Tommy Cooper died of a massive heart attack on April 15, 1984, at age 63. In a dramatic collapse he fell backward against the curtain and slid to the floor.
Horrifyingly, the audience thought it was a bit and laughed and clapped along. However, the producers quickly sensed something was wrong and he was pulled behind the curtain so they could carry out CPR while the show went on.
People saw the comedic legend's legs twitching as the horrifying ordeal was broadcast on the Live From Her Majesty's TV show, screened live by London Weekend Television on ITV.
Witness recalls the moment
John said his friend Anne O'Nimus saw the comedic legend being carried off the stage. Anne said: "I was there in the theatre that night, standing at the back of the Circle."
"Bearing in mind that Her Majesty's is a small theatre, I had a good view but wasn't close or behind the curtains. I never found Tommy Cooper amusing – I never 'got' his act – so I wasn't laughing and, perhaps because of that, as soon as I saw him collapse, I thought he was ill.
"I remember him falling back, clutching at the curtains and falling through them until I could just see his legs twitching and the audience continued to laugh not knowing that he was dying as his legs twitched through the curtain.
"I think he was either dragged fully back through the curtains or the curtains were arranged in front of him. I mainly remember the twitching legs and realising immediately that the man was ill whilst people around me were laughing and thinking it was part of the act."
Behind the curtain
Comedy scriptwriter Nigel Crowle was running the transmission at the time and said his colleague knew "instantly something was wrong", according to John Flemming.
Nigel said: "I was working for the Presentation Department at BBC Television Centre that night, actually running transmission in Pres B, so – as you can imagine – all TV screens were tuned to either BBC 1 or BBC 2. I remember being frustrated that everybody else seemed to have been watching the show live whereas I was cueing up a trail for something like The Two Ronnies.
"In the 1990s, however, I remember talking to Alasdair Macmillan about that night – he had been directing the show. Alasdair said it was one of the worst nights of his life. He knew instantly that something was wrong because Tommy had collapsed mid-act, so they cut to the commercial break early."
Jeff Stevenson said: "The curtains closed and Jimmy Tarbuck, who was the compere, had to stand on stage in front of the curtains filling-in to the audience. He told me later that, as he was talking, he could hear them hitting Tommy's chest behind the curtain, trying to revive him – and Tommy was one of Jimmy's heroes. Terrible, terrible."
Nigel Crowle says: "Then – and this is where in retrospect they should never have returned to the show during live transmission – they made Les Dennis go on with Dustin Gee and do their Mavis and Vera (characters from Coronation Street) routine in front of the curtain, whilst attempts were made behind them to revive Tommy."
