To find the original cost of the television before it was marked down, we can use the information that a 35 percent reduction in price corresponds to a decrease of $115.65.
Let \( x \) be the original cost of the television. Then, we can express the relationship as follows:
\[ 0.35x = 115.65 \]
To find \( x \), we solve for it by dividing both sides by 0.35:
\[ x = \frac{115.65}{0.35} \]
Calculating that gives:
\[ x = 330.43 \]
Thus, the original cost of the television before it was marked down is \( \boxed{330.43} \).