If you've been keeping updated on this website, you know that a year ago Wally acquired Andy Kaufman's lifemask in an auction of "Heartbeeps" collectibles. (If you need the full story, click here)

Now that Wally has the mold for Andy's lifecast, his imagination has run wild! Couple this with the fact that Wally realized a 12 year quest of trying to find the exact type of tuxedo that Andy wore as Tony in the 70's and 80's. Thank God for eBay, Wally bought not one but TWO tuxes that resemble Andy's original. One size 40, and the other a size 44, Wally decided to keep the 44 to wear himself for specific outings, and use the other one for a Tony Clifton effigy. (For historical reference...the tux was from the Prince Edward line by Lord West tuxedos. The color is an orange sherbet paisley pattern. Tuxes with the same fabric pattern were also available in powder blue, canary yellow, black, caramel brown...and reportedly mint green. Though no tuxes in green have ever been found by Wally in his research.)

Once it was decided that a Clifton mannequin was the target, then a choice needed to be made as to which era of Clifton would be featured in the tribute. There were so many different Clifton looks. When Andy first appeared on television as Clifton he wore a wig and a mustache, and a black tuxedo. And that was about it. As he became more immersed in the character he added facial prosthetics, sunglasses, a fat pad and a more colorful tuxedo ensemble.

One of Andy's first appearances as Tony Clifton was in his Carnegie Hall special in 1980. The wig was styled in a lopsided fashion, and he wore a cheap white tiki necklace that he referred to as "the official Tony Clifton medallion." His performance as Tony was fairly mild, as it looked like he wasn't quite comfortable in Clifton's skin quite yet.

At Carnegie Hall

When he appeared on NBC's "Midnight Special" in 1981, he wore the same costume, but the wig had changed a bit to make it look like Tony had bangs. Andy was clearly becoming more comfortable in the role as he had obviously developed the character further. Clifton was more obnoxious than in his Carnegie appearance. It was becoming clear what Clifton's place in the world would be.

On the Midnight Special  

In probably Andy's final TV appearance as Tony, he performed astonishingly well on "The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show" in 1982. This was "deluxe" Clifton...complete with white tuxedo gloves, a pinkie ring, a terrific new "hair helmet" wig, and now he had become so immersed in the Clifton character that any "Andy-isms" were completely gone. Clifton lived! Andy was virtually unrecognizable in this character.

"The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show"

It was about then that Andy handed the character off to his writing/creative partner Bob Zmuda. Rumor has it that Andy grew tired of the character once it had become common knowledge that Clifton was actually Andy Kaufman. In another brilliant twist to fool the public, the hand-off to Zmuda would be super secret. And the none-the-wiser public would keep believing that Clifton was actually Andy, when it was really Zmuda. Mike Douglas and David Lettermen (as well as countless audience members at Harrah's in Reno) were just a few of the people fooled by the brilliant switcheroo.

In 1983 when Andy did his "Andy Kaufman Show" for the PBS series "Soundstage," Clifton had been relegated to a marionette sidekick for Andy. Reportedly Clifton would have appeared in person, but Bob Zmuda was unavailable for the taping because he was busy filming the movie "D.C. Cab."

Nowadays, Clifton is out on tour and is being managed by Bob Zmuda. Watch for him to appear in your town. But BE WARNED! You will never be the same after seeing Clifton in action!

Now with all that being said, let's get back to the mannequin. Once Wally decided that the Carnegie Hall Clifton would be the subject of the new Planet Wallywood exhibit, he set about researching the look. The only video that exists of the original Carnegie Hall show commercially is a VHS tape that Paramount released around 1999. Wally had the VHS transferred to DVD so he could obtain digital screenshots of the different angles of the costume and make-up.

Once again he contacted effects wizard Jim Ojala. Another copy of the Kaufman lifecast would need to be molded in fiberglass. Then Wally could sculpt the Clifton facial features on to Andy's face. Jim also set about finding the perfect mannequin. One with bendable elbows was located on the internet, and it was purchased.

Then, a vintage blue tuxedo shirt with flat ruffles needed to be acquired. Later on, Clifton would wear a blue tuxedo shirt with large ruffles, but at the Carnegie show, flat tubular ruffles adorned his shirt. After searching eBay for weeks and scouring the entire internet, Wally was able to acquire ONE. But that's all he needed. And it was in perfect condition. He also scoured eBay for the right type of cuff links and found a perfect set.

It was also determined after watching the video that Clifton wasn't wearing a cummerbund. Wally already had an appropriate pair of tuxedo pants in his wardrobe collection. And a pair of shiny black shoes were purchased from It's a Wrap in Burbank.

The white tiki necklace had been laying around Wally's collection for years. Back when Wally would appear as Clifton, he made up several of the necklaces for he and Tony's "chickie babies." When Wally was researching the medallion in '99, the Carnegie source video wasn't very high quality. But it was determined that the figure was about 3" long and 1" wide. It had red rhinestone eyes, a black downturned mouth, a nose and a protruding forehead. Since detailed images weren't available, Wally filled the rest in with his imagination and constructed several of the tikis from the Magic Sculpt compound. Then he painted them, affixed an eyelet to the top for the leather cord, and glued on the rhinestone eyes.

Finding a vintage bowtie wasn't very easy either. The 70's were famous for their wide lapels, wide flared pantlegs, wide everything! The bowties back then were about 3 plus inches wide, but bowties today aren't nearly that fat. Luckily, eBay produced more results for the project, and black vintage-looking bowties were acquired. The costume was set!

Jim completed the head and handed it off to Wally for sculpting. In addition to many screenshot photo references from the Carnegie Hall show, Wally referenced his own Clifton appliance pieces that had been sculpted by Robert Hall back in 1998. Again, the sculpting compound Magic Sculpt was used for the facial contours.

  
Nose and left cheek completed

First the nose was sculpted on, and allowed to set overnight, then the left cheek area and chin were sculpted and allowed to set overnight. All that was left was the right cheek. Additionally, Wally sculpted heavy eyelids over the bugged-out eyes on the lifecast. Since there would be sunglasses on the mannequin, glass eyes weren't needed for this project. But in case anyone caught a glimpse of the eyes beneath the glasses they shouldn't look like Andy's trademark wide eyes.

  
Right cheek and eyelids sculpted

The finished head was handed off to Jim for attachment to the mannequin torso and painting. It was decided that Clifton would have his head tilted back slightly and turned to the side. Wally felt it gave the mannequin more "Clifton attitude."

Jim did his usual fantastic job, and the paint scheme was flawless and life-like.

 
Before and after Jim's stellar paintjob

Some more of Jim's "handiwork"

Now it was time to affix the hairpieces. One of Wally's old Clifton wigs was used for the hair, and one of Wally's old mustaches was used as well. New sideburns had to be purchased because in the Carnegie Hall show, it looked as if Andy was using his own, real sideburns. And they were relatively short. Later on Clifton would use longer, bushier prosthetic sideburns.

Hair, sideburns and moustache added

Once Jim affixed all the hair pieces the mannequin was returned to Wally. Sergio Lopez, a make-up artist friend that Wally's known for 16 years, came by and studied the screenshots of Clifton's lopsided hairstyle. As usual, Sergio nailed it perfectly! The mannequin was now ready for assembly!

The perfectly groomed Tony

A fat pad was made from a white tank-top t-shirt that was secured together under the mannequin's crotch. Then an oval-shaped piece of white fabric was stitched to the stomach area of the tank top. Only a few inches were left unstitched at the top of the oval, so that stuffing could be added. Once the belly was sufficiently stuffed, the final stitching was done to seal it up permanently. Then the mannequin was dressed and displayed. The final piece in the puzzle was a fake cigarette that actually looks like it's lit! In Clifton's other hand is a half-empty pack of Lucky Strikes, Clifton's cigarette of choice.

For the background, blue velvet curtains were hung in a corner of the Planet Wallywood kitchen. A pinlight spot was affixed to the ceiling so Clifton would be properly lit. A digital sound chip of Clifton singing may be added at a later date. But for now, Clifton reigns supreme in the Planet Wallywood eatery!