There were people who were hired to say they witnessed the death. His plan was to return from the dead with some great tale about being lost at sea.

The death and not death and then death of the former B+ list actress this week, reminded me of something similar that happened a few decades back.

See, the original plan was for this A- list actor to take his own death.

The entire thing had been in the works for close to a year.

Detailed planning.

There were people who were hired to say they witnessed the death.

There were press releases written announcing the death.

Everything down to the last detail. It was all going to happen on July 4th.

The story was that he was going to be at the beach in Los Angeles and got pulled out to sea by a riptide current.

The original story was going to be that he was eaten by a shark, but people give him for dead really easily in that scenario.

His plan was to return from the dead with some great tale about being lost at sea.

This was all set to go.

It was so set in stone that when he actually did die six weeks earlier, there were press releases sent out that said he had been lost at sea.

It is one of the reasons people always wonder whether he is still alive or faked his own death.

Tanya Roberts

Andy Kaufman

Tanya Roberts dies at 65 after premature death announcement

Actress Tanya Roberts died Monday night, her partner, Lance O’Brien, told CNN on Tuesday. Roberts was 65.

CNN and other media outlets, citing her longtime publicist, Mike Pingel, had previously reported Roberts died Sunday evening. O’Brien told CNN he was distraught after saying goodbye to Roberts at her hospital bedside on Sunday and left believing it would be the last time he saw her.

On Monday morning, O’Brien got a call from the hospital and learned that Roberts was still alive, according to Pingel and O’Brien. CNN updated its reporting to reflect that Roberts was still alive and hospitalized in critical condition Monday afternoon.

O’Brien said he was notified after 9 p.m. PST Monday that the actress had passed.

Roberts was hospitalized in Los Angeles on December 24, after she collapsed at her California home following a walk with her dogs. Her cause of death has not been released, but O’Brien and Pingel told CNN previously she tested negative for Covid-19. – Source

Andy Kaufman – Death-hoax rumors

Kaufman often spoke of faking his own death as a grand hoax, with rumors persisting, often fueled by sporadic appearances of Kaufman’s character Tony Clifton at comedy clubs after his death. Kaufman’s official website describes the faked death story as an “urban legend” and includes a picture of his death certificate.

In 2013, responding to rumors following the appearance of an actress who claimed to be Kaufman’s daughter and that he was still alive, Los Angeles County Coroner’s office re-released Kaufman’s death certificate to confirm he was indeed deceased and buried at Beth David Cemetery.

In 2014, Zmuda and Lynne Margulies, Kaufman’s girlfriend at the time of his death, coauthored Andy Kaufman: The Truth, Finally, a book claiming that Kaufman’s death was indeed a prank, and that he would soon be revealing himself, as his upper limit on the “prank” was 30 years. – Source