# Andy Kaufman Is Alive and Well in Albuquerque **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221 "2013-05-24T14:16:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/1 "2013-05-24T14:16:59Z")
Or so some believe. Story [here](http://www.krqe.com/dpp/features/andy-kaufman-believers-say-hes-alive-and-living-in-albuquerque). Seems to be an Old Urban Legend revived recently, but one I’d never heard. On the other hand … Damn! I _thought_ my neighbor at the Citadel Apartments when I lived in that city looked familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/2 "2013-05-24T16:42:47Z")
> [@](#): > > “I don’t know if it’s him or not. But that one black and white one where it shows his face, it looks like it could possibly be him,” Bristow said. That’s proof enough for me, by gosh! ---
**Author:** ![kcor1953](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kcor1953/32/3221_2.png) [@kcor1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kcor1953)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/3 "2013-05-24T17:06:13Z")
Looks more like Buddy Lester. ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/4 "2013-05-24T17:13:47Z")
It’s a pretty grainy photo, but it does look like him. Faking his death sounds like something Kaufman would have done. Faking his death and NEVER 'fessing up to it definitely sounds like Kaufman. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/5 "2013-05-24T17:22:33Z")
False alarm-that’s Tony Clifton. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/6 "2013-05-24T18:24:09Z")
“If anybody _could_ have faked his death by cancer, it would be Andy Kaufman.” Really? Did Andy have some special medical knowledge or access to a cancer-ridden body or some other way to mislead doctors and pathologists? Now if they had said “If anybody\* would\* have faked his death…”, they I would accept that statement. But “could” implies a capability that is not supported. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/7 "2013-05-24T18:46:05Z")
Three of the doctors and two of the pathologists were played by Andy Kaufman. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/8 "2013-05-24T19:08:00Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Three of the doctors and two of the pathologists were played by Andy Kaufman. and the others by his roommate Elvis. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/9 "2013-05-25T01:51:15Z")
Well, there was a letter to Rolling Stone soon after his putative death which proclaimed that he was still alive and kicking: “I Remain: Andy Kaufmann” is how he finished it IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/10 "2013-05-25T04:14:32Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > “If anybody _could_ have faked his death by cancer, it would be Andy Kaufman.” > > Really? Did Andy have some special medical knowledge or access to a cancer-ridden body or some other way to mislead doctors and pathologists? > > Now if they had said “If anybody\* would\* have faked his death…”, they I would accept that statement. But “could” implies a capability that is not supported. If anybody _should_ have faked his death, it’s Andy Kaufman. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/11 "2013-05-25T15:22:38Z")
I don’t have any special Andy Kaufman knowledge but am I alone in thinking that if he was going to fake his death he’d have chosen something more along the lines of a freak ocelot incident rather than cancer? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/12 "2013-05-25T16:35:08Z")
Nah. Maybe something more spectacular than cancer, but something people would believe, so there’s be less immediate ‘ha ha, fess up, Andy’. He loved absurdity, no doubt, but if he was doing something straight faced, he did it so people would believe it. (Sometimes, like his wrestling stuff, he could do both.) ---
**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/13 "2013-05-25T17:56:28Z")
Or maybe he really died, but just PRETENDED to fake it. That is surely something Andy Kaufmann would do. You see what I did there? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/14 "2013-05-25T17:58:09Z")
> [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](#): > > Or maybe he really died, but just PRETENDED to fake it. That is surely something Andy Kaufmann would do. You see what I did there? Very meta and high concept- definitely him. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/15 "2013-05-25T18:18:30Z")
The theory isn’t really funny or thought provoking, it’s just sad. Apparently these guys love Andy Kaufman so much they would rather believe he’s a lunatic who would cut off all contact with everyone who cared about him for no particular reason than believe he’s dead. Regardless, he’s dead, and it’s pretty easy to find his death certificate online. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/16 "2013-05-25T18:23:22Z")
That is one screwy video. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/17 "2013-05-26T15:46:25Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Regardless, he’s dead, and it’s pretty easy to find his death certificate online. If there are people who won’t believe Obama’s birth certificate, then it’s not surprising there are people who won’t believe Andy Kaufman’s death certificate. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-kaufman-is-alive-and-well-in-albuquerque/659221/18 "2013-05-26T15:56:37Z")
LatkaTruthers is what they call themselves… 😃