In 1969 Elvis Presley was enjoying a career resurgence when this photo was taken of him with the then-host of The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson, the latter visiting backstage at whatever Las Vegas hotel the former was playing at the time. Then as now, but more so then when there were much less in the way of viewing options, the late-night talk show was the first choice of celebrities who wanted to go on TV and promote their latest book, movie, record, or just themselves. Elvis, however, was such a big star at the dawn of the 1970s that the mere fact that he walked the Earth was promotion enough, and thus never appeared on Carson's show. That's not to say Johnny couldn't find another way to capitalize on the King of Rock and Roll's great success.
An up-and-coming comedian named Andy Kaufman turned out to be that other way. His act consisted of several comic characterizations, the most popular of which was the fresh-off-the-boat Foreign Man, which eventually became Latka Gravis on the hit sitcom Taxi. However, the character was still nameless when Kaufman was booked on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in March of 1977. The following clip isn't the entire appearance, which means I have to do the mundane job of setting it up. The Foreign Guy comes and does some very poor impersonations of various celebrities, but then strikes paydirt:
The real Elvis Presley died about five months later. Andy Kaufman passed on in 1984, and Johnny Carson, who otherwise would have turned 98 today, took his leave in 2005. Of the three, only Carson's death remains undisputed. And even he's got his own streaming channel.
Andy Kaufman was very funny and that was an awfully long bit on Carson.
ReplyDeleteUnusually long for a new comedian on Carson's show, Mitchell, and that wasn't even the whole thing, as there were the broken-English impersonations beforehand. Speaking of Carson, did you catch him in the shadows at his desk? You can tell he's grinning even though all you can see is his silhouette.
DeleteKaufman's transformation was good. He moved his body much more than I remember Elvis doing.
ReplyDeleteI imagine Kaufman was much slimmer than Elvis by 1977, Andrew.
DeleteI loved Andy Kaufman, although he did seem to go off the deep end at the end of his life. He did a great Elvis!
ReplyDeleteMuch too short a life to go off the deep end of, Debra.
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DeleteI saw Andy Kaufman so much "in character" I wondered what his real voice sounded like. I found another Carson clip where he talks normally.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/0tu2MNH4xNg?feature=shared&t=427
Mike, I've seen Andy Kaufman out of character before, but that clip is new to me. Thanks for providing the link. It was great!
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