Robin Williams, the Oscar-winning actor and comedian, is dead in a suspected suicide, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed through a press release Monday.
Williams was 63. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
Dubbed “the funniest man alive” by Entertainment Weekly in 1997, Williams’ career as a television and Hollywood funny man spanned nearly four decades and included acclaimed roles in such shows and films as the TV series Mork & Mindy (1978-1982), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990), The Fisher King (1991), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), The Birdcage (1996), and Good Will Hunting (1997), among many others.
Most recently, he starred in CBS’ television comedy The Crazy Ones. It was canceled by the network in May.
Williams was a stand-up comedian at heart whose seemingly neverending reservoir of spot-on impersonations delivered via an equally endless arsenal of voices bled through into the vast array of characters he’d portray throughout the decades, whether across the Broadway stage, TV set or silver screen.
For countless fans across the globe, the man was synonymous with laughter.
Yet Williams also fought a darker side.
“On August 11, 2014, at approximately 11:55 am, Marin County Communications received a 9-1-1 telephone call reporting a male adult had been located unconscious and not breathing inside his residence in unincorporated Tiburon, CA,” reads the statement from the Marin County Sheriff’s Office Coroner Division posted on its website.
“The Sheriff’s Office, as well as the Tiburon Fire Department and Southern Marin Fire Protection District were dispatched to the incident with emergency personnel arriving on scene at 12:00 pm,” it continues. “The male subject, pronounced deceased at 12:02 pm has been identified as Robin McLaurin Williams, a 63 year old resident of unincorporated Tiburon, CA.”
“At this time, the Sheriff’s Office Coroner Division suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia, but a comprehensive investigation must be completed before a final determination is made,” it adds. “A forensic examination is currently scheduled for August 12, 2014 with subsequent toxicology testing to be conducted.”
Williams spoke openly about his battles with addiction and substance abuse throughout the years, telling The Guardian in an extremely candid (Heartbreaking? Most definitely.) 2010 interview: “I was shameful, did stuff that caused disgust–that’s hard to recover from.”
Rest in peace, Robin.
