Latka Gravas
| Latka Gravas | |
|---|---|
| Taxi character | |
Latka Gravas
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| Created by | Andy Kaufman, James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, Ed. Weinberger |
| Portrayed by | Andy Kaufman |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Garage mechanic |
| Spouse(s) | Simka Dahblitz |
| Relatives | Greta Gravas (mother) |
Latka Gravas is a fictional character on the television sitcom Taxi portrayed by Andy Kaufman. A sweet-natured and lovable-but-goofy mechanic, Latka was based on a character Kaufman created known as Foreign Man.
In 1977, the producers of Taxi saw Kaufman's Foreign Man act at The Comedy Store. They had already created the main characters for the pilot but they enjoyed Kaufman so much they immediately offered him a role based on the character. Kaufman wasn't a fan of sitcoms, but his manager, George Shapiro, convinced him that this would rocket him to stardom, where he would make a lot of money which he could then put into his own act, which became Andy's Funhouse. Kaufman agreed to appear as Latka in fourteen episodes per season, approximately half of the entire series. One of Kaufman's conditions was that one of his other characters, Tony Clifton, be allowed to guest star in the series. The producers were well aware that "Clifton" was an alter ego of Kaufman, but went along with the fiction that Clifton was a separate actor. They signed Clifton to a separate contract, and announced to the cast that Clifton was being hired to portray the character of Louie's brother in the series' tenth episode.
However, after the first day of rehearsal, the producers felt Kaufman-as-Clifton was not up to the acting challenge of playing the offered role. Informed of this, Kaufman asked that "Clifton" be fired in public, ostensibly for coming to rehearsal late. Clifton then showed up on set for the next day of filming, and was demanding, boorish and obnoxious; the producers not only fired Clifton, but threw him off the set after he caused havoc and enraged Judd Hirsch and Jeff Conaway. The role was hurriedly recast, and when Kaufman (as himself) returned to work for the following episode, he acted as if nothing had happened.
In the show, Latka's home country is never disclosed (only referred to as "[Latka's] country" or "the old country"), and his native language is essentially gibberish, although a few words and phases were consistently used. (Notably "Ibbi da" for "Yes" or "That is so".) Some fans have theorised that Latka may be from a fictional country-island named Caspiar, which Kaufman claimed "Foreign Man" was from, but this was never explicitly addressed on any episode of Taxi.
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