Bob Zmuda

Bob Zmuda (born December 12, 1949) is an American writer, comedian, producer and director best known as the sidekick, co-writer and friend of cult personality Andy Kaufman.

Bob Zmuda occasionally portrayed Kaufman's Tony Clifton character on stage and for television appearances (Zmuda has not confirmed the rumor that it was he and not Kaufman who appeared as Clifton on "Late Night with David Letterman").

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, and was hosted by comedians Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg.

In 1999, Zmuda wrote a book about Kaufman's life, entitled "Andy Kaufman Revealed!", which purported to unveil many tricks and hoaxes that the two pulled off in front of audiences and television cameras in the 1980s. The book has been criticized by some of Kaufman's fans, as well as Kaufman's family, for inaccuracies which cast doubt on some of Zmuda's anecdotal claims.

Later that year, Miloš Forman directed "Man on the Moon", the story of Kaufman's life. Zmuda created the "Tony Clifton" makeup for the film, and also 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 "Saturday Night Live"-like show, "Fridays". Zmuda was also "Man on the Moon"'s 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. [http://andykaufman.jvlnet.com/realmotm.htm]

Filmography

*"Andy's Funhouse" (1977) TV
*"Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall" (1979) video
*"D.C. Cab" (1983) film
*"My Breakfast with Blassie" (1983) film
*"Comic Relief" (1986) cable TV special
*"Punchline" (1988) film
*"I'm from Hollywood" (1992) TV special
*"Man on the Moon" (1999) film
*"Andy Kaufman's Really Big Show" (1999) TV special
*"The Number 23" (2007) film

External links

* [http://andykaufman.jvlnet.com/zmuda.htm Zmuda's "Revealed"—Revealed] Site documenting the inaccuracies in Zmuda's book.
* [http://www.splicedonline.com/features/zmuda.html Zmuda Interview] SPLICEDwire
* [http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/0/78e6ef02701f7b518825682600123be0?OpenDocument Zmuda Interview] filmcritic.com
*imdb name|id=0957474|name=Bob Zmuda