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Legendary comedian Andy Kaufman passed away over four decades ago, though rumors continue to persist that the Saturday Night Live alum faked his death. It's a topic that was explored in the new documentary covering Kaufman's extraordinary life and career, dubbed Thank You Very Much.

Per People, Thank You Very Much features some of the people who were close to Kaufman addressing the rumors that the funnyman is secretly still alive. Bob Zmuda, Kaufman's best friend, noted that it's a sensitive subject, stating in the film, "So this is where I have to watch what I say, guard myself here." While Zmuda wouldn't say for certain whether Kaufman would or wouldn't fake his death, he hinted that it was possible, with the doc even playing a clip of the two discussing the possibility.

"Because, did Andy Kaufman fake his death or not? One thing I do know, had Andy Kaufman not died,...

Andy Kaufman never wanted to feel too far away from his audience. Early in his career, he found that bussing tables at Jerry’s Famous Deli in Los Angeles kept him grounded. But that didn’t mean he didn’t bring his full-time work as a comedian to his part-time job as a busboy. In an exclusive clip from the recently released documentary Thank You Very Much, Kaufman slips on his red apron to pour coffee and deliver food to the right tables — except he added an extra step of...

One of the most memorable highlights of “Thank You Very Much,” Alex Braverman’s consistently engaging documentary about comedy legend Andy Kaufman, doesn’t directly involve Kaufman at all.

Well, technically it does — but in the circuitous, convoluted way that only he could design. It’s an audio recording of actor Judd Hirsch, who is so furious he seems ready to explode. His complaint? That a two-bit, no-talent buffoon named Tony Clifton has taken over the set of his 1970s sitcom “Taxi,” which co-starred Kaufman. The fact that Hirsch knows Clifton is one of Kaufman’s alter egos hasn’t remotely mitigated the problem; he’s genuinely angry at Clifton — a guy who doesn’t, in any traditional sense, actually exist.

If there is a moment that distills Kaufman’s unique genius, surely this is it. In other hands, the whole situation would look like a dopey and inexcusably indulgent prank.

Billy Corgan thinks The Smashing Pumpkins are “one of the most misunderstood bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.” That’s what the alt-rock act’s frontman told Joe Rogan during a near-three-hour conversation on the latter’s über-popular podcast.

As the guest on a new episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Corgan touched on a myriad of topics. At one point the pair started to discuss the renewed popularity of once-derided bands Nickelback and Creed.

While talking about polarizing music acts, Corgan said, “You’re about to see that Nickelback and Creed are about to go on a huge run of business. … They survived [the hate], and now comes the inevitable moment of, ‘It was really good’ … they wrote a lot of great songs.”

On that note, Corgan said that he believes that the Pumpkins will get more respect as the years go by, remarking, “It’s kind of how...

For funny actors and aspiring stand-up comics, landing a long-running sitcom role is like winning the lottery. You get guaranteed work for years and, even in the streaming era, the chance for a lifetime of residual checks. But some sitcom stars insist on biting the humor hand that feeds them. Here are five actors from successful TV comedies who wish they had never landed their roles in the first place…

1 Chevy Chase, ‘Community’

Chase, who had been irrelevant for years before finding a new generation of fans on Community, got himself canned for using a racial slur on the set. Fine, no problem, Chase told Marc Maron on the Wtf podcast — he didn’t want to be there anyway. “I honestly felt the show wasn’t funny enough for me, ultimately,” Chase explained. “I felt a little bit constrained. Everybody had their bits, and I thought they were all good.

Jim Carrey’s Tony Clifton Method Acting In Man On The Moon ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Jim Carrey didn’t just play Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon—he became Andy Kaufman. But his commitment to Kaufman’s outlandish alter ego, Tony Clifton, came with a whiff of chaos. Carrey stuffed his pockets with Limburger cheese to embody Clifton’s “purposely repulsive” Vegas lounge singer vibe, leaving co-stars like Paul Giamatti gagging.

“When he was Tony Clifton, he had Limburger cheese in his pockets, so he smelled horrible,” Giamatti revealed. “And he’d constantly be hugging people… It was disgusting.” Hugging people with cheese hands? That’s method acting for you.

Kaufman was no ordinary comedian. Known for Taxi and his jaw-dropping public stunts, Kaufman loved blurring reality and fiction. His Tony Clifton act was peak mischief: a bloated, chain-smoking lounge singer with a personality as rotten as that Limburger.

Exclusive: Acquisition news out today will have comedy fans giving thanks — Thank You Very Much, the documentary about the late Andy Kaufman, has been picked up by Drafthouse Films.

The film directed by Emmy winner Alex Braverman is presented by Morgan Neville’s Tremolo Productions, Elara Pictures, and Jenifer Westphal’s Wavelength. The acquisition deal covers North American theatrical and digital rights; Drafthouse plans an early 2025 release in select cities, followed by a digital release on select streaming platforms. Thank You Very Much premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival last year — where it won the Venice Classics Award for Best Documentary – followed by a U.S. premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.

“Thank You Very Much traces the life and career of legendary performance artist Andy Kaufman, exploring the enigmatic legend’s gonzo, boundary-shattering comedy which provoked and often outraged audiences,” notes a synopsis. “The film reveals a nuanced...

Exclusive: In recent years, comedian Tom Segura has taken to both his podcasts and the press to tease a pilot that he self-financed, produced and sold. And now, he’s revealed Netflix as the destination for the project, a six-episode dark comedy series that he’ll star in and produce.

This is just Segura’s latest deal with the streamer, which has previously put out each of his five chart-topping comedy specials. The untitled series, for which he also serves as narrator, will see him take the viewer through a series of vignettes in each episode. The twisted comedic sensibility of his stand-up is the core DNA of this series, where every story will unfold in a in a hilariously disturbing way only he could imagine.

Segura wrote and fully produced the pilot, with Rami Hachache serving as its director. Jeremy Konner, whose credits include Drunk History, Another Period and Waffles & Mochi,...

Exclusive: Comedian Tom Segura has identified the most promising vehicle yet to showcase his acting chops, as Deadline understands that he’s in talks for multiple roles in Dirty Rotten Bastard, a show biz-centric indie from Ed Helms & Mike Falbo’s Pacific Electric Picture Company.

Helmed by Ryan McNeely and Josh Martin, aka The Director Brothers, the film tells the insane true story of an aspiring filmmaker who is kidnapped by deranged lounge singer Tony Clifton. Initially drawn to document Clifton’s world, he is thrust into a chaotic journey of sex, celebrity, and comedy, blurring the lines between observer and participant, and testing his sanity.

Segura will play legendary avant-garde comedian Andy Kaufman’s larger-than-life comedic persona Clifton, as well as the performer’s friend and longtime collaborator Bob Zmuda.

Zmuda was known to switch off with Kaufman in portraying Clifton, a foul-mouthed lounge singer out of Las Vegas,...

It took a savvy comedy fan to know what Andy Kaufman was doing with his career. More than a mere funnyman, Kaufman tended to satirize the trappings of standup comedy, often using his routines to play pranks on the audience. As detailed in Miloš Forman's 1999 biopic "Man on the Moon," Kaufman wanted to host a TV special that contained artificial signal "static" in the hope that viewers would get up out of their seats and whack their "broken" TV sets. That's not funny for the audience, but it's certainly funny for Kaufman.

Part of Kaufman's satirical act was a whole separate stage persona named Tony Clifton, a foul-mouthed, alcoholic lounge singer who cussed and behaved badly. Clifton was also occasionally played by Kaufman's close friend and associate Bob Zmuda, allowing Clifton and Kaufman to occasionally appear in the same room, calling the reality of the character into question. Tony Clifton...

Nichelle Nichols herself told the story in Roger Nygard's 1997 documentary film "Trekkies." It seems that a young Black girl, maybe 11 or 12, was watching "Star Trek" for the first time in the late 1960s. When that girl saw Nichols portraying the communications officer on the U.S.S. Enterprise, she leaped up and ran to her mother to share the good news. The girl yelled, "There's a Black woman on TV, and she ain't no maid!" That girl was Whoopi Goldberg. 

Goldberg was a "Star Trek" fan ever since, and would eventually be given a role on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" some 21 years later. Goldberg, it seems, was friends with LeVar Burton, who played Geordi La Forge on the show, and requested that he do her a favor. Since Goldberg was a big movie star, the makers of NextGen were happy to have her on the show. According to...

“Thank You Very Much” is a documentary about Andy Kaufman that does just what you want it to do. It details Kaufman’s life and career, showcasing all the stage bits he became famous for (and including rare footage of performances and offstage antics that even Kaufman fanatics have never seen). But more than that, the movie understands him. It explores the depths of what Andy Kaufman was about — though that doesn’t mean that we’re subjected to a bunch of talking heads discussing how “conceptual” and punk-the-audience weird he was, and who was the real Andy, anyway?

I mean, there’s some of that. But Alex Braverman, the director of “Thank You Very Much,” grasps the fundamental truth of Andy Kaufman: that what he was up to, in his defiant and Dada screwball way, was showbiz. It was theater. He wanted to tickle you, to make you giggle and squirm,...

Nearly 40 years after outré comedian Andy Kaufman’s death from cancer, there remain fans who are certain that a faked demise was Kaufman’s most ambitious and committed hoax.

Until proven otherwise, this is a ridiculous conviction. That said, it’s probably no more or less absurd than believing that Andy Kaufman is a figure who could be explained or even adequately summarized in a conventional documentary. There are some outsized personalities so cloaked in mythology that even the tallest tales about them seem believable, but Kaufman’s personality was so cloaked in subterfuge that any attempt to deconstruct that personality or his behavior is going to come across as a bit within a bit.

This is the problem that Alex Braverman’s new documentary Thank You Very Much runs into. The documentary is filled with fantastic footage from Kaufman’s fearless performances, mostly familiar but still wildly iconoclastic. It...

Few are as committed to their performances as Jim Carrey. The multi-faceted actor and comedian has proven he's more than the wacky, animated jokester of his early TV and movie career with roles in dramas like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and biopics like "Man On The Moon." In fact, for the latter he remained in-character throughout filming which, as the behind-the-scenes documentary "Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond" showed, was a little too much commitment for some of the production team. He even arranged for Andy Kaufman and Bob Zmuda's abrasive lounge singer character Tony Clifton to show up at a press conference to start a fight.

Of course, among Jim Carrey Movies, "Man On The Moon," isn't the first thing you think of. That honor usually goes to his '90s comedies, and rightfully so. Movies such as "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "The Mask" are...

Morgan Neville’s company Tremolo Productions is officially in production of an untitled Andy Kaufman documentary alongside Josh and Benny Safdie’s Elara Pictures. The Emmy-nominated Alex Braverman will direct the feature-length film.

“No matter how many times I watch Andy Kaufman’s work, I feel like I’m seeing a magic trick for the very first time,” Braverman said. “I’m excited for our project to honor that. This is the film I’ve wanted to make my entire life.”

The Safdie brothers will executive produce the project alongside Rick Rubin and Braverman’s father Chuck Braverman, who produced Kaufman’s 1980 special “Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall.” Wavelength founder and CEO Jennifer Westphal also will executive produce.

Wavelength and Tremolo had previously worked together on the 2018 Mr. Roger’s documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” directed by Neville. This documentary also marks the second time Neville and Rubin have worked together on a project,...

A documentary about the acclaimed and mysterious cult comedian Andy Kaufman is in the works from producers Morgan Neville and Josh and Benny Safdie.

The untitled feature film about Kaufman is being directed by Alex Braverman and is in production from Neville’s Tremolo Productions and the Safdie’s Elara Pictures. Neville is producing, while the Safdies will executive produce, as will famed record producer and filmmaker Rick Rubin. Braverman’s father Chuck Braverman, who previously produced Kaufman’s 1980 special “Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall,” is also execeutive producing, as is Wavelength founder and CEO Jenifer Westphal.

Kaufman, who died in 1984 after a battle with cancer, has maintained a remarkable mystique since his untimely death for his peculiar performance art and unmatched dedication to his comedy, even though he fully believed that he was not a comedian and never told a joke but was more accurately an entertainer. He became...

Chicago – Fact or fiction is a current debate in news programming, especially as people naturally digest “the news” that makes them comfortable. A new five-episode web series created by filmmaker Ashton Swinford, “Miss Information,” is a satire-oriented show that seeks to entertain and educate viewers on the bias, fake news and bot infiltration that litters social media. Click on MissInformation.TV for more details. The series debuts on October 7th, 2020, on YouTube and Instagram (@MissInformationShow).

Miss Information (Swinford) is a former beauty pageant queen attempting to cling to relevancy in a post-pandemic world. She is joined by Reginald Wilkins (Whitman Johnson), a golden retriever in human form, who serves as her reporter in the field. Guest appearances are also frequent, ranging from the notorious Q of QAnon to extraterrestrial hand puppets.

Ashton Swinton is ‘Miss Information’

Photo credit: MissInformation.TV

Over the course of its five episodes, the web series...

Chicago – It’s a special day when a filmmaker has a world premieres of a new short work, and Ashton Swinford has picked The Midwest Film Festival (Mff) – on Wednesday, August 26th, 2020 – as the showcase for her directorial debut, “Red Flag.” The Mmf is having their first event since the pandemic, and it will take place at Chicago’s new Drive-In on Throop Street, with the theme of Female Filmmakers Night. Get all the details, including ticket purchase, by clicking here.

“Red Flag” is a funny short film about dating … a topic familiar to virtually everyone. A first date turns into a farcical exchange about the relative incompatibility of a couple, although the woman in the pair seems to think it’s going well. No matter what negative element of the man’s personality emerges, the woman keeps accepting it, and the situation needs a referee. This is Ashton Swinford...

This story was originally published in Issue 1217 on September 11th, 2014.

Kid Rock expected a wild ride with Robin Williams that December week in 2007, and he wasn’t disappointed. Williams, the son of a Navy man, had already been to Afghanistan twice to boost troop morale for the Uso; this time he was joined by Rock. The two had met a few months earlier, when Williams caught one of Rock’s shows and, backstage afterward, went off on a characteristically inspired buckshot improv of Rock’s most salacious lyrics. Their adventures...

I don’t know about you, but my dreams are achingly normal; no super spies with beautiful femme fatales nor thrilling cliff jumping permeate my slumber. One time I dreamt I was cleaning out my garage. I don’t have a garage. Luckily, longtime effects legend Gabriel Bartalos has enough dreams and nightmares for all of us to witness, which he does gleefully with his second directorial feature, Saint Bernard, distributed by Severin Films, the finest purveyors of what the f--k. And this is a hall of famer, which is saying a lot.

“Legend” is a word readily thrown around, but in effects circles, Bartalos is just that; a partial list of credits includes Leprechaun, Dolls, From Beyond, Brain Damage, Frankenhooker, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, among many others. In other words, if one were to make a film that lived almost...

Stars: Jason Dugre, Katy Sullivan, Peter Iasillo Jr., Jack Doroshow, Bob Zmuda, Warwick Davis, George Clayton Johnson | Written and Directed by Gabe Bartalos

Now I’m not silly enough to think that any movie that is completely original or, at least shows some originality, is going to be good. But I am in the camp that believes filmmakers should definitely be trying to make movies that no one else has or that they have never seen before. And if someone does that, they will at the very least, have my attention.

And from the first few minutes, Saint Bernard definitely grabbed my attention. But I had no idea the kind of craziness that would happen in the next ninety minutes.

Make no mistake about it, Saint Bernard is a crazy movie. By the time the credits roll I wondered if I understood anything that I had just watched but not...

Warwick Davis (Leprechaun) features in the hallucinatory new horror epic Saint Bernard, from legendary FX Master Gabe Bartalos which premieres on Blu-ray, DVD and digital platforms May 14th from Severin Films.

Gabe Bartalos, the film’s director, writer and special effects artist pulls heavily from his ripe imagination, creating extraordinary characters, bizarre set designs, and incredibly inspired prosthetic effects. Amid a palette of dark themes, the film takes its audience on a turbulent ride through Bernard’s surreal adventures as he spirals into madness. Shot on Super 16mm and 35mm film, the highly-anticipated horror jaunt fixes on a classical musical conductor who unravels into the abyss of insanity. Jason Dugre (Bosch), Katy Sullivan (Last Man Standing), Peter Iasillo Jr. (HellBilly 58), Bob Zmuda (Man on the Moon) and Warwick Davis star.

Saint Bernard’s marvelously hypnotic tone displays influences characteristic of prior collaborations with art world icon Matthew Barney, horror aficionado Frank Henenlotter,...

Warwick Davis (Leprechaun) stars in the hallucinatory new horror epic Saint Bernard, releasing this May. From legendary FX Master Gabe Bartalos comes a must-see for the truly adventurous, premiering on Blu-ray, DVD and digital platforms May 14 from Severin Films.

A classical music composer named Bernard (Jason Dugr&#233) combats his deteriorating mental state in this surrealist film by director Gabe Bartalos, which explores the decay of both mind and flesh. On a turbulent ride through his hallucinatory journey, Bernard meets a menagerie of bizarre characters that defy the dichotomy between good and evil. Protectors and guardians come to him in many forms, yet demons still lurk in the shadows of his mind.

Shot on Super 16mm and 35mm film, the highly-anticipated horror jaunt fixes on a classical musical conductor who unravels into the abyss of insanity. Jason Dugre (Bosch), Katy Sullivan (Last Man Standing), Peter Iasillo Jr. (HellBilly 58), Bob Zmuda (Man on the Moon...

Looking to add some scares to your viewing slate this summer? Severin Films has you covered (in blood) with their upcoming May Blu-ray releases that include The Uncanny, the wrestling horror movie Masked Mutilator, and Saint Bernard from writer, director, and makeup effects master Gabe Bartalos:

"This May, Severin Films is unleashing three visionary films that only the strongest viewers will be able to witness without losing their sanity. May 28th brings the long- awaited disc debut of the classic anthology horror The Uncanny, starring Peter Cushing & Ray Milland. May 14th sees the arrival of two brand-new, very different, outsider visions: FX guru Gabe Bartalos’ unhinged St. Bernard breaks down the barriers of good taste and Masked Mutilator splatters the blood of the wrestling ring all over Severin’s sub-label Intervision Picture Corp.

The Uncanny:

In 1977, legendary Amicus co-founder Milton Subotsky teamed with Canadian producer Claude Héroux for the anthology shocker CelluloidDiaries.

Reflecting on a production that might have been just a little more interesting than the excellent film they were making, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton is the hilarious and occasionally moving portrait of Jim Carrey’s time making Milos Forman’s 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic Man on The Moon.

Told through archival footage of both Andy Kaufman’s performances and Jim Carrey in character throughout the shoot of Man on the Moon (as Andy and his evil alternative persona lounge singer Tony Clifton), director Chris Smith frames the footage with a new interview with Carrey, bearded and reflexive about a dark period in his life. Hot off a triple success of broad comedies — Ace Ventura, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber — the actor seeks meaning in his life in the wake of his father’s death. Writing a $10 million dollar check...

You may not know this, but Jim Carrey kinda went completely insane when he was playing Andy Kaufman in the biopic Man Made Moon. Jim Carrey pretty much became Andy Kaufman in every way when he was making the movie and even when cameras weren't rolling, he was still going all out Kaufman. It was so bad and the studio was so embarrassed by his behavior that they never wanted to the on-set footage to be released.

Well, we have a very entertaining trailer for an upcoming documentary called Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond – With a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton. The film focuses on Carrey's madness during the shoot and the actor himself even talks about his experience shooting the film as he examines the behind the scenes footage of himself inhabiting the role of Kaufman for the first time. Carrey says in the trailer:...

Netflix has released the first trailer for Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, which will premiere globally on the streaming service Friday, November 17. While that's also the same day that Justice League hits theaters nationwide, this documentary won't exactly appeal to superhero fanboys, but for those who follow comedy lore, it's certainly shaping up to be a must-see film. This trailer comes just a month after Netflix acquired this Jim Carrey and Andy Kaufman documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere screening.

Director Chris Smith presents a fascinating deep dive into actor Jim Carrey's time spent portraying famed and complicated comedian Andy Kaufman. Using approximately 100 hours of footage shot on the set of Man on the Moon documenting Carrey's transformation into Kaufman for four months, the new trailer for this Netflix documentary features interview footage with Jim Carrey in present day, who reveals that Universal Pictures,...

When Jim Carrey portrayed Andy Kaufman for the 1999 biopic Man on the Moon, he allowed himself to be swept up in the role, acting like the difficult comedian on set and off. He ultimately won a Golden Globe for the performance, but despite the success, the studio never released any making-of footage as DVD extras content. Now, nearly two decades later, a new documentary – Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - With a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton, which will premiere on Netflix on November 17th – will show how the film was made.

Netflix announced today, out of this year's Toronto International Film Festival, that it has acquired worldwide rights to director Chris Smith's fascinating deep dive into actor Jim Carrey's time spent portraying famed and complicated comedian Andy Kaufman. Using approximately 100 hours of footage shot on the set of Man on the Moon documenting Carrey's transformation into Kaufman for four months. The Vice Documentary Films production premiered at the 2017 Venice Film Festival and is produced by Academy Award winner Spike Jonze, and Vice Films' Danny Gabai and Brendan Fitzgerald.

In 1999 Milos Forman cast Jim Carrey to play cult comedian Andy Kaufman in his biopic Man on the Moon. What followed was an intensely bizarre and emotional film production. Surrounded by Kaufman's friends and family on set, Carrey thoroughly "became" Andy and, alternately, Tony Clifton, Kaufman's obnoxious lounge singer alter ego. Much like Kaufman's comedy, Carrey's acting took on a...

Netflix acquired Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton. The documentary film chronicles Jim Carrey's immersive role as experimental comedian/performance artist Andy Kaufman in 1999 biopic, Man on the Moon. 

Oscar-winning filmmaker Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are, Her) produced the project alongside Vice's Danny Gabai and Brendan Fitzgerald. Director Chris Smith utilized roughly 100 hours of footage filmed on the set of Milos Forman's acclaimed movie across a four-month span.

During the shoot, Carrey transformed into Kaufman.

According to Jim Carrey's version, Universal seized and shelved material filmed for the Epk of Man on the Moon, Milos Forman's 1999 biopic of Andy Kaufman, "Because we didn't want people to think Jim's an asshole." Now, almost 20 years later, that on-set footage, shot by Kaufman's former girlfriend, Lynn Margulies, and his frequent partner in comedic anarchy, Bob Zmuda, sees the light in documentarian Chris Smith's multilayered exploration of celebrity, performance, identity, and the blurred boundaries between art and life, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond — Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton.

On a...

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Andy Kaufman's death—but his brother, Michael, is anticipating a much lower-key Andy Kaufman Award celebration on Oct. 12 than last year's. In November 2013, Michael Kaufman introduced a young woman claiming to be Andy's daughter, who revealed that her father was still alive, living a peaceful life as a stay-at-home dad. Some stubborn conspiracy theorists had always doubted Andy's 1984 death, assuming it was part of some ultimate prank. Michael Kaufman initially seemed to endorse the young woman's claims, but quickly backpedaled in news interviews and claimed that he had been the victim of a hoax.

to Billy Crystal talk about their late, mutual longtime friend, Robin Williams.

During a one-on-one interview on the show, the 58-year-old co-host praised Crystal, 66, about his touching speech about the actor at the 2014 Emmy Awards. Crystal recalled being rendered speechless when he learned the devastating news that their "great, dear friend, fellow comedian and longtime Comic Relief fundraiser co-star had died at age 63 in his Northern California home on Aug. 11.

"When it all happened, it was, you know, so breathtaking, and thats why I tweeted then, I just wrote, "No words,"" Crystal said. "''Cause I didn't have any. I just had pain."

In 1986, the two joined Goldberg to co-host the first Comic Relief USA fundraiser, aimed at raising funds for healthcare for the homeless. The charity organization was formed by Bob Zmuda, longtime friend and business partner of another iconic late comedian, Andy Kaufman, and its slogan was, "Where there's laughter,...

to Billy Crystal talk about their late, mutual longtime friend, Robin Williams.

During a one-on-one interview on the show, the 58-year-old co-host praised Crystal, 66, about his touching speech about the actor at the 2014 Emmy Awards. Crystal recalled being rendered speechless when he learned the devastating news that their "great, dear friend, fellow comedian and longtime Comic Relief fundraiser co-star had died at age 63 in his Northern California home on Aug. 11.

"When it all happened, it was, you know, so breathtaking, and thats why I tweeted then, I just wrote, "No words,"" Crystal said. "''Cause I didn't have any. I just had pain."

In 1986, the two joined Goldberg to co-host the first Comic Relief USA fundraiser, aimed at raising funds for healthcare for the homeless. The charity organization was formed by Bob Zmuda, longtime friend and business partner of another iconic late comedian, Andy Kaufman, and its slogan was, "Where there's laughter,...

to Billy Crystal talk about their late, mutual longtime friend, Robin Williams.

During a one-on-one interview on the show, the 58-year-old co-host praised Crystal, 66, about his touching speech about the actor at the 2014 Emmy Awards. Crystal recalled being rendered speechless when he learned the devastating news that their "great, dear friend, fellow comedian and longtime Comic Relief fundraiser co-star had died at age 63 in his Northern California home on Aug. 11.

"When it all happened, it was, you know, so breathtaking, and thats why I tweeted then, I just wrote, "No words,"" Crystal said. "''Cause I didn't have any. I just had pain."

In 1986, the two joined Goldberg to co-host the first Comic Relief USA fundraiser, aimed at raising funds for healthcare for the homeless. The charity organization was formed by Bob Zmuda, longtime friend and business partner of another iconic late comedian, Andy Kaufman, and its slogan was, "Where there's laughter,...

to Billy Crystal talk about their late, mutual longtime friend, Robin Williams.

During a one-on-one interview on the show, the 58-year-old co-host praised Crystal, 66, about his touching speech about the actor at the 2014 Emmy Awards. Crystal recalled being rendered speechless when he learned the devastating news that their "great, dear friend, fellow comedian and longtime Comic Relief fundraiser co-star had died at age 63 in his Northern California home on Aug. 11.

"When it all happened, it was, you know, so breathtaking, and thats why I tweeted then, I just wrote, "No words,"" Crystal said. "''Cause I didn't have any. I just had pain."

In 1986, the two joined Goldberg to co-host the first Comic Relief USA fundraiser, aimed at raising funds for healthcare for the homeless. The charity organization was formed by Bob Zmuda, longtime friend and business partner of another iconic late comedian, Andy Kaufman, and its slogan was, "Where there's laughter,...

Robin Williams will definitely have a place at the 66th Annual Emmy Awards.

The executive producer of the ceremony that will air Aug. 25 on NBC promises to include plenty of tributes to the 63-year-old comedian, who was found dead in his home Monday.

"Plans for the In Memoriam segment are in discussion," said Executive Producer Don Mischer in a statement to People. "While we are all still coming to terms with this week's tragic news, we are working to give Robin Williams the proper and meaningful remembrance he so well deserves."

Typically, the In Memoriam section of the ceremony pays...

Robin Williams will have definitely have a place at the 66th Annual Emmy Awards. The executive producer of the ceremony that will air Aug. 25 on NBC promises to include plenty of tributes to the 63-year-old comedian, who was found dead in his home Monday. "Plans for the In Memoriam segment are in discussion," said Executive Producer Don Mischer in a statement to People. "While we are all still coming to terms with this week's tragic news, we are working to give Robin Williams the proper and meaningful remembrance he so well deserves." Typically, the In Memoriam section of the ceremony...

Robin Williams will have definitely have a place at the 66th Annual Emmy Awards. The executive producer of the ceremony that will air Aug. 25 on NBC promises to include plenty of tributes to the 63-year-old comedian, who was found dead in his home Monday. "Plans for the In Memoriam segment are in discussion," said Executive Producer Don Mischer in a statement to People. "While we are all still coming to terms with this week's tragic news, we are working to give Robin Williams the proper and meaningful remembrance he so well deserves." Typically, the In Memoriam section of the ceremony...

Robin Williams could do it all: make an audience helpless with laughter, move them to tears, astound filmmakers with take after take of improvised comic genius. "He was a guy who had the highest of highs while performing," Bob Zmuda, the creator of the Comic Relief charity, tells People. "But when he walked off that stage and went back to the dressing room alone, he could face the lowest of lows." Related: Hollywood Reacts to Robin Williams's DeathAs the world reels to process the reality of his death on Monday from an apparent suicide, those who knew Williams best...

Over the course of four decades, Robin Williams left an immeasurable impact in movies and television and as a standup comic on stages around the world. Since the surprise announcement of his death, the actor and comedian's many friends from every field in which he worked have been paying tribute. Read their remembrances here.

Chevy Chase:

"Robin and I were great friends, suffering from the same little-known disease: depression. I never could have expected this ending to his life, and to ours with him. God bless him and God...

As Bob Zmuda tells it, screenwriter Norman Wexler used to tote a briefcase full of thousands of dollars to pay off the many people that he pissed off each day. Zmuda — the comedian, writer, tall-tale dispenser, and longtime wrangler of Andy Kaufman — dished his best Wexler story on Marc Maron's Wtf podcast in 2012. Annoyed at the service in a bakery where he had tried to purchase a jelly doughnut, Wexler, the writer of Serpico and Saturday Night Fever, purportedly began tossing cash around to buy everything else in the joint: the pastries, then the ingredients, then the fixtures, and finally the clothes of the employees, to be doffed right then and there.

It's a hilar...

Andy Kaufman faked his death and is still alive, his brother says. No, really. For real this time. Michael Kaufman said the “Taxi” star and comic genius went into hiding nearly three decades ago, and has a 24-year-old daughter. He introduced a woman purporting to be that daughter at the Andy Kaufman Awards on Monday, reports Sean L. McCarthy of the Comic’s Comic, who attended the New York City ceremony. (TMZ has video.) Also read: Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler ‘Responsive’ After Heart Attack on ‘Monday Night Raw’ (Video) Kaufman confidante Bob Zmuda has hinted for years that Kaufman was obsessed with faking.

Director, writer and special effects artist Gabe Bartalos (Skinned Deep) has completed filming for Saint Bernard, his second feature film.

Saint Bernard explores the downward psychological spiral into madness of classical music composer Bernard (Jay Dugrè). Amid a palette of dark themes, the film takes its audience on a turbulent ride through Bernard’s surreal adventures. The film stars Katy Sullivan, Peter Iasillo Jr., Bob Zmuda, George Clayton Johnson, Jack Doroshow and Warwick Davis as Othello.

This year, Gabe Bartalos celebrates 22 years as owner and artistic director of his company Atlantic West Effects, a full service special make-up effects studio in Sun Valley, California that specializes in sculpture, prosthetics and animatronics. You can check out a better look at a character - "The Chief" - from his latest film inside...

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Depending on whom you ask, Andy Kaufman either died on this day 29 years ago, or he pulled off one of history's greatest hoaxes. As evidence for the latter, they'll point to his career. Not the obvious one -- his "Taxi" gig or his quick-flaming stint on "Saturday Night Live" (which ended with the audience voting him off the show as part of a stunt he suggested, not thinking it would go that way). Even at the height of his mainstream success, Kaufman would tell any reporter who'd listen that all that flashy stuff was just to support his real work: his high-concept live act.

It's a long and sublimely silly list. Take the times Kaufman read The Great Gatsby aloud until the audience hissed and booed. "Would you rather listen to a tape?" he'd ask (they always said yes). But the tape simply turned out to be a recording of him reading The Great Gatsby.

Before he lip-synched to children’s songs on Saturday Night, before he played Latka on Taxi, before he wrestled ladies on Merv Griffin, Andy Kaufman hitchhiked cross-country from the East Coast to Las Vegas to meet his idol, Elvis Presley. Too broke to buy Elvis tickets, he hid out in a broom closet for a couple days and waylaid the King backstage. Later, while Kaufman was knocking around the Strip, he saw someone else perform: a lounge singer who was crass, drunk, and washed up. That has-been became the inspiration for Kaufman’s ego-maniacal character Tony Clifton, a bitter, libidinous Mr.

Andy Kaufman still haunts our collective psyche 15 years after his early death, and the spectacle of seeing Jim Carrey transform himself into Kaufman will receive deserved critical praise. But Kaufman's act remains an acquired taste, one that is off-putting to many (as the movie makes amply clear). "Man on the Moon" enters the holiday market as a sleeper that, much like a Kaufman performance, may be a break-out hit or fall very flat.

Making a movie about Kaufman is like trying to pin Jell-O to a wall. There's no way to get at the "real" Andy Kaufman because it's very possible that part of his personality never existed -- or if it did, it got lost in Kaufman's psyche. So what a team of highly talented filmmakers -- screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, director Milos Forman and Carrey -- have managed to do in "Man on the Moon" is less a biopic than an assemblage of Kaufman's greatest hits as a comic.

Here we get the most famous, infamous, outrageous, innovative and mouth-dropping stunts from one of the quirkiest careers in the annals of show business. But how audiences will respond is not easy to predict.

Kaufman never liked being called a comic. He was closer to a performance artist. He assumed a number of guises -- wrestler, immigrant, Elvis Presley, lounge singer Tony Clifton, evangelist, robot butler and fakir. But his refusal to break character -- to let audiences realize it's all a gag -- often pushed the act into an uncomfortable area where the line between reality and illusion blurred.

Kaufman's anti-comedy causes his manager and mentor, George Shapiro, played by Danny DeVito, to declare at one point, "You're insane, but you might be brilliant!"

After a gangbuster opening, in which Carrey as Kaufman introduces his movie -- easily the funniest and most original new material in the entire movie -- "Man on the Moon" struggles to tell in a conventional, linear manner the story of this most unconventional of entertainers.

The writers at some point must have abandoned any hope of explaining their hero, for they don't even make the attempt. Instead we get highlights of Kaufman's performances on stage and television and a few key moments in his life.

And a few weird scenes where Carrey's Kaufman performs in the hit TV series "Taxi" with its original cast members -- Judd Hirsch, Carol Kane, Marilu Henner -- while DeVito, another series co-star, plays an entirely different character.

Forman and the writers never seem certain what part of Kaufman's life is put-on and what is not -- the insane vs. brilliant conundrum -- so they play everything straight, leaving the audience to decide.

It's impossible -- repeat, impossible -- to imagine any other actor in the role of Kaufman. Carrey so invades the personality and physical being of Kaufman as to perform a virtual act of transmigration. It's eerie and wonderful and the main reason to see this movie.

Courtney Love, rejoining the team with whom she made "The People vs. Larry Flynt", delivers a winsome and tender portrayal of Lynne Margulies, the editor who was Kaufman's last love. (The film never mentions any of Kaufman's other love affairs.)

Paul Giamatti ably plays Bob Zmuda, Kaufman's writer and co-conspirator in his act, making him the perfect foil for Carrey -- sane, grounded and the one person who definitely understands Kaufman.

DeVito has given himself a really unenviable role as Shapiro, who is portrayed as an eternal kvetch, in scene after scene complaining to Andy about his risky avant garde act and forever trying to tone him down.

The film ultimately disappoints because it doesn't share its subject's sense of the outrageous. It's too tame and conventional. The opening credit sequence by Carrey points the way to a more free-form examination of Kaufman. But Forman et al. choose not to go there. Maybe the producers should have hired Tony Clifton to direct.

MAN ON THE MOON

Universal Pictures

Jersey Films

Producers: Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher

Director: Milos Forman

Screenwriters: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski

Executive producers: George Shapiro, Howard West, Michael Hausman

Director of photography: Anastas Michos

Production designer: Patrizia Von Brandenstein

Music: R.E.M.

Co-executive producer: Bob Zmuda

Costume designer: Jeffrey Kurland

Editors: Christopher Tellefsen, Lynzee Klingman

Color/stereo

Cast:

Andy Kaufman: Jim Carrey

George Shapiro: Danny DeVito

Bob Zmuda: Paul Giamatti

Lynne Margulies: Courtney Love

Running time -- 118 minutes

MPAA rating: R...