Latka Gravas is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 on the television sitcom Taxi

Taxi (TV series)

Taxi was an American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series, which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for "Outstanding Comedy Series", focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher...

portrayed by Andy Kaufman

Andy Kaufman

Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...

. Latka was based on a character Kaufman created known as Foreign Man.

Foreign Man

In the 1970s, Kaufman often performed in comedy club

Comedy club

A comedy club is a venue, typically a nightclub, bar, or restaurant where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, magicians, ventriloquists and other comedy acts...

s in character as a nameless amateur comedian who claimed to be from "Caspiar," a fictional island in the Caspian Sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

. He spoke little English, and with an indeterminable accent. This character later came to be referred to as "Foreign Man."

Foreign Man would play an LP album

LP album

The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

 of the theme song to Mighty Mouse

Mighty Mouse

Mighty Mouse is an animated superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox.-History:The character was created by story man Izzy Klein as a super-powered housefly named Superfly. Studio head Paul Terry changed the character into a cartoon mouse instead...

. As the song plays, he nervously stares at the audience. When the line "Here I come to save the day!" is sung, Foreign Man exuberantly lip-synchs it with a wave of his arm. He then continues to stare at the audience until the line is sung again when he again lip-synchs the line. Foreign Man apparently only understood or enjoyed the one line in the entire song. As the song ends, he quietly bows.

Another well-known bit contained the surprise factor

Surprise factor

The surprise factor is a technique used in storytelling to produce a visceral reaction from the audience. It is created by telling a story in a way which creates a certain perception of events which is then revealed to be false often in exact opposition to original perception...

. Foreign Man would nervously tell nonsensical jokes and perform poor impressions

Impressionist (entertainment)

An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...

 of famous people without changing his voice. For example, he would say "I would like to imitate Meester Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

, de President of de United States." He would then say in the same voice, "Hello, I am Meester Carter, de President of de United States. Tenk you veddy much". The audience would begin to heckle him, but Foreign Man would continue: "And now I would like to imitate de Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

". As "Also sprach Zarathustra

Also sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss)

Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical treatise of the same name. The composer conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt...

" played, Foreign Man turned around, quickly changed his clothes into a rhinestone

Rhinestone

A rhinestone or paste or diamante is a diamond simulant made from rock crystal, glass or acrylic.Originally, rhinestones were rock crystals gathered from the river Rhine. The availability was greatly increased around 1775 when the Alsatian jeweller Georg Friedrich Strass had the idea to imitate...

-studded jumpsuit

Jumpsuit

Jumpsuit originally referred to the utilitarian one-piece garments used by parachuters/skydivers, but has come to be used as a common term for any one-piece garment with sleeves and legs.-Use:...

, slicked his hair back, and launched into an Elvis Presley impersonation so accurate that Elvis Presley himself described it as his favorite. In addition to imitating Presley's voice, he accurately imitated his mannerisms and stage banter. After he finishes, Foreign Man meekly says "Tenk you veddy much".

Kaufman's Foreign Man character became very popular when he appeared on the first episode of Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

in 1975. It was so popular he performed Foreign Man four more times on the show from 1975-1977. Kaufman also appeared as Foreign Man on Dinah!

Dinah!

Dinah! is a daytime talk show hosted by singer and actress Dinah Shore, which aired in American syndication markets through 20th Century Fox Television from its premiere on September 9, 1974 until the summer of 1980...

and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....

. Kaufman also used a version of the Foreign Man character, as Andy the Robot in the once-aired pilot for the proposed sitcom Stick Around

Stick Around (TV)

Stick Around was an unsold television pilot for ABC, starring Andy Kaufman. Only one episode was ever made, airing on May 30, 1977.Kaufman portrayed Andy, a run-down servant robot in the future...

 in 1976.

Developing "Latka"

In 1977, the producers of Taxi saw Kaufman's Foreign Man act at The Comedy Store

The Comedy Store

The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. It has a sister comedy club in La Jolla, San Diego, California.-History:...

. They had already created the main characters for the pilot

Television pilot

A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 but they enjoyed Kaufman so much they immediately offered him a role based on the character.

Kaufman hated sitcoms and did not want to take the role, but his manager George Shapiro

George Shapiro

George Shapiro is an American talent manager and multiple Emmy and Golden Globe winning television producer. He represented the late Andy Kaufman and is among the most successful managers in show business. He currently represents Jerry Seinfeld....

 convinced him by saying the exposure and the salary would be good for his nightclub act. Kaufman and the producers developed the Foreign Man character into "Latka Gravas", but Kaufman felt he would tire of playing the same character repeatedly so the producers agreed to give Latka multiple personality disorder, which allowed Kaufman to portray different characters sometimes.

Character biography

Latka Gravas is an immigrant to America from an unnamed country. (In the show it is only ever referred to as "the old country", or some derivation thereof.) He immigrated as an adult, as a flashback scene shows Latka preparing to immigrate to America in the summer of 1977. Presumably, Latka's home country is in a far northern region, or at an extremely high altitude, as the scene establishes that they are in the middle of a fierce snowstorm in the middle of summer. Latka's mother, Greta Gravas, also immigrated to America, presumably a short time later. Oddly, the statuesque Greta speaks better English than Latka.

Latka often speaks in his native language which consists of phrases such as "Yaktahbay" (Behind/Butt) and "nik nik" (sex), "Ibi da" ("yes" or "that is so"), and, ofcourse, "Tank you veddy much." (Kaufman invented his own nonsensical language for Latka.) He works as a mechanic

Mechanic

A mechanic is a craftsman or technician who uses tools to build or repair machinery.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, motorcycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, general mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and...

 for the Sunshine Cab Company. He is very friendly and has a shy, child-like demeanor. His sweet personality makes him a favorite target of his loud, abrasive boss, Louie De Palma (Danny DeVito

Danny DeVito

Daniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...

). The cabdrivers like Latka but are confused by his customs.

Latka also has multiple personality disorder. Being very love-shy, Latka wanted to fulfill his fantasy of being “an American fun guy taking each day in high gear". He studied Playboy

Playboy

Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

and the voices of FM

FM broadcasting

FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...

 DJs. Latka developed an alter ego

Alter ego

An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...

 named "Vic Ferrari", a smooth-talking womanizer.

In one episode, he develops numerous personalities in addition to Vic including a cowboy

Cowboy

A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...

 named Arlo and an Englishman

Englishman

Englishman may refer to:*English people*Grey Partridge*Jason Englishman, Canadian rock music singer and guitarist*Jenny-Bea Englishman, real name of the Canadien singer Esthero*Erald Briscoe, reggae musician who records under the name Englishman...

 named Jeffrey. He ends up taking on his co-worker Alex Reiger's (Judd Hirsch

Judd Hirsch

Judd Hirsch is an American actor most known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series Taxi, John Lacey on the NBC series Dear John, and Alan Eppes on the CBS series Numb3rs.-Early life and education:...

) personality, with profound insights into "his" life. Just when he is about to reveal to the real Alex the perfect solution for all his problems, he reverts back to Latka with the help of a psychiatrist

Psychiatrist

A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...

.

Facing deportation

Deportation

Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...

 in an early first season episode aired in 1978, the cabdrivers hire a prostitute to marry Latka so he can stay in the United States. It is assumed that they were soon divorced.

In the second season, Latka meets Simka Dablas (Carol Kane

Carol Kane

Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress. Kane has worked on the stage, on the screen and in television. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of the character played by Andy Kaufman. She received two Emmy Awards for her work...

), a woman from his homeland. Despite coming from different classes—she is a "mountain person" and he is a "flatlander"—they fall in love. At the end of the episode Simka has to return to the homeland, but Simka returns in the fourth season and they rekindle their romance, finally ridding Latka of his Vic Ferrari alter ego. They get married at the end of the season.

A "latke" is a potato pancake, sometimes served with gravy, and a popular treat for the Jewish holiday of Chanukah. "Simka" (or, more accurately, "simcha" or "simkha,") is the Hebrew word for "happiness"; in slang, "a simcha" is a major, happy life event such as a wedding or bar-mitzvah. Both Andy Kaufman (Latka) and Carol Kane (Simka) are Jewish.