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Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman (January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one. He disdained telling jokes and engaging in comedy as it was traditionally understood, referring to himself instead as a "song and dance man." Kaufman was born in New York City, on January 17, 1949, the first son of Janice (née Bernstein) and Stanley Kaufman. He grew up in a middle-class Jewish family, in Great Neck, Long Island, New York, and began performing at age nine. He attended the now defunct two-year Grahm Junior College, in Boston, graduating in 1971. He then began performing stand-up comedy at various small clubs along the East Coast.

At Thanksgiving dinner in 1983, several family members grew concerned over Kaufman`s persistent coughing for the past month. Kaufman consulted a physician and was initially diagnosed with a rare type of lung cancer in December 1983. Despite his doctor`s diagnosis that there was no hope for recovery, he was committed to fighting the disease until his death. After audiences were shocked by his gaunt appearance during his performances in January 1984, Kaufman acknowledged having an unspecified illness, which he hoped to cure with "natural medicine" including an all-fruit and vegetables diet, among other measures. Kaufman received palliative radiotherapy, but by then the cancer had rapidly spread from his lungs to his brain. His last resort, a search for successful medical therapy, was "psychic surgery," performed in Baguio, Philippines, in March 1984. Kaufman died in Los Angeles on May 16, 1984 of kidney failure, caused by metastasized large cell carcinoma, and was interred in the Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, New York (Long Island). He was 35 years old. Kaufman was survived by his daughter, Maria Colonna, who was born in 1969 out of wedlock with a High School girlfriend of Andy`s, but was later placed up for adoption . Colonna learned in 1992 that she was the daughter of Andy Kaufman, when she traced her biological parentage.