The ABC sitcom Taxi, which aired from 1978 to 1983, starred Danny DeVito as Louie De Palma, a short-tempered dispatcher for the Sunshine Cab Company; and Andy Kaufman as Latka Gravas, a quirky and endearing mechanic from an unnamed foreign country. The dynamic between DeVito and Kaufman’s characters was a highlight, with Louie constantly berating Latka while he remained blissfully oblivious or responded uniquely.
Despite their contrasting personalities on the show, the two actors shared camaraderie behind the scenes. Recently, on an episode of the Fly on the Wall podcast, DeVito opened up about his experiences behind the scenes with Kaufman, who tragically passed away on May 16, 1984, at the age of 35, after battling large-cell carcinoma of the lung.
Andy Kaufman wrestled a UPS delivery woman outside a ‘Taxi’ dressing room
During a conversation with hosts Dana Carvey and David Spade, the 79-year-old disclosed that working with Kaufman was an absolute delight. He shared that their dressing rooms were close to each other, allowing him to witness some of the late actor’s humorous antics. DeVito reflected on a specific occasion when Kaufman taunted a UPS delivery woman to engage her in a wrestling match, and she fell for it.
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“One day, somebody was delivering a package, and it was a woman, and (Andy) started yelling at her because she was, I don’t know, UPS. Maybe it was the government, I don’t know what the f*** it was. But she’s walking in, she’s got a uniform on. She’s delivering a package to somebody, and he tells her that she should be home (because) she’s taking a man’s job,” DeVito stated. “I was there for that one. Wow. Right in the hallway, both of ’em turning red, you know what I mean? Choke holds! We had to break them apart a couple of times.”
In response to Spade’s assertion that Kaufman’s wrestling match would unfold differently today, DeVito affirmed that the outcome would likely result in a social media catastrophe. “If that was today, somebody would be out with a cell phone, and the next thing you know, it would be online, and people would comment about it. But I’ll tell you, the woman that he was fighting was as big as he was,” he said. “And she did a good job, man. She had his ass down, big time.”
The actor also shared another amusing anecdote about Kaufman. He recounted that the late actor also worked as a waiter at the peak of his fame while starring in Taxi. “Judd (Hirsch) and I, we just one night went out and we knew he was working,” DeVito admitted. “We went and ate and had the conversations you would have with the busboy. Not Andy. Andy’s nowhere around. He was the busboy. It was really great.”