Post WrestleMania Andy Kaufman timeline:
April 17, 1985 - Appears in Cyndi Lauper's The Goonies 'R' Good Enough video with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, Captain Lou Albano, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Wendi Richter, et. Al.
May-June 1985 - Tapes four episodes of The A-Team with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, playing the role of Samuel "Spike" Sisson, a crazed Vietnam veteran who was once B.A., Face, Hannibal and Murdoch's associate who is now working for the CIA. Along with Hogan, is invited to become a regular cast member because the pair is able to play peacemakers between feuding George Peppard and Mr. T, both of whom they're friendly with, but neither of them have the time or the patience.
June 1985 - Plays the role of Danny DeVito's mistress' brain dead lover Earl Mott in Ruthless People (essayed in real life by Bill Pullman) at DeVito's insistence and constant pushing.
July-September 1985 - As another favor to Danny DeVito, Andy plays the role of Moe Dickstein in Brian DePalma's Wise Guys (essayed in real life by Joe Piscopo), a sweet but dumb Jewish guy who is often set up as a patsy for DeVito's Harry Valentini's Ralph Kramden-like scams. The film also features Andy's friend/Danny's cousin WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Frank "The Fixer" Acavano.
March 1, 1986 - Andy appears on Saturday Night's Main Event in Phoenix, Arizona in the corner of "Cowboy" Bob Orton alongside Roddy Piper as Orton fights Mr. T in a boxing match. After the match, Andy, Roddy and Bob attack Mr. T, leading to the boxing match between T and Roddy.
April 2, 1986 - WrestleMania 2 is held in three venues - Los Angeles, New York (The Nassau County Coliseum, in Uniondale) and the Rosement Horizon in Chicago. Andy appears as one of pal "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's corner men in his boxing match with Mr. T. Piper's corner men include Lou Duva and Andy and Roddy's old buddy "Cowboy" Bob Orton, whereas T's corner men are Smokin' Joe Frazier, The Haiti Kid and "Manager of Champions" Jim Connelly.
June 1986 - Forms production company Reality Is An Illusion Inc. First film produced under the label is his long sought-after Tony Clifton Story. Gets films produced for several wrestlers under the label, too.
July 1986 - Writes several handwritten novels later published by Simon & Schuster.
July-September 1986 - Films the role of Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride (essayed in real life by Mandy Patinkin) at the insistence of director Rob Reiner, a longtime fan, as well as his old chum Andre the Giant who appears in the movie as, appropriately enough, Fezzik, the warm-hearted giant. Andy cries when he reads the script. The movie is a big hit and is almost universally acclaimed by critics, and even at this writing is still considered an 80's classic.
November-December 1986 - Flies to England to guest star on the legendary science fiction program Doctor Who, playing the treacherous oaf Sabolom Glitz in the Colin Baker-era story Trial of a Time Lord.
December 1986 - Attends Vince McMahon's Christmas party at his house in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Saturday, November 29, 1986 - In the WWF storylines, Andy announces his displeasure with the babyface turn of his "former friend" Roddy Piper, challenges him on Piper's Pit, and wrestles him on Saturday Night's Main Event, with Jimmy Hart in his corner. Andy wins by count out.
March 1987 - Wrestles and loses to Mr. T at WrestleMania III. Both gentlemen watch the historical Hulk Hogan/Andre the Giant match together in the dressing room. Andy doesn't root, but has heard Terry is supposed to win. When he and T see him slam Andre, they are amazed and immediately congratulate Terry when he comes backstage. Andy also goes to find Andre to find out if he's okay. Andre is fine, and even picks Andy up and hoists him on his shoulders for a Polaroid.
May 1987 - Returns as Sabolom Glitz on Doctor Who for the Sylvester McCoy- era story Dragonfire.
1988 - Visits Florida for the birth of Hulk Hogan's first child, Brooke Bollea.
June-July 1988 - Films the role of U62 chief engineer Philo (essayed in real life by Anthony Geary) in pop parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic's starring feature debut UHF after longtime fan Yankovic calls him personally.
Mid-July 1988 - His Broadway show There is No Real Me debuts and plays until the end of the winter of 1989.
Summer 1989 - Returns to the WWF to help Hulk Hogan promote his starring feature film debut No Holds Barred. As the man who plays the monster Zeus in that film, Tom "Tiny" Lister, Jr. appears in the WWF as Zeus to feud with Hogan, Andy acts as his manager, declaring, "Zeus is from Hollywood, I'm from Hollywood, too. Zeus hates Hogan, I hate Hogan too!"
1990 - Plays the role of overworked, stressed out suburbanite family man Charlie Wilcox in Hulk Hogan's Suburban Commando at Hogan's insistence (essayed in real life by Taxi costar Christopher Lloyd). While the film is not a tremendous hit, it is light-hearted and funny, and Hogan and Kaufman make a pretty good odd couple pairing.
1990 - Visits Florida again for the birth of Hulk Hogan's son Nicholas.
Summer 1991 - Andy writes and directs an animated movie based upon his play. Famous cohorts lend voices.
August 1991 - Appears as a guest of Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Vince McMahon at WWF SummerSlam but has no on-air role on the show. Andy cries loudly and publicly as he watches the "Match Made in Heaven" wedding between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth from backstage. Sees Andre the Giant walking on crutches that you clip onto your forearms and asks Hulk Hogan about it. Hogan replies that Andre's not been feeling too well. Andy immediately goes over and wishes the warm-hearted giant the best.
August 1992-95 - His cartoon show Uncle Andy's Fun House premieres on ABC Saturday Morning.
1992-93 - As a lifelong ice cream/chocolate cake aficionado, becomes the national spokesman for Friendly's.
Late January 1993 - Attends Andre the Giant's funeral.
1994 - Hulk Hogan calls Andy and offers him a chance to come work some shows for Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling promotion, which he and several WWF-defecting friends have joined. "I haven't seen you in a while, buddy," he says. "And I'd love to have you." Having an extreme dislike for the promotion, he declines, saying, "No way, Terry, these people don't know how to put a show together. If it weren't for you and all the other guys Vince made famous, they wouldn't have a good thing in the world." Terry protests they can offer him any amount of money he asks for. "My father handles my finances," Andy points out. "Money doesn't matter to me."
1997-1999 - Is contacted by Vince McMahon and hired to be the third-man commentator on Raw is War with Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler, knowing of his instant chemistry with the King. He is also hired as a television writer for the show.
November 1997 - Persuaded by writer Vince Russo, Andy comes out of retirement as the Inter-Gender Champion and puts his title on the line at Cobo Hall, in Detroit, Michigan against the WWF's top divas, Sunny, Sable & Marlena. Defeats all three of them, but his victory celebration is short- lived as he is stunned by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in the middle of his Buddy Rogers strut.
June 1998 - During the Undertaker/Mankind Hell in a Cell 1998 match, Andy breaks character on camera for the first time as he sees how brutally his friend Mick Foley, who plays Mankind and whom he has a great deal in common with, is being beaten up by Mark "Undertaker" Calloway. Andy is visibly shaken during the match, barely able to contain himself. He jumps into the ring as soon as several ambulance attendees, officials, Terry Funk and Vince McMahon come in and helps tend to Mick. Andy cries, "Stop it, Mark! Please, don't do any more!" Andy, Vince and Terry Funk take Mick back to the dressing room where Andy bawls his eyes out at the sight of his friend being tended to. Mick calls Andy a few weeks later to let him know he's recovered.
1998: Hired as executive producer for biopic Man on the Moon, starring longtime Andy impersonator Wally Wingert and directed by Danny DeVito. Andy also does a rewrite of the script. As a result, the movie is much better than in real life, and is also a much bigger hit.
1999 - After head writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara leave for WCW, Andy becomes the head writer and promotes himself to the manager of the Rock 'n' Sock Connection, Mick Foley and the Rock, who is a modern day version of Buddy Rogers. Leaves his broadcast position for the time being.
May 1999 - Says some kind words about Owen Hart on the Raw tribute show. May 31 - Flies to Calgary to attend Owen's funeral. Sees Terry Bollea for the first time in five years and they hug. He stays with Terry and the family for a while before leaving to go home to San Francisco before the next show.
2000 - Against his better judgment, Andy watches some WCW telecasts. On a few Nitro broadcasts, his friend Jim Ross is parodied by writer Ed Ferrara, who never got along with Ross. Ferrara even mocks his Bells Palsy. On a separate pay-per-view, Vince Russo screws over Hulk Hogan by not complying what Hogan wanted during a title match. He hasn't seen Terry in a while, but they talk often and Andy immediately calls Terry to tell him he's sorry and wish him the best. "You were right not to come to WCW, Andy," Terry says. "This promotion sucks!" Andy scans the Internet and gets Russo and Ferrara's cell phones. He immediately dials both of them and has Tony Clifton send them a message that sends chills up their spines. Ferrara issues a public apology to JR, who in turn thanks Andy personally for sticking up for him.
February-November 2001 - At Jim Ross' insistence, he returns to the broadcast booth to play the tweener (neutral, no sided) announcer between he and Paul Heyman, who replaces Andy's old friend Jerry Lawler after his wife Stacy Carter is fired, to both keep JR and Paul from killing each other and give the booth some credibility in Lawler's absence. While he and Jim Ross have a good rapport (which is considerably better than what Heyman brings to the table), they're both friends with the King and miss him a lot. When Jerry returns in November, Andy and JR are the first two to welcome him back. As Vince McMahon has Paul Heyman dragged out by security, he yells, "Allow me to introduce you, Mr. Heyman, to your replacement, come on down, Jerry "The King" Lawler!" Jerry walks down, JR sings his praises. Andy jumps up and down excitedly, and hugs the King when he gets to the booth.
At the same show where Jerry returns, Mr. T comes backstage before the show and, following a backstage vignette he tapes with the APA, spots Andy. The pair has not seen each other since 1987 in Detroit at the Pontiac Silverdome. They talk for quite a while, and even discuss Terry's problems with Vince Russo. "Russo's an ignorant son of a bitch!" T growls.
While T is shown on camera during the show, after Lawler squeals, "He's Booker's Dad!" JR says to Andy, "Old friend of yours, 'eh, Andy?" Andy replies, "Friend of mine, friend of this company."
January 2002 - Hulk Hogan returns to the WWF after nearly ten years. Andy is the first one to greet him when he comes back. He is pleased to see his old friend, and he tells him he is sorry to hear of his father's passing.
March 17, 2002 - Andy rejoins JR and the King at the commentary booth for the Hulk Hogan/Rock match at WrestleMania X8. Jerry asks what he's doing there, to which Andy replies, "Well, I know both of these gentlemen pretty well." When Hogan turns babyface again at the end of the match, Andy remarks to JR and the King, "I'll tell you guys what, you know I used to rag on the Hulk when he was a real American, but I have the utmost respect for him, and he's going out in a classy manner today." Immediately after the broadcast, as he had done at the very first WrestleMania Andy goes backstage and congratulates both Dwayne Johnson and Terry Bollea.
August, 2002 - On the pay-per-view WWE SummerSlam Andy comes out of retirement as the Inter-Gender Champion and defends his title successfully against WWE's own Stacy Keibler and Trish Stratus. Jerry Lawler is in his corner.
October 2002-On - Andy joins Hulk Hogan, Jerry Lawler, Jimmy Hart and several others on the promotional tour for the video game Legends of Wrestling II, in which he is featured as a wrestler (DVD-ROM footage on the disc includes interviews with all the legends, including said people). A video game aficionado, Andy is impressed and very, very flattered by the fact that the video game people not only included him as a wrestler in this game but also gave him more moves than he could have ever hoped for, and plays the game quite often with Hulk Hogan and his son Nick when he visits the house.
April 17, 1985 - Appears in Cyndi Lauper's The Goonies 'R' Good Enough video with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, Captain Lou Albano, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Wendi Richter, et. Al.
May-June 1985 - Tapes four episodes of The A-Team with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, playing the role of Samuel "Spike" Sisson, a crazed Vietnam veteran who was once B.A., Face, Hannibal and Murdoch's associate who is now working for the CIA. Along with Hogan, is invited to become a regular cast member because the pair is able to play peacemakers between feuding George Peppard and Mr. T, both of whom they're friendly with, but neither of them have the time or the patience.
June 1985 - Plays the role of Danny DeVito's mistress' brain dead lover Earl Mott in Ruthless People (essayed in real life by Bill Pullman) at DeVito's insistence and constant pushing.
July-September 1985 - As another favor to Danny DeVito, Andy plays the role of Moe Dickstein in Brian DePalma's Wise Guys (essayed in real life by Joe Piscopo), a sweet but dumb Jewish guy who is often set up as a patsy for DeVito's Harry Valentini's Ralph Kramden-like scams. The film also features Andy's friend/Danny's cousin WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Frank "The Fixer" Acavano.
March 1, 1986 - Andy appears on Saturday Night's Main Event in Phoenix, Arizona in the corner of "Cowboy" Bob Orton alongside Roddy Piper as Orton fights Mr. T in a boxing match. After the match, Andy, Roddy and Bob attack Mr. T, leading to the boxing match between T and Roddy.
April 2, 1986 - WrestleMania 2 is held in three venues - Los Angeles, New York (The Nassau County Coliseum, in Uniondale) and the Rosement Horizon in Chicago. Andy appears as one of pal "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's corner men in his boxing match with Mr. T. Piper's corner men include Lou Duva and Andy and Roddy's old buddy "Cowboy" Bob Orton, whereas T's corner men are Smokin' Joe Frazier, The Haiti Kid and "Manager of Champions" Jim Connelly.
June 1986 - Forms production company Reality Is An Illusion Inc. First film produced under the label is his long sought-after Tony Clifton Story. Gets films produced for several wrestlers under the label, too.
July 1986 - Writes several handwritten novels later published by Simon & Schuster.
July-September 1986 - Films the role of Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride (essayed in real life by Mandy Patinkin) at the insistence of director Rob Reiner, a longtime fan, as well as his old chum Andre the Giant who appears in the movie as, appropriately enough, Fezzik, the warm-hearted giant. Andy cries when he reads the script. The movie is a big hit and is almost universally acclaimed by critics, and even at this writing is still considered an 80's classic.
November-December 1986 - Flies to England to guest star on the legendary science fiction program Doctor Who, playing the treacherous oaf Sabolom Glitz in the Colin Baker-era story Trial of a Time Lord.
December 1986 - Attends Vince McMahon's Christmas party at his house in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Saturday, November 29, 1986 - In the WWF storylines, Andy announces his displeasure with the babyface turn of his "former friend" Roddy Piper, challenges him on Piper's Pit, and wrestles him on Saturday Night's Main Event, with Jimmy Hart in his corner. Andy wins by count out.
March 1987 - Wrestles and loses to Mr. T at WrestleMania III. Both gentlemen watch the historical Hulk Hogan/Andre the Giant match together in the dressing room. Andy doesn't root, but has heard Terry is supposed to win. When he and T see him slam Andre, they are amazed and immediately congratulate Terry when he comes backstage. Andy also goes to find Andre to find out if he's okay. Andre is fine, and even picks Andy up and hoists him on his shoulders for a Polaroid.
May 1987 - Returns as Sabolom Glitz on Doctor Who for the Sylvester McCoy- era story Dragonfire.
1988 - Visits Florida for the birth of Hulk Hogan's first child, Brooke Bollea.
June-July 1988 - Films the role of U62 chief engineer Philo (essayed in real life by Anthony Geary) in pop parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic's starring feature debut UHF after longtime fan Yankovic calls him personally.
Mid-July 1988 - His Broadway show There is No Real Me debuts and plays until the end of the winter of 1989.
Summer 1989 - Returns to the WWF to help Hulk Hogan promote his starring feature film debut No Holds Barred. As the man who plays the monster Zeus in that film, Tom "Tiny" Lister, Jr. appears in the WWF as Zeus to feud with Hogan, Andy acts as his manager, declaring, "Zeus is from Hollywood, I'm from Hollywood, too. Zeus hates Hogan, I hate Hogan too!"
1990 - Plays the role of overworked, stressed out suburbanite family man Charlie Wilcox in Hulk Hogan's Suburban Commando at Hogan's insistence (essayed in real life by Taxi costar Christopher Lloyd). While the film is not a tremendous hit, it is light-hearted and funny, and Hogan and Kaufman make a pretty good odd couple pairing.
1990 - Visits Florida again for the birth of Hulk Hogan's son Nicholas.
Summer 1991 - Andy writes and directs an animated movie based upon his play. Famous cohorts lend voices.
August 1991 - Appears as a guest of Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Vince McMahon at WWF SummerSlam but has no on-air role on the show. Andy cries loudly and publicly as he watches the "Match Made in Heaven" wedding between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth from backstage. Sees Andre the Giant walking on crutches that you clip onto your forearms and asks Hulk Hogan about it. Hogan replies that Andre's not been feeling too well. Andy immediately goes over and wishes the warm-hearted giant the best.
August 1992-95 - His cartoon show Uncle Andy's Fun House premieres on ABC Saturday Morning.
1992-93 - As a lifelong ice cream/chocolate cake aficionado, becomes the national spokesman for Friendly's.
Late January 1993 - Attends Andre the Giant's funeral.
1994 - Hulk Hogan calls Andy and offers him a chance to come work some shows for Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling promotion, which he and several WWF-defecting friends have joined. "I haven't seen you in a while, buddy," he says. "And I'd love to have you." Having an extreme dislike for the promotion, he declines, saying, "No way, Terry, these people don't know how to put a show together. If it weren't for you and all the other guys Vince made famous, they wouldn't have a good thing in the world." Terry protests they can offer him any amount of money he asks for. "My father handles my finances," Andy points out. "Money doesn't matter to me."
1997-1999 - Is contacted by Vince McMahon and hired to be the third-man commentator on Raw is War with Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler, knowing of his instant chemistry with the King. He is also hired as a television writer for the show.
November 1997 - Persuaded by writer Vince Russo, Andy comes out of retirement as the Inter-Gender Champion and puts his title on the line at Cobo Hall, in Detroit, Michigan against the WWF's top divas, Sunny, Sable & Marlena. Defeats all three of them, but his victory celebration is short- lived as he is stunned by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in the middle of his Buddy Rogers strut.
June 1998 - During the Undertaker/Mankind Hell in a Cell 1998 match, Andy breaks character on camera for the first time as he sees how brutally his friend Mick Foley, who plays Mankind and whom he has a great deal in common with, is being beaten up by Mark "Undertaker" Calloway. Andy is visibly shaken during the match, barely able to contain himself. He jumps into the ring as soon as several ambulance attendees, officials, Terry Funk and Vince McMahon come in and helps tend to Mick. Andy cries, "Stop it, Mark! Please, don't do any more!" Andy, Vince and Terry Funk take Mick back to the dressing room where Andy bawls his eyes out at the sight of his friend being tended to. Mick calls Andy a few weeks later to let him know he's recovered.
1998: Hired as executive producer for biopic Man on the Moon, starring longtime Andy impersonator Wally Wingert and directed by Danny DeVito. Andy also does a rewrite of the script. As a result, the movie is much better than in real life, and is also a much bigger hit.
1999 - After head writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara leave for WCW, Andy becomes the head writer and promotes himself to the manager of the Rock 'n' Sock Connection, Mick Foley and the Rock, who is a modern day version of Buddy Rogers. Leaves his broadcast position for the time being.
May 1999 - Says some kind words about Owen Hart on the Raw tribute show. May 31 - Flies to Calgary to attend Owen's funeral. Sees Terry Bollea for the first time in five years and they hug. He stays with Terry and the family for a while before leaving to go home to San Francisco before the next show.
2000 - Against his better judgment, Andy watches some WCW telecasts. On a few Nitro broadcasts, his friend Jim Ross is parodied by writer Ed Ferrara, who never got along with Ross. Ferrara even mocks his Bells Palsy. On a separate pay-per-view, Vince Russo screws over Hulk Hogan by not complying what Hogan wanted during a title match. He hasn't seen Terry in a while, but they talk often and Andy immediately calls Terry to tell him he's sorry and wish him the best. "You were right not to come to WCW, Andy," Terry says. "This promotion sucks!" Andy scans the Internet and gets Russo and Ferrara's cell phones. He immediately dials both of them and has Tony Clifton send them a message that sends chills up their spines. Ferrara issues a public apology to JR, who in turn thanks Andy personally for sticking up for him.
February-November 2001 - At Jim Ross' insistence, he returns to the broadcast booth to play the tweener (neutral, no sided) announcer between he and Paul Heyman, who replaces Andy's old friend Jerry Lawler after his wife Stacy Carter is fired, to both keep JR and Paul from killing each other and give the booth some credibility in Lawler's absence. While he and Jim Ross have a good rapport (which is considerably better than what Heyman brings to the table), they're both friends with the King and miss him a lot. When Jerry returns in November, Andy and JR are the first two to welcome him back. As Vince McMahon has Paul Heyman dragged out by security, he yells, "Allow me to introduce you, Mr. Heyman, to your replacement, come on down, Jerry "The King" Lawler!" Jerry walks down, JR sings his praises. Andy jumps up and down excitedly, and hugs the King when he gets to the booth.
At the same show where Jerry returns, Mr. T comes backstage before the show and, following a backstage vignette he tapes with the APA, spots Andy. The pair has not seen each other since 1987 in Detroit at the Pontiac Silverdome. They talk for quite a while, and even discuss Terry's problems with Vince Russo. "Russo's an ignorant son of a bitch!" T growls.
While T is shown on camera during the show, after Lawler squeals, "He's Booker's Dad!" JR says to Andy, "Old friend of yours, 'eh, Andy?" Andy replies, "Friend of mine, friend of this company."
January 2002 - Hulk Hogan returns to the WWF after nearly ten years. Andy is the first one to greet him when he comes back. He is pleased to see his old friend, and he tells him he is sorry to hear of his father's passing.
March 17, 2002 - Andy rejoins JR and the King at the commentary booth for the Hulk Hogan/Rock match at WrestleMania X8. Jerry asks what he's doing there, to which Andy replies, "Well, I know both of these gentlemen pretty well." When Hogan turns babyface again at the end of the match, Andy remarks to JR and the King, "I'll tell you guys what, you know I used to rag on the Hulk when he was a real American, but I have the utmost respect for him, and he's going out in a classy manner today." Immediately after the broadcast, as he had done at the very first WrestleMania Andy goes backstage and congratulates both Dwayne Johnson and Terry Bollea.
August, 2002 - On the pay-per-view WWE SummerSlam Andy comes out of retirement as the Inter-Gender Champion and defends his title successfully against WWE's own Stacy Keibler and Trish Stratus. Jerry Lawler is in his corner.
October 2002-On - Andy joins Hulk Hogan, Jerry Lawler, Jimmy Hart and several others on the promotional tour for the video game Legends of Wrestling II, in which he is featured as a wrestler (DVD-ROM footage on the disc includes interviews with all the legends, including said people). A video game aficionado, Andy is impressed and very, very flattered by the fact that the video game people not only included him as a wrestler in this game but also gave him more moves than he could have ever hoped for, and plays the game quite often with Hulk Hogan and his son Nick when he visits the house.