Robin Williams Dies

Monday, August 11, 2014

Academy Award winning actor and comedian Robin Williams passed away today at his California home, apparently a suicide, according to law enforcement officials as cited in a CNN report.  Williams was 63.

Williams made the world laugh with his comedic antics and improv.  He gained recognition from his television role of Mork, a lovable alien, on “Mork & Mindy” in the early ‘80s.

His serious side helped him earn Oscar nominations for his roles in “Good Morning Vietnam, and “The Dead Poet Society.”  He won the coveted statue for his part in the movie “Good Will Hunting, playing opposite Matt Damon.”  


Williams  helped the homeless by raising 50 million dollars through eight “Comic Relief”  telethons over a twenty year period co-hosted with Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal.

Most recently, Williams starred on the television sitcom “The Crazy Ones,” about the goings-on at an advertising agency.

His energy and quick wit were extraordinary. In that way, he was much like his idol Jonathan Winters.  His chameleon-like ability to become characters as he monologued kept the audience laughing.

According to his publicist, Mara Buxbaum, Williams had been experiencing severe depression recently.

He is survived by his third wife, graphic designer Susan Schneider.

Williams may no longer be with us, but he will continue to have impact through the re-airing of  his past films and television performances.

(Photo above was made in 2008 before the Ellen Degeneres Live Show in Chicago.)