LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Andy Kaufman: Lung Cancer
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In January 1984, Kaufman was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer. He had never smoked, and some even accused the consummate performer of faking his illness, even in its most advanced stages. He died on May 16, 1984, in Los Angeles, at the age of 35. Though Kaufman never married, it was later revealed that he and his high school sweetheart had a daughter who was born in 1969 and given up for adoption.
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Kaufman made his feature-film debut as an actor in Demon (1977) and afterward, only appeared in three more films. Kaufman developed a cough in late 1983 that was diagnosed as a rare form of lung cancer. Though only in his mid-thirties, a teetotaler, lifelong nonsmoker, and a vegetarian, Kaufman was only given a few months to live. He tried a variety of alternative healing therapies, as well as chemotherapy, but nothing worked and Kaufman died in 1984. Ironically, some fans believe the illness was all an elaborate hoax and maintain that Kaufman is still alive, waiting to come back in a couple decades. Though it is extremely doubtful that even Kaufman would be able to pull off such a hoax, the thought that others would think him capable of doing it would have pleased him.
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At 20, Kaufman had a daughter with a girlfriend but for the rest of his life, played the field, even when dating film editor Lynne Margulies. Near the end of 1983, a persistent cough was diagnosed as lung cancer. Until the end, he believed he'd get better, trying every remedy including hypnotism and faith healing.
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