The conspiracy theory was actually started by Kaufman himself long before his death. Kaufman was a performance artist who dealt in the absurd and often performed elaborate pranks and ruses while cultivating alternate onstage identities. He also claimed that faking one's own death would be the ultimate hoax. Per The New Yorker, Kaufman used his art to allude to the idea of faking his death and disappearing for years, only to reemerge again onstage years later — perhaps under a different persona. And for a unique performance artist known for thriving by making audiences uncomfortable and pushing jokes well past their normal limit, some felt it wasn't an entirely outlandish theory.
At the time of his alleged death, Kaufman was worth an estimated $3 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. While that may have been enough money to escape and start a new life under a different identity, no one claiming to be the real Andy Kaufman has ever come forward in the 37 years since his death. If he really was still alive today, Kaufman would be 72 years old, so if the theory were true, one might think that it is high time for Kaufman to come forward and expose his long-running prank to the world.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunCAlmxtb21fqbWqv4ywmKxlkaOxunnKmqyfpZGjwG66xK1ksKeiqbVuw8eepWaglWKxqrHDaA%3D%3D
