Jimmy Hart Names Something Andy Kaufman Loved To Do
Before there was Cyndi Lauper or Mr. T in WWE, there was Andy Kaufman down in Memphis, and Jimmy Hart was right in the fold. In a new interview with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman during WWE Money In The Bank weekend, Hart spoke about his relationship with the late, historic comedian, and it was Jerry "The King" Lawler who played a major role in the two's connection.
"Jerry Lawler is the one that got me into professional wrestling. I love Jerry, forever," Hart said before noting that he was paired up with Kaufman for over a year, sometimes as a manager, sometimes as a tag partner, and sometimes as a foe. Kaufman's idolization wasn't just fixated on comedy and wrestling, however.
"After every show, he wanted to go by Elvis' house, Graceland, to just look at the gate, which we did," Hart said. "His favorite wrestler was 'Nature Boy' Buddy Rogers so we talked about him all the time. Andy was great, he stayed at my house some, we went on the road together, we ate at a lot of the restaurants together, and like I said, he was very unique, very different. He sure was."
Hart was asked about how he and Kaufman first met one another and Hart happened to be right in the thick of a historic phone call that went down one midnight in Memphis.
"I was at Jerry Lawler's house one night when Bill Apter called from New York and said, 'There's a comedian here named Andy Kaufman, he's on a show called Taxi, that he wants to get into professional wrestling.'
"Right, and so he came down and we started using him on TV," Hart said. Kaufman was all in on the pro wrestling game too. From keeping Kayfabe on David Letterman to staying in a hospital for three days following two Lawler piledrivers, Kaufmann would appear near-weekly at the Memphis TV tapings to be a part of the action.
"What a great guy, he really was," Hart said. Kaufman passed away in 1984 at the age of 35 after a battle with lung cancer.
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