{"id":607091,"date":"2026-04-14T21:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/607091\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T21:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:56:15","slug":"today-in-history-april-15-audience-thought-comedians-fatal-heart-attack-was-part-of-the-act-on-live-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/607091\/","title":{"rendered":"Today in History &#8211; April 15: Audience thought comedian&#8217;s fatal heart attack was part of the act on live TV"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Popular Welsh comedian Tommy Cooper suffered a fatal heart attack on stage during a live television broadcast on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.9news.com.au\/today-in-history\" title=\"April 15, 1984\" target=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">April 15, 1984<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper, best known for performing magic acts with his distinctive red fez, was appearing on the variety show Live from Her Majesty&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>He was performing directly in front of a curtain in a long gown for one of his standard tricks.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/59e348d6-a6c0-4f9a-b5d1-5c2a3fe98eb1.jpeg\"   alt=\"Tommy Cooper died on stage to the sound of audience laughter.\"\/>Tommy Cooper died on stage to the sound of audience laughter. (ITV)<\/p>\n<p>In the stunt, he would pull items from his gown, which the audience would be well aware were just being passed from behind the curtain.<\/p>\n<p>But Cooper suddenly tottered and fell backwards into the curtain, prompting a roar of laughs from the live audience.<\/p>\n<p>The crowd thought his fall was part of the act. But Cooper had just suffered an immense heart attack.<\/p>\n<p>As the laughter faded, the television producers called for an unscripted commercial break.<\/p>\n<p>After failing to pull Cooper all the way behind the curtains, two stools were brought out to obscure his body from the broadcast.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/5af43b5d-8066-4871-b588-825f1917a68a.jpeg\"   alt=\"Tommy Cooper was known for his comedic magic act.\"\/>Tommy Cooper was known for his comedic magic act. (Nine Archives)<\/p>\n<p>The next performers then used the limited space at the front of the stage to continue the show as people backstage tried to revive him.<\/p>\n<p>As another performer sang, Cooper was shifted back and onto an ambulance, the movement of the curtains clearly visible.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper was declared dead on arrival at hospital. He was 63.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His death would be publicly confirmed the next day.<\/p>\n<p>While he was one of the most popular comics in the UK, Cooper&#8217;s career suffered as a result of his heavy drinking.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper had neglected to activate the safety switch which would stop the blade as it fell.<\/p>\n<p>It was only the alertness of a stagehand that stopped Parkinson from being killed in front of a studio audience.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper&#8217;s death was reminiscent of another comedian&#8217;s public death.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/7444bf4e-ef30-418c-96ce-d10b74eb2057.jpeg\"   alt=\"Harry Einstein died at a comedy event honouring Lucille Ball.\"\/>Harry Einstein died at a comedy event honouring Lucille Ball. (Supplied)<\/p>\n<p>After he finished his routine, he took a seat on stage, then slumped over and died.<\/p>\n<p>Five doctors began frantically working on Einstein backstage.<\/p>\n<p>One cut his chest open with a pen knife to massage his heart. Another made a makeshift defibrillator with an electrical cord.<\/p>\n<p>But the show continued on as doctors tried in vain to save Einstein&#8217;s life.<\/p>\n<p>Singer Tony Martin was asked to sing for the audience.<\/p>\n<p>He made the unfortunate choice of his hit &#8220;There&#8217;s No Tomorrow&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Popular Welsh comedian Tommy Cooper suffered a fatal heart attack on stage during a live television broadcast on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134],"class_list":["post-607091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}