Can't find a thread about this underrated performer. So here it is. Love him, he had an interesting life, and his performances were great. So there.
Andy Kaufman
He was definitely unique, and very talented.
He wasn't a comedian though, didn't he call himself a song & dance man ?
Whatever he called himself, he was a comedian alright. A very strange, screwed-up, often-not-very-funny comedian with flashes of brilliance.
I bought his biography from ebay, a couple of years ago, but haven't read it yet.
I got the first series of Saruday Night Live on DVd, and Kaufman's appearances on it are simply brilliant. Here's his first performance on the show-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C570byQCLpI
A very simple idea, but done very well.
Kaufman is still very underrated: a genius who was ahead of his time. In many ways you could say he was one of the first true alternative comedians, in that his style was completely different from the traditional style of American comedy.
If you're a huge Kaufman fan you should get the 1989 documentary I'm From Hollywood, directed by his girlfriend Lynne Marguiles. It's mostly about the wrestling, but plenty of other bits including Bob Zmuda.