Since the first time he saw Andy on "VanDyke and Company" in 1976, Wally recognized a deep connection to the baby-faced performer. Not only did he bare a striking resemblance to Andy, but Kaufman's unique comedic style spoke to Wally's own creative sensibilities.
Wally and Andy's love, Lynne Margulies
Wally at the age of 16 as Andy Kaufman. 
Much like Andy idolized Elvis and impersonated him, Wally began to impersonate Andy's Foreign Man character in 1977. He sent photos of himself to Andy, which was met with a response which would become the prized possession in Wally's vast collection.. a hand written full-page letter and autographed photo!

In this letter, Andy praised and encouraged Wally's creative endeavors and performances. Even more serendipitous is the date upon which the letter was written. It was penned by Andy on August 15, 1977...one day before the death of Elvis Presley. This is only the first of what would be many strange connections between the two performers. Wally's not an Andy Kaufman impersonator, but Andy's cosmic twin!

Wally won an award at a national pageant in the winter of 1980 in Philadelphia performing Andy's Foreign Man routine. One of the judges was Randy James, a casting director for ABC-TV. At the time, ABC was showing "Taxi," and Randy and Wally tossed ideas back and forth about Wally guesting as Andy's little brother Davka. Wally, who was working in radio in South Dakota at the time, had it arranged to meet Andy backstage at his Minneapolis concert in April of 1981. Unfortunately, ticket sales were poor and the concert was cancelled.
A 1980 newspaper clipping featuring Wally as Andy.
Wally as Andy with Roger Rose in 1997. 

After a long absence from performing as Andy, Wally dusted off his impersonation for a fundraiser for Pediatric AIDS in August of 1997. Many of Andy's former colleagues, who were also performing, were taken aback when they glimpsed at Wally sitting there patiently waiting to go on in full make-up. Many seemed like they had seen a ghost. After composing themselves, they started to tell Wally their stories of working with and knowing Andy. Hearing the tales of their experiences was a dream come true for Wally.

CLICK HERE to view!

In September of 1998, Wally was selected by E! Entertainment Television to portray Andy in the recreation scenes from Andy's life and career including the "Fridays" hoax, meditating in his car before taping "Taxi," a high school talent show performance, a stint as a street preacher, and of course Andy's adventures as Tony Clifton. At the E! audition, Wally responded to the interview questions as Andy and his characters. Afterwards, E! Casting Director Gina Merrill and Producer Brent Zacky exclaimed, "It was like actually meeting and talking to Andy Kaufman!

To hear a sound clip, CLICK HERE.
 
Wally as Andy in 1998 for E! Entertainment Television.

In late 1999, Wally met Andy's beloved Lynne Margulies (see photo at top) at the Museum of Television and Radio seminar in Los Angeles. CLICK HERE for a clip of Wally's MTR commercial featuring Latke, Tony Clifton and Elvis! Wally went up to Lynne after the seminar to introduce himself to her, but she already knew of him! He was floored to find out that Lynne still had many of the things he sent to Andy when he was a kid! She said they were still in Andy's belongings in her garage! 

On December 20, 1999, Universal's Andy Kaufmam bio-pic "Man On The Moon" had its premiere in Hollywood at Mann's Chinese Theatre. Though Wally was sick with the now infamous "Millennium Flu Bug," he wasn't about to miss the sights for anything. He became Andy's Foreign Man character and walked to the theatre to watch the ceremony from behind the barricades. Many of the celebrants had to look twice (and sometimes three times) when they saw someone looking like Andy standing amidst the crowd of fans. As Lynne Margulies told him in an e-mail the day after the premiere, "You really freaked a few people out! You looked like an apparition amidst that crowd!" Lynne even crossed 8 lanes of traffic to come take a photo with Wally all the while referring to him only as Andy, to preserve the Kaufman-esque mystique. 

Wally's appearance at the premiere made the Los Angeles evening news shows on Channel 5 KTLA, and ABC 7. In the latter report, ABC 7's Entertainment Reporter George Pennacchio featured a shot of Jim Carrey looking across the street and exclaiming, "It could be Andy, man! It could be Andy!"

Wally surprised everyone at the "Man On The Moon" premiere by showing up as Andy.
Here he is, as seen on KABC Channel 7.

 

In September of 2001, Wally's persistence with Andy's girlfriend Lynne Margulies paid off. He finally talked her into selling him Andy's original performance costume used in many of his appearances, including his Saturday Night Live debut, his Carnegie Hall show, his PBS Soundstage special, his ABC special, his final television appearance on "The Top," and many others.

 

 

 

 

 

Though it was a difficult decision for Lynne to part with the beloved belongings, she knew in her heart that the outfit would retain a special place in Wally's household. Furthermore, she believed that Andy would think so too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here it is...Andy's famous, ONE-OF-A-KIND performance outfit...complete with Oxford shirt, black turtleneck, olive and blue plaid hound's tooth blazer, white jeans and white Converse tennis shoes. It is displayed with a poster of Andy wearing the same outfit in his final television appearance, and a sound chip that plays "Mighty Mouse."

 

Below are pictures of Andy wearing the outfit during some of his performances. It is truely one of the most cherished items in Wally's collection.

 

 

 

                 

  Andy in the outfit.             Andy from his ABC special.             Andy's SNL debut.

Wally has many Andy-related ideas in the works including a live stage show called "Analyzing Andy," "Andy and Lynne," and independent feature focusing on the amazing love story they shared, and "Andy Walks With Me," a mockumentary TV special about a  newscrew  that finds Andy Kaufman alive in the deep south. Also, a few secret surprises are in store!

On May 16th, a huge Andy Kaufman tribute was staged at the House of Blues in honor of the 20th anniversary of Andy's death. At the urging of Andy's best friend Bob Zmuda, Wally was responsible for setting up the Andy Kaufman memorabilia exhibit which was a part of the commemoration. As a life-long Andy fan, Wally was honored to have such an awesome responsibility and worked hard to achieve the final product. CLICK HERE for more details of the show and pictures!

 
 
 
 

Andy Kaufman Links