Bob Zmuda (born December 12, 1949) is an American writer, comedian, producer, and director best known for his friendship with comedian Andy Kaufman.

Biography

Bob Zmuda occasionally portrayed Kaufman's Tony Clifton character on stage and for television appearances. In a 2006 interview, Zmuda told the '' Opie and Anthony Show'' that he was masquerading as Tony Clifton with David Letterman, and that Letterman did not find out until years later. In 1986, Zmuda founded the American version of '' Comic Relief'', an annual event that raises money to help the homeless in the United States. The event was televised on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, and was hosted by comedians Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg. In 1999, Zmuda wrote a book about Kaufman's life, titled ''

Andy Kaufman Revealed! Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

'', which purported to unveil many tricks and hoaxes that the two pulled off in front of audiences and television cameras in the 1980s. One critic praised the book as "the ultimate insider's look at Kaufman's life," while some of Kaufman's fans and members of Kaufman's family criticized it for inaccuracies about Kaufman. Later that year,

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968. Forman ...

directed '' Man on the Moon'', the story of Kaufman's life. Zmuda created the "Tony Clifton" makeup for the film, and made a brief appearance portraying comedian Jack Burns, one of the producers, who gets into a brawl on stage during one of Kaufman's appearances on the 1980–82 ABC late night comedy show, ''

Fridays Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth ...

''. Zmuda was also ''Man on the Moons co-executive producer. On camera, the character of Bob Zmuda was played by Paul Giamatti. Stanley Kaufman, Andy's father, criticized Zmuda's influence on the film shortly after its release, writing in the form of Andy speaking from beyond the grave. Sam Simon, executive producer on ''Taxi'', revealed in a 2013 interview with Marc Maron for the WTF Podcast that the portrayal of Andy on the show was "a complete fiction" largely created by Bob Zmuda, who he maintained has a "vested interest" in creating stories about Kaufman. In the interview Simon stated that Kaufman was "completely professional" and that he "told you Tony Clifton was he", but conceded that Kaufman would have "loved" Zmuda's version of events. In 2014, Zmuda co-authored another book with new anecdotes about Kaufman's desire to fake his death entitled ''Andy Kaufman: The Truth, Finally'', which states that Kaufman's death was indeed a prank. Zmuda says that Kaufman is still alive and that Kaufman would soon be revealing himself as his upper limit on the prank was thirty years. Zmuda now states that Kaufman offered to leave him money since Zmuda's career was largely dependent on Kaufman performing but he turned it down because he believed it would implicate him in a crime. The terms of the book deal were not disclosed. On November 7, 2014, Bob Zmuda appeared as a guest on Greg Fitzsimmons' podcast, ''Fitzdog Radio''. During the interview, Zmuda claimed to have invested $50,000 in the new book. He stormed off the podcast after Fitzsimmons doubted Zmuda's intentions regarding claims of Kaufman's staged death. On November 16, 2014, a post on the Tony Clifton Facebook page claimed that Bob Zmuda had died at the

Moonlite BunnyRanch The Moonlite BunnyRanch is a legal, licensed brothel in Mound House, Nevada, United States, east of Carson City. First opened in 1955, it came to national attention under Dennis Hof, who owned the brothel from 1992 until his death in 2018. ...

, sourcing the information to a UPI article. The same day, the BunnyRanch tweeted that they had been asked by Zmuda's management not to comment, with a link to the hoax Facebook story. Two days later, comedy news website The Interrobang posted a story with photos, verifying that Zmuda was not dead. Later that day, UPI posted a story, confirming the hoax. In 2019 Zmuda was arrested for DUI in Lake Tahoe.

Filmography

*'' Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond'' (2017) documentary film *'' Saint Bernard'' (2013) horror film *'' The Number 23'' (2007) film *'' Andy Kaufman's Really Big Show'' (1999) TV special *'' Man on the Moon'' (1999) film *'' Batman Forever'' (1995) film *''

I'm from Hollywood ''I'm from Hollywood'' is a 1989 comedy documentary film about the adventures of late performance artist Andy Kaufman in the world of professional wrestling. The film includes interviews with ''Taxi '' co-stars Marilu Henner and Tony Danza and inte ...

'' (1989) TV special *'' Comic Relief'' (1986) cable TV special *'' D.C. Cab'' (1983) film *''

My Breakfast with Blassie ''My Breakfast with Blassie'' is a 1983 film starring Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to ...

'' (1983) film *''

Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

'' (1979) video *''

Andy's Funhouse Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

'' (1977) TV

References

External links

* Site documenting the inaccuracies in Zmuda's book
Zmuda Interview
SPLICEDwire - link broken * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zmuda, Bob American male comedians 21st-century American comedians American male film actors American television producers American film directors 1949 births American people of Polish descent Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Andy Kaufman