'Dick Cavett Show' Audience Member Recalls the Day a Guest Died

'The Dick Cavett Show' has long been a talk show of legend. It not only broke the traditional late night mold of jokey sketches and characters, but it also birthed a long list of interesting and historic television moments from the famous "Woodstock" show to his public support of John Lennon as he faced deportation that scored him a special mention on the Richard Nixon tapes.

One of the most infamous moments resurfaced on television when Cavett made a guest appearance on Jimmy Fallon's 'Late Night'. Cavett recalled one episode that the public never got to see because a guest, Dr. James Rodale, actually died on tape.

The episode has never seen the light of day even though the tape still reportedly exists in the network's vault, but Kathy Starcher of Bridgeport, Conn. sat in the audience for that show and recalled what it was like to watch a TV moment that only a few people have ever seen. Read our interview with Mrs. Starcher after the jump about her fleeting foray into TV history.



DG: So take us back to that day when you got to watch the show.

KS: I was a senior in college at the University of Connecticut. It was either 1971 or '72 [the taping took place on June 5, 1971 when Cavett's show aired on ABC] and we watched him everyday and sent away for tickets and got tickets and went down to the show. We were really excited.

DG: How hard was it to get tickets?

KS: It was a wait because his was a very, very popular show at the time, so it was a difficult ticket to get, but we finally got them and went to the show. So he brought Dr. Rodale, I believe he was his first guest, and he came out and he was a blowhard. He had a huge ego. And he actually said and I remember this specifically, he said, "I'm gonna live to be a 100." Then he got down and started doing push-ups on the floor.

DG: So what was his expertise in, for those who aren't familiar with him?

KS: He was a health food expert and a health expert. He had written a bunch of books, some of which are still out today (under) Rodale Publishing. That's him and he was on there to say look at me, I'm an advocate of health food and I can do all these push-ups and he was very egotistical and very dismissive of what ever Dick was saying and very full of himself. So when Dick ended the interview and brought out his next guest and like Dick said in that clip I saw on the Internet, it sounded like snoring, (she mimics the sound) and we all laughed because we all thought he was being his obnoxious self and pretending he was sleeping and bored with what the other person was saying.

Now Dick Cavett said he knew he was dead right away. I don't think that's true because he said, "Are we boring you?" and we all laughed. But then a couple of awkward seconds went by where the guy never responded and kept making these terrible noises and that's when all hell broke loose.

DG: Did any of this go out on TV?

KS: It never aired. People came out and there was a lot of confusion on stage and we just sat in the audience. The next thing we know, the fire department entered through the back of the studio with their stretchers and equipment and everything and someone came out on the stage and said, "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you all to leave," so we all left.

Now at that time, New York City published a first edition of the New York Daily News like at 11 p.m. at night or so. So after we went to dinner or whatever, I forget, when we got on the train and saw in the newspaper that he died, we were all like oh my God, this guy died.

DG: During this whole time when he was snoring to when you left the theater, was he moving at all or did they have to put him on the stretcher?

KS: To the best of my recollection, he had been in the chair snoring, but when everybody started coming out on the stage, I believe ended up on the floor of the stage.

DG: Did they offer you another ticket?

KS: No they didn't, but we took it upon ourselves to order again and after a period of time, we got new tickets and I do remember when we went down again, he usually had a few guests on but the next time, he spent the entire hour with Danny Kaye, which was like, oh who cares now? I remember he sat there for the full hour.

We really liked Dick Cavett. A lot of college kids like Dick Cavett at the time.

DG: What was the appeal of the show was to someone like me who has never seen it or didn't grow up watching it?

KS: It was intelligent repartee that was amusing and interesting. It's hard for me to explain to you but back then, it wasn't the TMZ kind of stuff. People who were famous and on TV were interesting, accomplished and had something to say. They weren't on just there because they were on a reality show, and Dick Cavett was smart and his humor was intelligent and college kids really liked it.

Remember you're talking about the late 60's and early 70's, that's when all the protests and involvements and young people getting involved in politics and Students for a Democratic Society. Young people in college were getting past "eating goldfish" and just latched on to Dick Cavett.

DG: Does that moment ever come up in your own life?

KS: It really stuck with me all those years. My daughter sent it (Jane's post on Jimmy Fallon's interview with Dick Cavett) to me because I've talked about it through the years. Her email said, "Here's your brush with TV history."