Taxi

Clifton was hired to appear on an early episode of ABC's Taxi. In 1977, the producers of Taxi saw Kaufman's Foreign Man act at The Comedy Store and offered him a role in their show based on the character.^[11] Kaufman was not a fan of sitcoms, but his manager, George Shapiro, convinced him that this would propel him to stardom, where he would make a lot of money, which he could then put into his act, which became Andy's Funhouse.^[11] Kaufman agreed to appear as Latka Gravas in 14 episodes per season, approximately half of the entire series if Tony Clifton was also 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 brother^[12][13] of Danny DeVito's character Louie De Palma in the series 13th 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.^[12] Clifton reappeared on set for the next day of filming and was demanding, boorish and obnoxious. The producers not only fired Clifton in front of the press and network executives (who had gathered on set to witness the promised spectacle) but threw him off the set after he caused havoc and enraged series stars 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.

Sam Simon, a season 5 writer and showrunner for Taxi, said in a 2013 interview with Marc Maron for the WTF with Marc Maron podcast that the story of Kaufman (as opposed to "Tony Clifton") having generally been disruptive on the show was "a complete fiction" created mainly by Bob Zmuda. Simon maintained that Zmuda has a "vested interest" in promoting an out-of-control image of Kaufman. In the interview, Simon stated that Kaufman was "completely professional" and that he "told you Tony Clifton was him", but he also conceded that Kaufman would have "loved" Zmuda's version of events.^[14] However, while many Taxi staffers have corroborated the story that Clifton was a disruptive presence during his brief time on set in the first season, Simon himself had no association with Taxi until its third season, so he did not witness this specific event.

Other appearances

Clifton (played by Zmuda) appeared once on Late Night with David Letterman, where he was interviewed and sang a medley with the band. In 1982, Clifton also appeared on The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show as the host's "new discovery," although the other Muppets and host George Hamilton remained skeptical of Clifton's talent.

Perhaps the biggest myth surrounding Tony Clifton's TV appearances comes from Dinah Shore's daytime talk show Dinah & Friends.^[15] According to legend, Clifton arrived for the taping drunk and then pressured Shore in front of the studio audience to sing a duet with him although he had been previously told that she had a sore throat. This was a prearranged bit which featured messages from the producers telling the viewers at home that this was a "put on".^[16] The myth continues that, after dumping eggs on Shore's head, the show's producers quickly cut to a commercial as Clifton was escorted out of the studio, and the videotape of the incident was "destroyed". In reality, the footage has been lost, and the entire event was staged, as with all of Kaufman's appearances.

Clifton was also a heckler on The Green Room with Paul Provenza and was escorted out of the room.

In 2009, Clifton appeared on The Opie & Anthony Show to promote a performance at Santos Party House in New York City.^[17]

Films

This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2018)