THE HISTORY OF CELEBRITY IN AMERICA--IN NINE DAYS

On Sunday, March xx, 1987, young investment banker Dexter Williams III went drinking at Catch a Rising Star, the famed comedy club in New York City.

Shortly before 11 o’clock, after having suffered through the monologues of a half-dozen amateur comedians, Dexter’s friends began taunting him to go on stage and tell a few jokes.

Drunk, tired and frustrated that he hasn’t been able to woo a blond manicurist from Queens sitting at the bar, Dexter refused at first . . . .

But then he took the stage.

And the rest, as they say, is show - biz history.

DAY 1: SUNDAY, March XX

11:09 p.m.: Dexter is introduced by Richard Belzer.

11:10 p.m.: Appearing before an audience of nine, Dexter tells six jokes, focusing on his home state of New Jersey (“I grew up near the Jimmy Hoffa Memorial Off-Ramp,”) and investment banking. (“Instead of junk bonds, Drexel Burnham is now selling bail bonds.”)

11:14 p.m.: The audience goes wild as Dexter trips on the microphone cord as he leaves the stage. Sitting in the darkness are three William Morris agents and an HBO vice president for comedy development.

11:17 p.m.: Unwinding backstage, Dexter meets Rocco Lampone Jr., a talent manager who immediately signs him to a five-year personal services contract. “Don’t worry,” Rocco assures him, “I’m the guy who created London Lee.”

11:18 p.m.: Rocco enters negotiations for Dexter’s HBO comedy special.

11:21 p.m.: A drink arrives backstage from the blonde.

11:22 p.m.: The three William Morris agents arrive backstage but are told they’re too late.

11:24 p.m.: The blonde arrives backstage and is told she’s not too late.

11:37 p.m.: Hailing a cab, the two of them cross the 59th Street Bridge, heading for Queens.

DAY 2: MONDAY, March XX 9:36 a.m.: Rocco arrives at his office and calls Page Six of the New York Post to plant an item about Dexter’s discovery. “Who’s Dexter?!” asks the skeptical reporter, George Rush. “Haven’t you heard?” Rocco replies, “He’s got an HBO special.” Rush rushes off to tell the Post’s readers.

9:44 a.m.: “Dexter who ?” queries columnist Cindy Adams. Rocco: “Don’t you read the New York Post?” A blurb appears immediately in Adams’ 178 newspapers.

10:02 a.m.: “He’s in the Post, he’s got an HBO special, and he’s in Cindy Adams’ 550 newspapers,” Rocco informs Pam Lansden of People magazine. Typing as she speaks, the 23 million readers of her Take One column learn about “Comedy you can bank on: Dexter Williams III, the perfect comedian for the big-money Reagan Era.”

10:35 a.m.: After seeing the pieces in the Post, People, and Cindy Adams’ column on the wire services, Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner has Dexter written up for his Random Notes section.

10:57 a.m.: Negotiations are completed with HBO. Rocco doubles Dexter’s fee because of all the press coverage.

11:19 a.m.: “You’re a star,” Rocco tells Dexter on the phone. “Yeah, but who are you ?” Dexter replies. “Meet me for lunch at the RTR,” says Rocco. “What’s the RTR?” “You’ll learn,” Rocco says with a sigh. “You’ll learn.”

1:05 p.m.: The Russian Tea Room: Rocco has purchased the third banquette on the left wall from maitre d’ Ona Desousa. Walking in, Dexter is acknowledged by actor Roy Scheider, ICM agent Sam Cohn, writer/director Robert Benton, Broadway producer Fred Zolo and Charlie Joffe, founder of the Rollins/Joffe/Morra agency. In the middle of lunch, Dexter is introduced to Mike Nichols, who says “I’ve read all about you.”

2:47 p.m.: Rocco calls Sam Cohn and arranges for Mike Nichols to direct the HBO special.

3:05 p.m.: Lorne Michaels agrees to produce the special and the forthcoming home video “The Best of Dexter.”

3:07 p.m.: After hearing about Dexter at lunch at the Four Seasons, New York editor Ed Kosner assigns Jesse Kornbluth to cover Dexter for the magazine’s Fast Track pages.

3:09 p.m.: After hearing about Dexter at lunch at Mortimer’s, Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown assigns Angela Janklow to profile Dexter in the Vanities section.

3:14 p.m.: After a late lunch at the Casual Quilted Giraffe with Bianca Jagger, Ivanna Trump, Mica Ertegun and Gayfryd Steinberg and Donna Karan, Interview editor Gael Love assigns Tama Janowitz to have lunch with the comedian. Photograph by Helmut Newton; jacket by Charavari Workshop; fragrance by Georgio of Beverly Hills.

11:26 p.m.: “Nightlife With David Brenner”: Appearing at the end of the show as the third guest, David introduces Dexter as “one of the great undiscovered comedians in the East.” Dexter tells the same jokes he delivered the night before. As Brenner closes the show, Dexter sits next to a soap opera star named Heather. She’s promoting a Judith Krantz miniseries, “I’ll Take the 5th: The Ollie North Story,” co-starring Jane Seymour as Fawn Hall, Craig T. Nelson as Ollie and featuring William Devane as Jack, Bobby, Ted and Joseph P. Kennedy. Directed by Donald Wrye.

11:37 p.m.: The Palladium, East 14th Street: Dexter and Heather arrive at the disco, where Keith Haring, Curtis Sliwa, Jerry Hall, Cornelia Guest and Morgan Entrekin are hosting a party in his honor in the Mike Todd Room. “Everybody’s here,” says Steve Rubell, glancing at Mariel Hemingway, Harvey Fierstein, David Salle, Martha Quinn, Mary Boone and former Springsteen guitarist Miami Steve Van Zandt. In a corner, Haring and Dexter discuss taking Haring’s artwork public “like U.S. Steel.”

11:40 p.m.: Reviewing the Brenner show in the Washington Post, Tom Shales pans Brenner but says “new comedian Dexter Williams was an unpretentious comic gem, a bright spot in an otherwise dull rehash of the talk-show format.”

11:44 p.m.: Writing a round-up piece on the new talk shows in the Los Angeles Times, Howard Rosenberg also goes “thumbs down” on Brenner, but calls Dexter “a down-home Will Rogers-type, unspoiled by the commercial glitz of the ‘80s.” In an unrelated article, Robert Hilburn says “I have seen the future of comedy and it is Dexter Williams.” He says Dexter is “Springsteen-like in his ability to evoke middle-class concerns.”

11:58 p.m.: Heather and Dexter are photographed leaving the Palladium, arm in arm, by Ron Galella.

DAY 3: TUESDAY, March XX 8:30 a.m.: The Galella photograph appears in National Enquirer, referring to Heather as “the future Mrs. Dexter Williams.” It runs next to a picture of Joan Collins, calling her the “jilted lover who has gone into seclusion over this latest heartbreak.” There is much speculation as to whether or not Joan will leave “Dynasty,” “simply too broken up to work.”

9:37 a.m.: Hialeah Race Track, Fla.: After seeing his performance on the Brenner show, Michael Mann flies Dexter south for a guest shot on “Miami Vice.” He plays a wise-cracking Wall Street inside trader turned drug dealer. There’s talk of an Emmy nomination.

11:15 a.m.: NBC, Burbank: After seeing the “Vice” dailies, NBC President Brandon Tartikoff signs Dexter to a long-term contract. He says a sit-com spin-off is planned from “The Cosby Show.”

11:22 a.m.: XYZ Casting, Los Angeles: “L.A. Law” producer Steve Bochco pitches Dexter for a new sit-com. “Who’s Dexter?” the casting director asks incredulously. “Why can’t you get us somebody like Bronson Pinchot, but younger?”

11:37 a.m.: Miami Steve Van Zandt announces he will produce Dexter’s first rock ‘n’ roll album, with songs contributed by Billy Vera, Bruce Hornsby, Huey Lewis, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Carole Bayer Sager.

11:39 a.m.: Bruce Willis announces that he will direct Dexter’s first rock video.

12:39 p.m.: Esquire assigns Christopher Durang and Sigourney Weaver to do a 5,000-word profile on Dexter, focusing on the hardships of young comedians.

12:53 p.m.: Vanity Fair assigns Dominick Dunne and Annie Leibovitz to do a 10,000-word full-color photo-spread/profile of Dexter, focusing on the hardships of young comedians.

12:57 p.m.: Gentleman’s Quarterly assigns photographer Wayne Maser of Guess? Jeans fame to shoot Sandra Bernhard, Howie Mandel, Bobcat Goldthwait, Sam Kinison, Rosanne Barr and Dexter for a fashion photo-spread, focusing on the hardships of young comedians. The clothing is donated by Tommy Hilfiger.

1:15 p.m.: Upset that he hasn’t broken into feature films, Dexter fires Rocco, and hires Rollins/Joffe/Morra for exclusive representation.

1:35 p.m.: Upset that her career isn’t keeping pace, Heather dumps Dexter. In a press release, the couple’s publicist cites “career strains.”

2 p.m.: Oprah Winfrey. Dexter and Heather. Subject: “Professional Strains on Same-Career Couples.” Focus: “One couple who couldn’t make it work.”

3:45 p.m.: The HBO special begins taping in Astoria, Queens.

5:47 p.m.: Studio 6A, 30 Rockefeller Center: With Paul Shaffer playing the theme from Dexter’s special, David Letterman introduces Dexter as “one of the fastest-rising young comedians in the East.” Dexter follows Martin Scorsese in the second slot on the show. Dexter has two segments, including a conversation with Dave at the desk. After Dexter leaves, Heather appears on the show, plugging her CBS miniseries, co-starring Lee Remick and Valerie Bertinelli.

8:35 p.m.: After a tearful backstage reconciliation, Dexter and Heather attend the opening-night party for Susan Seidelman’s latest film at Nell’s Cabaret on West 14th Street, with Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Mick Jagger, Carly Simon, David Bowie and Frank Rich of the New York Times. In a gesture of friendship, Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley send the couple a bottle of champagne. Perched on one of the Edwardian sofas, Scorsese and Dexter discuss plans for a role in his next film.

9:55 p.m.: National Star, Page 1: Jeanne Dixon predicts that Heather and Dexter, “America’s favorite couple,” will “definitely not get married in 1987.”

10:06 p.m.: Heather and Dexter are married at a small private ceremony in Donald and Ivanna Trump’s Fifth Avenue co-op. Guests include Billy Joel, Christie Brinkley, Ahmet and Mica Ertegun, Sol and Gayfryd Steinberg, Sandra Bernhard, David Brenner, Regis Philbin, Barry Diller, Cher, David Letterman, Don Johnson, Richard Belzer and Leona Helmsley.

11:30 p.m.: After a brief honeymoon at David Bowie’s Swiss chalet, Heather and Dexter are photographed by Harry Benson in the bathtub of their Connecticut estate for a feature story in People.

11:55 p.m.: The Brooklyn Academy of Music: Peter Sellars announces plans to stage a “neo-colonial post-modernist new-wave deconstructionist performance-art grand ole’ multimedia event opera” in collaboration with Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Sam Shepard, Jim Jarmusch, Wallace Shawn, Spalding Gray and Dexter. Sellars says it will be “loosely based on Chekhov’s ‘The Cherry Orchard.’ ”

11:59 p.m.: Asked by Mary Hart on “Entertainment Tonight” about Dexter’s marriage, Joan Collins has no comment.

DAY 4: WEDNESDAY, March XX 8:30 a.m.: Paramount Studios, Los Angeles: Dexter arrives for a cameo role in a Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer production of a Martin Scorsese musical written by Dale Launer, John Milius, Robert Towne and Dean Pitchford. (The picture was put into production before Scorsese signed his exclusive deal with Disney.) In the credits, Dexter receives a single-card last billing: “. . . And introducing Dexter Williams III as Hank.”

9:29 a.m.: Working out in his trailer with Jake Steinfeld of “Body by Jake,” Dexter is approached by Hollywood producers Brian Grazer and Joel Silver, who promise him featured billing in an Arnold Schwarzenegger/Rick Moranis buddy comedy to be directed by Ron Howard. Written by Neal Israel, Robert Towne and Emilio Estevez (from a story by Amy Heckerling, who’s busy directing another project), the picture will co-star Grace Jones, Jennifer Beals, Dr. Ruth and introduces “Lt. Col. Ollie North, as Hank.”

9:43 a.m.: Dexter and Francis Coppola discuss a role in the upcoming Cannon/Zoetrope epic “Corey!,” the Corazon Aquino story, from a script by Norman Mailer, with additional dialogue by Elaine May, Robert Towne and Oliver Stone. Dexter turns the part down, saying he can’t commit to six months of his life in the Philippines.

11:07 a.m.: Satellite hook-up: Phil Donahue, Dexter and Heather. Subject: “Professional Strains on Same-Career Couples.” Focus: “One couple making it work.”

12:05 p.m. California magazine assigns Brett Easton Ellis to profile Dexter.

12:45 p.m.: Los Angeles magazine: Dexter is on the cover of the best-selling restaurant guide issue.

1:05 p.m.: The Palm, Santa Monica Boulevard: Upset that he isn’t getting quality roles in feature films, Dexter fires Rollins/Joffe/Morra. “They’re spending too much time with Billy Crystal,” he explains, and signs with Creative Artists.

2:15 p.m.: Disney Studios, Burbank: After getting a sneak look at Scorsese’s Paramount dailies, Jeff Katzenberg signs Dexter to an exclusive three-pic writing/directing/acting deal.

2:20 p.m.: Burbank, Hollywood, Culver City: “Twenty-six hip young vice presidents in charge of finding hip young talent” at Paramount, Warners, Disney, Tri-Star and MGM turn in expense receipts claiming to have had breakfast, lunch or dinner with Dexter today at Hugo’s, Le Bel Age, Scully’s, Duke’s, the Ivy, Ivy at the Shore, Trumps, 72 Market Street, La Serre, Rebecca’s, Morton’s, The Grill, City Cafe, 400 North Canon, Chinois on Main, Rondo, the Hollywood Diner, La Pasteria, the West Beach Cafe and Millie’s in Silver Lake. All are immediately approved.

3:05 p.m.: Harry’s Bar and Grill, Century City: Dexter meets with a group of investment bankers to discuss issuing a prospectus for “Dexter Productions Inc.” “We have a high degree of confidence,” one of the bankers says, “that eventually we can sell the whole thing to Coca-Cola.”

3:45 p.m.: XYZ Casting, Los Angeles: “L.A. Law” producer Steve Bochco pitches another sitcom, starring Jay Leno. “Forget Leno,” the director of casting commands. “We’ll give you a 13-week on-air commitment if you get Dexter.” The show falls through when Bochco informs them that Dexter is unavailable.

4:14 p.m.: Upset at being put into an Ivan Reitman/Harold Ramis/John Landis/Steve Martin/Chevy Chase/Robert Redford package where he doesn’t have “complete creative control,” Dexter fires Creative Artists.

4:45 p.m.: Dexter announces that Heather will be his new manager.

8:38 p.m.: Fox Television Square, Hollwood: Joan Rivers welcomes the “National phenomenon, a man we all love and respect.” Dexter appears in the second slot of the show, tells the same four jokes he told the night before (in reverse order), then goes to the couch to show a clip from the HBO special that will premiere the next day. After dishing about his social life, Joan and Dexter move to the center stage, where they join in a musical number with the Beastie Boys.

10:34 p.m.: Spago, Sunset Boulevard: Maitre d’ Bernard seats Heather and Dexter at table No. 10 along the front window, next to Ken Kragen and Lionel Richie, attempting yet another reconciliation. They share a pizza and Richie describes Dexter as “Outrageous!!!!”

11:33 p.m.: Heather and Dexter buy Kenny Rogers’ house.

DAY 5: THURSDAY, March XX 7:37 a.m.: Dexter plugs the HBO special on the “Today” show with Bryant Gumbel.

8:41 a.m.: “Good Morning America”; coffee with Joan Lunden.

8:51 a.m.: CBS: “The Morning Program”; quips with Mariette Hartley.

9:15 a.m.: “A.M. New York.”

9:22 a.m.: “A.M. L.A.”

10 a.m.: Satellite hook-up: “A.M. Houston,” “A.M. Dallas,” “A.M. Denver,” “A.M. San Francisco,” “A.M. Baltimore,” “A.M. Boston,” “A.M. Canada,” “A.M. Cleveland,” “A.M. St. Louis,” “A.M. Seattle,” “A.M. Pittsburgh,” “Good Morning Miami.”

Noon: The Dexter Williams III Comedy Special--”Laughing to the Bank”--premieres on HBO.

12:01 p.m.: John J. O’Connor blasts the show in the New York Times. He calls it “trivial and trite,” and adds that “once again cable has failed to live up to its promise.”

12:02 p.m.: Howard Rosenberg: “I liked his comedy in the old days, before he went commercial.

12:06 p.m.: Tom Shales: “Unmitigated disaster. Dexter sold out and lost his edge.”

12:07 p.m.: People: “Comedic bankruptcy.”

12:08 p.m.: KABC-TV: “Zero on the Franklin Scale.”

12:11 p.m.: TV Guide: “Watch the Dick Van Patten Special on NBC instead.”

12:21 p.m.: Daily Variety: “Wall Street Lays an Egg . . . Again.”

12:27 p.m.: Marvin Mitchelson files Heather’s divorce papers in Vegas.

2:24 p.m.: The IRS sues Dexter for $12.3 million in back taxes, claiming illegal deductions for a tax shelter mini-mall on Sepulveda Boulevard. According to the authorities, the shopping center did not have requisite 7-Eleven, tanning parlor, Korean nail salon, video store, dry cleaners, Mrs. Fields cookie outlet and one-hour film-processing center.

2:50 p.m.: Dexter’s Audi 5000 is recalled.

3:01 p.m.: Beeping into his machine, none of the “26 hip, young vice presidents in charge of finding hip, young talent” have returned his phone calls.

3:45 p.m.: Dexter is turned down for a dinner reservation at Spago.

3:46 p.m.: Morton’s.

3:47 p.m.: The Ivy.

3:48 p.m.: The young ICM agent he was supposed to have dinner with cancels anyway.

4:15 p.m.: ABC Casting, Century City: Dexter reads for a small part in a new Steve Bochco series. After he leaves the room, Bochco is told, “Get us somebody like Dexter, but younger.”

4:49 p.m.: Writing in the New Republic, Mickey Kaus sums up Dexter’s career thus far. Headline: “The Emperor Has No Jokes.”

5:34 p.m: Scrambling for cash, he takes union scale as a guest player on “The New Hollywood Squares.”

6:50 p.m.: He judges “Dance Fever.”

7:30 p.m.: “Star Search.”

8:30 p.m.: “Puttin’ on the Hits.”

11:08 p.m.: Melrose Ave.: Dexter has a fist-fight with two drunks at the Improv.

11:18 p.m.: He tangles with a bouncer on the stairs at Carlos’ n Charlie’s . . .

11:22 p.m.: . . . Ends the evening punching a photographer outside Nicky Blair’s.

11:30 p.m.: In a segment on nostalgic trivia for “Entertainment Tonight,” co-host John Tesch reports on “Whatever happened to Vaughn Meader, London Lee and Dexter Williams?”

DAY 6: FRIDAY, March XX 7:30 a.m.: Dexter checks into the Betty Ford Clinic.

9:35 a.m.: A telegram of support arrives from Jerry Lee Lewis.

10:22 a.m.: Dexter checks out of the Betty Ford Clinic, cured.

12:37 p.m.: Le Dome Restaurant, Sunset Boulevard: Over a lunch of poached salmon in the small back room, Dexter and his new managers plot his comeback.

2:35 p.m.: Dexter appears with Whoopi Goldberg on an HBO fund-raising telethon. “Is the disease an epidemic?” Dexter asks Whoopi. “Not yet,” she replies. “At the moment, it’s just a CBS movie of the week.”

3:35 p.m.: Universal Studios, Stage 11: Dexter takes an unbilled role in the Dustin Hoffman/Sydney Pollack film, “It’s All Relative,” starring Hoffman as Albert Einstein. Teri Garr plays Einstein’s wife in the “wacky universe bending comedy;” it co-stars Klaus Maria Brandauer as Wernher Von Braun, Ed Harris as Ike, John Malkovich as Roy Cohn, Jeff Goldblum as Joe DiMaggio and Richard Farnsworth as Hank. Wrapping the picture, there is talk of Dexter receiving an Oscar nomination and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

6:30 p.m.: The Grand Ballroom, Beverly Hilton: Appearing on the dais with Barbra Streisand, Robin Williams, Daniel J. Travanti and Ed Begley Jr., Dexter emcees a Gary Hart/Alan Cranston fund-raiser.

8:40 p.m.: In a touching, sweet piece, Barbara Walters tapes an interview with Dexter in his West Hollywood condominium for “20/20.” They discuss his “long, slow, climb back.”

11:36 p.m.: Greeted by a standing ovation, Johnny Carson introduces his first guest--Dexter--as “a giant of comedy, one of the great show-business survivors.” Skipping his routine, Dexter goes directly to the couch, where he and Johnny trade war stories about their divorces. After two segments, Johnny apologizes that Dexter has to leave “because of a previous engagement,” but reminds viewers that Dex will be appearing with Doc at a celebrity ski tournament at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe.

11:48 p.m.: Helena’s: Arriving in a white stretch limousine, Dexter attends a party given in his honor by Allan Carr, Glenn Frey and Alana Stewart at the swank pink supper club in Silver Lake. Sitting at what is ordinarily Jack Nicholson’s table (first along the wall outside the kitchen door), Dexter surveys the dour, bored expressions of a half-dozen millionaire “rock ‘n’ roll outlaws” scattered about the room in couture long-rider garb . . . then hops on a table yelling “Pull the limos in a circle, boys! They’re attackin’ our drivers!”

DAY 7: SATURDAY, March XX 10:37 a.m.: Dexter awakes, feeling sick and dizzy.

10:40 a.m.: Rolling Stone, cover story: “He’s back!”

11:01 a.m.: Cover of Time: “A comic for the ‘80s.”

12:07 p.m.: Cover of People: “Exclusive: Laughter and Tears, Dexter’s Lonely Fight Back to the Top . . .”

12:46 p.m.: Cover of Architectural Digest: “No laughing matter: One comic’s retreat.”

1:51 p.m.: Unable to get out of bed, Dexter complains of nausea and fainting spells.

2 p.m.: Federal Express: A letter arrives from Roger Enrico, chairman of PepsiCo, offering $7 million for Dexter to replace Michael Jackson in the Pepsi campaign--if he promises to actually drink a Pepsi.

2:22 p.m.: Purolater Courier: A proposal is delivered from Edgar Bronfman, offering Dexter $10 million to replace Bruce Willis in the Seagram’s Wine Cooler ads.

3:50 p.m.: Lee Iacocca calls, offering him $20 million to endorse Chryslers.

4 p.m.: Peter Uebberoth. “Will you sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at the baseball opening?”

4:05 p.m: California Sun Country Wine Coolers: “How about doing a polar bear ad?”

5:15 p.m.: Weak and complaining of chest pains, Dexter flies to New York, to guest host “Saturday Night Live,” with his special musical guest, David Lee Roth.

1:15 a.m.: Weaker, and barely able to stand, Dexter is flown back to his Beverly Hills estate (down the block from Don Rickles) on a DC-8 provided courtesy of Adnan Kashoggi.

DAY 8: SUNDAY, March XX 7:30 a.m.: Emergency Ward, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center: Dexter is wheeled in with an “undiagnosed illness.” His blood pressure is 110/80; his breathing shallow. Unable to figure out what’s wrong, Dexter is admitted under an assumed name (“Chuck Norris”) for observation on the eighth-floor celebrity ward.

8:35 a.m.: Front page, National Enquirer: “AIDS?”

9:11 a.m.: National Star: “Drugs?”

9:47 a.m.: Cover of Us: “Epstein-Barre?”

10:12 a.m.: Dexter’s blood pressure drops to 100/60. Looks faint. Irregular heartbeat. The doctors prescribe glucose, lidocaine and narcan, but still can’t explain the illness.

11:59 a.m.: “Tex-Dex,” Dexter’s country-flavored album comes out and immediately goes platinum.

12:03 p.m.: The Scorsese picture opens in 2,000 theaters. Variety predicts a $6.5-mil Sunday opening.

1:40 p.m.: Inexplicably, his blood pressure drops to 80/50. Bicarbonate is rushed to the room, along with ringers lactate. His respiration is still shallower.

2:20 p.m.: Hearing about Dexter’s condition on MTV music news, Heather rushes to his bedside.

3:15 p.m.: Simultaneously, Dexter appears on the cover of GQ, Cash-Box, Billboard, Interview, American Film, Manhattan Inc. and the Wall Street Journal. He is profiled in the “Creative Mind at Work” series of the Sunday New York Times Magazine. Heather orders all the publications delivered to the room, hoping to revive him.

4:05 p.m.: Dexter’s blood pressure drops to 60/30. Vital signs are weak. Doctors call for the paddles--a defibrillator to restore his heart beat.

4:09 p.m.: Coming fully conscious for a moment, the doctors plead with Dexter to tell them what’s wrong. “Don’t you see?” he gasps. “If I get out of here, they’re going to say I’m finished. Over. Flavor of the month. Yesterday’s news.” He pauses. “I just can’t go through it again.” He falls into a coma.

5:15 p.m.: Flowers arrive from the “26 hip, young vice presidents in charge of finding hip, young talent” at the major studios.

7:18 p.m.: During a puff-piece interview about his career with Diane Sawyer on “60 Minutes,” Dexter slips away. His blood pressure goes to zero; he has no pulse; his EKG is flat. Heather sobs unconsolably. “What killed him?” she cries. The doctor glances at the magazines she’s clutching in her arms. “It’s simple,” he says. “He died of overexposure.”

10:41 p.m.: After a quick session with hairstylist Jose Eber, Heather issues a statement to the press.

11:30 p.m.: Dick Cavett hosts a “Dexter Retrospective” with David Steinberg, Milton Berle, Jack Paar, Sid Caesar and Steve Allen on PBS.

DAY 9: MONDAY, March XX 8:27 a.m.: “Good Morning America”: Charles Gibson inteviews Kitty Kelley about the unauthorized biography.

8:37 a.m.: “Today”: Dexter’s mother reveals to Jane Pauley that she’s doing a book.

8:47 a.m.: “The Morning Program:” His athletic trainer announces he’s doing a book.

9:47 a.m.: Geraldo Rivera announces that he’s not doing a book, but an in-depth documentary, “in the tradition of Edward R. Murrow.”

10:20 a.m.: Newsweek cover: “Overexposure: The newest crisis/epidemic sweeping the streets.”

11:15 a.m.: KABC Radio: Heather tells Michael Jackson that NBC has purchased the rights to “The Day the Laughter Died,” a movie of the week portraying Dexter’s life. It will be co-produced by Heather, Lawrence Shiller and Abby Mann, and will star a young, unknown comedian named Mark Swerman.

4:50 p.m.: Boston: Taping an appearance for a “Nightline” special on overexposure, attorney F. Lee Bailey claims to have conclusive proof that Dexter’s death is a hoax and the comedian is actually living in a Dallas hospital with Jim Morrison, Elvis and John F. Kennedy. The interviewer is skeptical. “Sure,” Sam Donaldson says, raising his eyebrows, “and next thing you’re going to tell us is that in a previous life, Dexter was Shirley MacLaine.”

10:37 p.m. When asked about their relationship on Larry King’s CNN talk show, Joan Collins smiles sadly and says she won’t soil Dexter’s memory. Instead, she plugs her new miniseries: “Marie, Fashion Freedom Fighter of the French Underground.”

11:09 p.m.: Unknown comedian Mark Swerman appears on the Brenner show to discuss his upcoming role in “The Dexter Story.” “How are you preparing for the role?” Brenner asks. “Did you ever see him work live?” Swerman hesitates. “No,” he answers, glancing first down at his feet, then up into the spotlight. “To be honest, Dexter was before my time.”