Editing Andy Kaufman (section)

===Death-hoax rumors===
[[File:AndyKaufmanDeathCertificate.gif|thumb|upright|Kaufman's death certificate]]
Kaufman often spoke of [[Faked death|faking his own death]] as a hoax. After his death, rumors persisted that he was still alive, often fueled by sporadic appearances of his character Tony Clifton at comedy clubs.<ref name=CNNdeathhoax>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/14/showbiz/andy-kaufman-alive-or-not/index.html|title=Andy Kaufman's brother says he is victim of hoax|first=Wayne|last=Drash|publisher=CNN|date=November 15, 2013|access-date=June 23, 2016}}</ref> Kaufman's website calls the faked death story an "[[urban legend]]" and includes a picture of his death certificate.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

"Clifton" performed a year after Kaufman's death at [[The Comedy Store]] benefit in Kaufman's honor, with members of his entourage in attendance, and during the 1990s made several appearances at Los Angeles nightclubs. On the NBC special ''Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman'', [[Jim Carrey]], who portrayed Kaufman in ''Man on the Moon'', said that Bob Zmuda had been performing as Clifton.

In 2013, responding to rumors that Kaufman was still alive and following the appearance of an actress who claimed to be Kaufman's daughter, the [[Los Angeles County Coroner|Los Angeles County coroner]]'s office rereleased Kaufman's death certificate to confirm that he was indeed dead and had been interred at [[Beth David Cemetery]].<ref name="TSGDeathCert"/><ref name=CNNdeathhoax/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.autopsyfiles.org/reports/deathcert/kaufman,%20andy_dc.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005080254/http://www.autopsyfiles.org/reports/deathcert/kaufman,%20andy_dc.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-05 |url-status=live|title=Certificate of Death: Andrew G. Kaufman|website=Autopsyfiles.org|access-date=January 22, 2017}}</ref><ref name=smokinggun>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/actress-in-andy-kaufman-hoax-675432|title=Shocker: Andy Kaufman's "Daughter" Is Actually A New York Actress Whose Real Dad Is A Doctor|publisher=TheSmokingGun.com|date=November 14, 2013|access-date=June 23, 2016}}</ref><ref name="LA-times-hoax">{{cite web|last1=Blake|first1=Meredith|title=Andy Kaufman's brother now claims he was the victim of a hoax|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-andy-kaufman-hoax-brother-michael-alexandra-tatarsky-20131115-story.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=November 15, 2013|access-date=February 9, 2016}}</ref>

In 2014, Zmuda and Margulies coauthored ''Andy Kaufman: The Truth, Finally'', a book claiming that Kaufman's death was indeed a prank, and that he would soon reveal himself, as his upper limit on the "prank" was 30 years. Kaufman did not reappear.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nypost.com/2014/09/28/why-andy-kaufman-might-still-be-alive|title=Friend: Andy Kaufman is still alive|access-date=October 5, 2014|author=Getlen, Larry|work=New York Post}}</ref>