms, whose bad attitude is matched by his horrible appearance and demeanor. When Clifton meets Shapiro privately, Clifton takes off his sunglasses and we see that he is actually Kaufman. Clifton is a "villain character"...

In this article: Andy Kaufman, The Truman Show, Taxi, Jim Carrey, Bob Zmuda, Saturday Night Live, and Man on the Moon

(Like Tony Clifton, these are both reportedly stage names.) An internet personality by the name of Walter P. Wiley has been reportedly based on Clifton as well, however he insists that he sees no similarities between himself and Clifton.

In this article: Andy Kaufman, Dinah Shore, Bob Zmuda, Heartbeeps, Taxi, Hurricane Katrina, Corey Mystyshyn, and Chopin Theatre

...Clifton as Kaufman's opening act, with the mood turning ugly whenever Kaufman's name came up. Kaufman, Clifton insisted, was attempting to ruin Clifton's "good name" in order to make money and get famous. As a requirement for Kaufman...

In this article: Andy Kaufman, Bob Zmuda, Elvis Presley, Taxi, Latka, and Carnegie Hall

...attendance.) "Andy wanted to franchise Tony Cliftons," says Michael Kaufman, who actually played Clifton during that Carnegie Hall show. "He wanted a Tony Clifton in every state." Even when they were kids in Great Neck, N.Y., Michael says,...

In this article: Andy Kaufman, Thanksgiving, Carnegie Hall, Man on the Moon, Lung cancer, and William Paterson University

...is clearly a shtick, a one-note joke, not a character we can believe in or engage with. While Andy Kaufmann's anti-comedy persona Tony Clifton, Hamburger's closest analogue, was every bit as vile and hateful, he also seemed eerily...

In this article: Neil Hamburger, Western music, Gregg Turkington, Anthony Kiedis, Dog, Sophocles, Jerry Seinfeld, Andy Kaufmann, and Weird Al Yankovich

...substance. There are shows that are too short, just as some playwrights can't cut to save their lives. And I won't even bring up Bob Zmuda's Tony Clifton show last year, from which I emerged, dazed, after about five hours. As it was still...

In this article: Dael Orlandersmith, Goodman Theatre, Hal Prince, David Mamet, Hartford Stage, Griffin Theatre, Blackbird, and August: Osage County

...it. Still, nearly a quarter of a century after the comedian and prankster Andy Kaufman died in 1984, "Tony Clifton" continues to insist he is a superstar in his own right. The abrasive, untalented lounge singer is a fictional character, one...

In this article: Andy Kaufman, Comic Relief, Sheryl Crow, Tim McGraw, Hurricane Katrina, I Will Survive, Mickey Finn, and Dinah Shore

...sitcom. If Foreign Man was Kaufman's vehicle for being loved, then obnoxious lounge singer Tony Clifton was his tool for being hated. Clifton was the antithesis of Foreign Man, a fat, abrasive, obnoxious third-rate crooner in a series...

In this article: Andy Kaufman, Taxi, Trademark, Jeffrey Dahmer, Chicago, and Bob Zmuda

...in public. Until the current tour, those outings were rare. During a recent interview at Chicago's famed Pump Room, Clifton revealed why he hasn't been seen in the States for a while. "I am an international singing sensation," he...

In this article: Andy Kaufman, Bob Zmuda, Danny DeVito, Frank Sinatra, and Chicago

...make appearances at Mandela's star-studded birthday dinner (6/26/2008 10:57:57 AM) He did survive: Tony Clifton returns for charity gig Tony Clifton, an alter ego of the late comedian Andy Kaufman, will headline a July 31-Aug. 17...

In this article: Andy Kaufman, Hurricane Katrina, Chopin Theatre, Comic Relief, Hannah Montana, and Taxi