A ‘Moon’ Shot Dedicated to Spirit of Kaufman and Charity

Being at the Monday night premiere of “Man on the Moon”--which raised $135,000 for Comic Relief and the Artists Rights Foundation--was a little like attending a seance where the spirit of Andy Kaufman, on whose life the film is based, was being called forth by friends and former colleagues.

Danny DeVito, who worked with Kaufman on the 1980s sitcom “Taxi” and who produced and co-stars in the film, spoke of being “chosen, by Andy, to make this movie.”

At the post-premiere party at the Hollywood Palladium, Lynne Margulies, Kaufman’s real-life girlfriend who is portrayed by musician-actress Courtney Love in the film, said that the question she’s asked most often these days is “ ‘What was he really like?,’ and I just say, ‘Look at Jim [Carrey] up on the screen. That’s Andy.’ ”

Before the screening of the film at Mann’s Chinese Theatre, director Milos Forman said his only goal was to “extend the life of Andy Kaufman by two hours.”

Love, who wore a black dress to the screening and then changed into a filmy pink and white gown for the party, had only high praise for Forman, who also directed her in “The People vs. Larry Flynt.” “He’s an incredibly great male role model for me. I didn’t have many growing up, so to run into this very paternal, non-misogynist guy was good for me. It’s given me a lot of respect for men, which I really didn’t have before. And hell, he likes me. Think about that for a second; meditate on that.”

And after dashing a reporter’s pipe dream of filling the vacancy in Love’s band Hole (OK, so the reporter had never actually played bass guitar before), Love explained, “I’m looking for skill, baby. I want a female who’s super-polished. I can’t do that whole learning, teaching, Eve Harrington stuff ever again.”

Party guests included comedians Richard Lewis, Rodney Dangerfield and Andy Dick; actresses Lucy Liu and Rhea Perlman; musician Sheryl Crow; and Universal brass Ron Meyer, Stacey Snider and Kevin Misher. Actress Renee Zellweger came with Carrey (the two started dating after meeting on the set of the upcoming Farrelly brothers comedy “Me, Myself and Irene”). Also on hand were screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and Bob Zmuda, Kaufman’s longtime writing partner, who left his (and Kaufman’s) alter ego--the loutish lounge singer Tony Clifton--at home. Zmuda, disguised as Clifton, crashed a press junket for the film several weekends ago.

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The Sunday afternoon premiere of DreamWorks’ comedy “Galaxy Quest” at the Mann’s Chinese Theatre was a family affair.

Sigourney Weaver, who plays B-actress Gwen DeMarco (who in turn plays Lt. Tawny Madison on the fictional “Galaxy Quest,” a “Star Trek”-like TV show) showed up with her brood wearing the same blond bombshell wig she wore in the film.

“I heard that people were going to dress up like aliens, so I thought it was the least I could do. Besides, it might be my last chance to be a blond.”

Also on hand were Tim Allen and Tony Shalhoub with their families, and DreamWorks Pictures co-heads Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald.