One of the funniest men who ever lived; his frantic, "full-tilt Bozo" antics of the 70s and early 80s made me laugh until I hurt. His acting had less impact, but I saw most of his movies. I still regularly remember bits from his HBO live comedy show in about 1980 and they always make me smile.
His last post on Instagram, a Happy Birthday message of love to his daughter:
I hope you found your peace, Robin. In a world in desperate need of humor, the rest of us will miss you.
I loved the man's work, disagreed with his politics, and vehemently disagree with his choice.
ReplyDeletePeople with children should never suicide!
Period.
He has THREE CHILDREN!
Regardless, he will be missed - RIP Robin!
gfa
I never tried to verify it, but I was told that he was present when Belushi OD'd on speedballs, and that he fled instead of trying to get help for him, because he was afraid he might be arrested and/or have it damage his career.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is a fairly well-accepted premise that many comedians become such out of personal emotional pain and suffering, so it doesn't surprise me that he would suicide.
I agree with armedlaughing's take, except that I more-than-disagreed with his politics. Considering he hailed from Marin County in Californica, no one should be surprised by his loose grip on reality and the rights of others.
RegT and GFA, I'm more with you guys.
ReplyDeleteA guy like Robin probably thought he was doing a favor to his family by removing himself as a burden or their problem. In reality, suicide shatters a family and hurts the survivors terribly - much more than if the perpetrator had died in a car accident or something. It also increases the odds someone else in the family will off themselves, too.
I actually met someone who met him. We were both cyclists and once while swapping email stories, he said he had met Williams in a San Fran area bike shop. You might have read Robin was a cyclist and had some really nice bikes - the benefits of showbiz wealth. This friend said Robin was an incredibly nice guy, completely kind and "real", happy to just be one of the guys in the bike shop, hanging around with everyone. No ego, no "in your face" stuff.
I remember hearing the owner of one of the LA comedy clubs saying that if you wanted to see good comedy, you needed to go get "the scrawny Jewish kid with bad teeth and a cloud over his head". The comic least likely to be funny was a guy who was basically happy in life.
I never actually met Robin, but when I was a San Diego police officer, he was playing in the Comedy Club one night. My partner and I both really liked him, so we asked the manager if we could peek in the door of the room he was playing so we could see him.
ReplyDeleteRobin saw us looking in, and proceeded to introduce us to the audience as the first two gay San Diego police officers to "come out of the closet". We weren't quick enough to think something up to respond, so we just grinned and waved - with limp wrists.
I happened to catch a news article that stated Williams had been found sitting in a chair with a belt around his neck. This sounded more like accidental asphyxiation during auto-erotic suffocation to me. Evidently, I am not the only one who considered this possibility:
ReplyDeletehttp://mrconservative.com/2014/08/47516-did-robin-williams-die-of-autoerotic-asphyxiation/
The added fact of his having been in a movie examining that behavior lends some additional credibility.