Notes on Andy Kaufman, Malcolm X, and Sam Cooke

About that Andrew Kaufman – I received notice from Tyrone McCloskey that he had suspicion that another Andy Kaufman (fake death 5/16/1984) had taken the form of California lawyer and perennial political candidate Eric Early. Here are a collage of photos I have been working with this morning, Andy Kaufman above, Eric Early below.

Upper row, far right, is Kaufman as alter ego Tony Clifton. Let’s get that one out of the way early. It’s a difficult match to make, as Clifton wore dark glasses, so I had to guess where his eye pupils bight be. It’s not certain, of course, due to that problem, but it was understood at the time of his fame that Clifton and Kaufman were one and the same. Here’s what I got:

Not much to go on there, but I am picking up same head proportions, same placement of nose, mouth, and that’s about it. No doubt I could monkey with the Clifton photo to get what I wanted out of it, as I just guessed at eye pupils,  but the point is made here, that Clifton and Kaufman were most likely one and the same.

I am picking up on something with Kaufman that may have shortened his career. As a performer he caught everyone’s attention (except mine, as I never watched it) as Latka on the TV series Taxi, and then as an oddball performer who did a very nice Elvis impersonation on Johnny Carson (go here to see it), and then this, a truly original and very funny piece from Saturday Night Live:

I cannot describe it to you. You have to internalize it for yourself, and draw the humor from it on your own. It is unique. I laughed very hard when I first saw it, and still do. I’ve seen nothing else like it.

About that Kaufman something I picked up, probably most others too, was that he became …uncomfortable, if that is the word. Tony Clifton was an asshole in public. Kaufman also staged wrestling matches with Jerry Lawler, a professional, and surely a paid co-performer. They staged a fight one night on Letterman, who claimed not to know it was coming, and it seemed to get serious. It wasn’t funny. The whole of the wrestling stage of Kaufman’s comedy seemed to spell the end of his career, as like Tiny Tim on the Johnny Carson Show, he had become a gadget act, and so surely not to last.

I suspect his death was staged, and for many reasons. perhaps some having to do with his inability to last as a performer. Maybe he wanted out, maybe his agents suggested fake death, but for whatever reason, what he had could not be sustained.

Did he become Eric Early, perennial loser in California politics? It would seem appropriate. I did comparisons of all the photos above, and only one rang true to me as a match:

Please note that on the photo of both Kaufman and Early in the collage above, they show a pronounced mole on the left cheek, and in the same place. Not on this one, not present in Early on the right. But on the others, it is an indicator that we are on to something here, an arrow pointing in that direction, but not conclusive. The above photo is the best match I got, but the others were not so good. I can only say that I suspect these are the same man in different eras, but the evidence I give, well, you’re looking at it.

What ever became of Malcolm X? Should we ask Sam Cooke? One of our commenters here wanted it know whatever became of Sam Cooke, a very popular singer from the 50s/60s. He died in a hotel fight in 1964, drunk and consorting with a girl he’s forcibly brought with him to his room.  That’s the official story, anyway. He was 33 at the time. Of course it was fake! Over the years I’ve searched for Cooke alive, but had no success. So a few days ago I ran him against Morgan Freeman, a definite no-go, and CBS news reporter Ed Bradley, ditto. Then I tried a guy with whom I spotted a faint resemblance, Malcom X, the civil rights agitator who was shot to death in 1965.

Here’s a collage of the two men, Malcolm on top, Cooke below:

Problems abounded. For one, Cooke, though the subject of hundreds of photographs (he did have 30 top-40 hits in his career), seldom appeared in a natural setting. Paparazzi were not around then. So all of his photos were of studio quality, and always with a wide smile. Malcom X, on the other hand, was a more serious subject, and most of his poses were news photos of him giving speeches, and at odd angles. I did find two photos that showed a strong match:

That is but one comparison of many that I did with the above collage, and the only one that worked to a satisfying degree.

One problem, the ears, which do not match. Then, there were timeline problems. Cooke was born, allegedly, on 1/22/1931, and was shot to death on 12/11/1964 at age 33. Malcolm X (real name Little) was born on 5/19/1925, and was shot to death on 2/21/1965, at age 39, also a spook marker but a less common one with celebrity deaths. So there was only five months between their deaths. That is not enough time for one to impersonate the other, and further, they each had public lives that ran parallel, each well known in their separate milieus. They knew each other, were said to be friends. Cooke was hospitalized after a car crash in 1958, but I don’t think it was long enough for him to step out of his shoes and become someone else.

Here’s what I think: Both Cooke and Malcolm X faked their deaths. Each of them might have transitioned to another career, and I’ve more work to do in that regard. But I do not think that Cooke and Malcolm were ever in the other’s shoes. I think the above photo is not representative of the overall result of the batch of photos I compared.

More work to do. Other names have been suggested, such as Louis Farrakhan (now 93) and Denzel Washington (now 71). Farrakhan would be my focus, as he was born around the time of Malcolm and Sam. Denzel is too young to mix with that crowd. We’ll see.