After a stint as a New York press agent and comedy writer for Dick Shawn and Mort Sahl, moved to Los Angeles where he joined Universal Pictures as a writer of TV comedies such as the Emmy-winning "The Bob Newhart Show" (for which as head writer he was also nominated for an Emmy), "McHale's Navy" and "I Dream of Jeannie". Kaufman also contributed to episodes of "Combat" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" before writing his first screenplay for the AIP film "Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine" in 1965.

Specializing in film comedies, Kaufman was nominated for an Oscar for the story for "Divorce American Style" (1967) and wrote screenplays for the college spoof "Getting Straight" (1970), the marital comedy "I Love My...Wife" (1970), "Freebie and the Bean" (1974), "Harry and Walter Go to New York" (1976), the popular Dracula spoof "Love at First Bite" (1979), which he also executive produced, and "She's Out of Control" (1989). He died of a heart attack in 1991.