It was the wild 1970s, and funnymen Robin Williams and John Belushi were on top of the
world. The former had been splitting sides as lead alien on the riotously popular sitcom
"Mork & Mindy," a spinoff of a hit episode of "Happy Days." The latter was a star of
"Saturday Night Live," and had been the comedic focal point of the fratboy classic "Animal
House." They had already accomplished so much, and their futures looked increasingly brighter
with each new gig and episode they produced.
Williams and Belushi were also dear friends who hung out and partied together in the decade's
infamous drug-fueled celebrity party scene. According to Vulture, Belushi was a bit wilder
than Williams. He once took Williams on a wild night through the punk rock clubs of
New York City, an experience that made Robin feel like "Beaver Cleaver in the underworld."
He likened the night to,
"Being on a tour with Dante, if Dante were James Brown."
Sounds like they had fun, but that fun came at a cost. Former drug dealer Cary Silkin
told the New York Post that Belushi had an almost animalistic ability to take drugs.
Silkin said,
"When he died it was no shocker, considering the way he handled his cocaine. I was no angel,
but Belushi huffed it like a pig."
Both Williams and Belushi used alcohol, cocaine, and other drugs to give their outings that
hellish tinge of sinful fun, but their excesses would go on to destroy their friendship and
serve as a wake-up call for Williams at the beginning of the 1980s.
While both comedians imbibed their fair share of psychoactive substances, John Belushi's
drug use was really on a whole 'nother level. Vulture reports that Williams hung out with
Belushi in the early morning hours of March 4th, 1982, and told his "Mork & Mindy" costar
Pam Dawber the next day that the SNL cast member had been so high that he "could hardly
stand up." Still, Belushi was with it enough to play his guitar "to perfection."
Williams was devastated later that day when Dawber broke the news to him that Belushi
had died from a lethal drug overdose not long after Williams left his bungalow on the Sunset
Strip. After Williams left, Canadian singer and drug dealer Cathy Evelyn Smith mixed up
a couple of the drug cocktails of heroin and cocaine known as speedballs and injected one
into the actor's veins and one into her own. The 33-year-old comedian didn't survive the
dose.
The news shocked the Hollywood elite and the world at large. Dawber was reportedly worried
about Williams suffering the same fate, and she told him point blank. She told Williams
that if the same ever happened to him,
"I will find you and kill you first."
That one hit Williams hard. Dawber saw him on set a while later in deep contemplation.
He said,
"That's never going to happen to me, Dawbs."
Whether he believed her to carry through on her threat or not, John Belushi's death was
a tragic wake-up call for Robin Williams. According to People, the incident affected
him so intensely that he sobered up afterwards, kicking his habits of alcohol and cocaine
abuse. Williams said,
"Cocaine for me was a place to hide. Most people get hyper on coke. It slowed me down."
But he couldn't run and hide forever, not when his hiding place had the potential to
end his life. Williams explained,
"Here's a guy who's a beast, who could do anything, and he's gone. That sobered the
s--- out of me."
And it scared others in Hollywood, as well. Williams said that Belushi's death caused
"a big exodus from drugs" in the industry. He himself was about to become a father, and
he knew he couldn't be a good dad while on coke.
His sobriety lasted two decades, but one tiny airplane-sized bottle of Jack Daniel's quickly
pulled him back in while he worked on the set of "The Big White" in 2005. Williams said,
"Then a week later I was hiding a big bottle of Jack Daniel's."
Toward the end of his life, Williams suffered from extreme depression and anxiety, and had
also been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the comedian
committed suicide on August 11th, 2014, though his reasons for taking his own life have never
been made clear.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call or chat online with
the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Or Text HOME to the
Crisis Text Line 741741