there's nothing sadder than the tears of
a clown hey everyone I'm Rebecca and
welcome to watchmojo.com in alright
let's get to it
cigarette let's relax Robin Williams was
one of the finest entertainers of our
time we'd say funniest comedian of our
time but really he did so much more than
make us laugh
yes his primary creative output was
comedy and he excelled at it but never
whether he was raucous Lee performing
stand-up in clubs or being relentlessly
wacky on the big screen Robin was a
master of his craft but he was also an
adept dramatic actor having been
nominated for four Academy Awards
throughout his acting career and winning
one for Good Will Hunting he knew the
truth
perhaps he was so good at drama because
he drew from an internal source you all
know the joke about Pagliacci the clown
a man feels depressed and goes to see a
doctor who tells him to watch Pagliacci
the clown to cheer himself up but it
turns out his patient is Pagliacci it's
a perfect summation of how people can
use comedy to mask their inner turmoil
and Robin Williams was no different he
suffered bouts of depression and he led
a troubling and tragic life that was
often hidden beneath his bizarre and
wild sense of humor I do a great
impression of a hot dog things started
out well for Robin who grew up both
affluent and popular his father was a
senior executive at Ford and the family
lived in a 40 room farmhouse in
Bloomfield Hills Michigan they were even
rich enough to have a maid
Robin attended the private Detroit
Country Day School and eventually became
class president while excelling in
school and partaking in various
extracurriculars I do voices what do you
mean you do voices
I do voices yeah many of his old
classmates also remember him as being a
very funny and friendly person in short
Robin was well-off personable
charismatic funny smart and popular I
think you have something inside of you
that is worth a great deal unfortunately
things weren't as good at home as they
appeared from afar
his parents were busy people and Robin
didn't get to see them much he was often
left home alone with the family made
being his only steady companion despite
receiving a full scholarship to Julliard
Robin dropped out in his junior year and
pursued stand-up comedy in the San
Francisco Bay Area of course being Robin
Williams one of the funniest men ever he
quickly found success he graduated to
performing in various clubs around Los
Angeles in the mid 70s before winning
the Grammy Award for Best Comedy album
in 1979 for his live show reality what a
concept it would be his first of four
Grammys he also found incredible success
on TV by playing the alien Mork on the
ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy which aired from
1978 to 1982 by all accounts his
professional career was going perfectly
but one thing ran rampant in the comedy
scene in the late 1970s and we're not
talking about laughter it was drugs and
Williams soon formed an addiction to
cocaine and alcohol one of his friends
Bob Davis remembers being shocked to see
Robin so ingrained in the drug culture
there was once a documentary they asked
to prove an Indian chief they said chief
what's cocaine you look right in the
camera and said cocaine it's our little
gift to the white man for what you did
to us on one occasion Davis said he
watched as a fan holding cocaine on a
spoon walked up to Robin who snorted it
without question Robin also began
drinking to come down from the manic
coke eyes Mork & Mindy director Howard
storm recalls the Robin would stay out
all night taking drugs drink
and quote screwing everybody in town and
would be quote a wreck on set the next
day even your dog something like you
wouldn't believe the you said to me
last night things came to a head in 1982
when Williams close friend John Belushi
died of an overdose after mixing heroin
and cocaine a dangerous concoction known
as a speedball Williams was left
particularly devastated by his death not
only because John was his friend but
also because Robin had partied with him
earlier that morning his death had a
profound effect on Robin with his first
child on the way he decided to quit
drugs and alcohol simple Perrier here I
had to stop drinking alcohol because I
used to wake up Newton hood of my car my
keys in my hat and he wasn't the only
one Williams later told People magazine
quote John's death scared a whole group
of show business people it caused a big
exodus from drugs this transitional
period however also caused Williams to
spiral into himself and become depressed
feeding an outlet he took up cycling and
quickly formed a bond with the bike shop
owner Tony Tom Tony claims that Williams
once told him quote biking is a whole
lot better for you than cocaine and he
reportedly credited biking for a quote
saving his life yeah big-time
yeah just like that what do you bench
285 what do you bench you paint that
it's often been suspected that Robin
suffered from clinical depression and/or
manic depression also known as bipolar
disorder however he told NPR's Terry
Gross in 2006 that he had never been
clinically diagnosed with either what we
can say with certainty though is that
Robin continuously struggled with
addiction another drug they don't tell
you it's a drug the class 4 narcotic
alcohol after 20 years of sobriety
Robin fell off the wagon in 2003 and
returned to alcohol he was filming a
movie in Alaska called the big white and
was feeling quote alone and afraid and
now close especially dangerous for
people like myself alcoholics or he can
say ethanol challenge whatever you want
to call to allay his fears he returned
to drinking he told parade that it
started with quote just a taste but it
escalated so quickly within a week I was
buying so many bottles I sounded like a
wind chime walking down the street and
there's a voice that tells alcoholics we
can drink it's the same voice you hear
if you can go up to the top of a very
large building and you look over the
side there's a little voice that goes
after some tough love from his family
Robin admitted himself into rehab in
2006 Tara you are an alcoholic but it
wasn't enough he later returned to
alcohol and winter we had yet again in
2014 checking himself in to Minnesota's
Hazelden foundation addiction treatment
it's possible that Williams returned to
alcohol near the end of his life because
he was suffering from depression and
that this depression was linked to his
failing body
Robin began suffering from a horrible
case of Lewy body dementia in late 2013
though it wasn't identified as such
until after his death this excessive
happiness actually says you're
excessively happy mm-hmm what does that
mean it's not good I've got a famous
Robbins Widow Susan Schneider wrote a
brilliant and horribly tragic piece
called the terrorists inside my
husband's brain that offers a lot of
insight into his heartbreaking final
days the early indications of the
disease began in October 2013 around the
time of Robin and Susan's second wedding
anniversary what year is it brand-new no
what year is it Robin began suffering
from a host of seemingly unrelated
problems including insomnia heartburn
gut discomfort quote a slight tremor in
his left hand and a quote alarming rise
in fear and anxiety
most of these symptoms were waved away
or in the case of the hand tremor
attributed to a prior shoulder injury
I'm screwed honor
and things got worse by winter Robin
began suffering from more extreme and
worrying symptoms like paranoia
delusions and memory loss while filming
Night at the Museum 3 Robin had immense
difficulty remembering his lines and his
memory loss combined with his rising
anxiety struck a lot of fear into the
struggling actor I guess this is it
indeed he began having quote unfounded
fears and suffered from a profound case
of insecurity nothing Susan said could
calm him down
or help him see clearly it's time for
your next adventure I have no idea what
I'm gonna do tomorrow how exciting
according to Susan
Robin was fully aware that quote he was
losing his mind
but he put on a brave face and kept the
worst symptoms to himself but near the
end there was simply no hiding the
severity of his case Robin was walking
with quote a slow shuffling gait he had
trouble speaking and often forgot words
his left hand wouldn't stop trembling he
could no longer judge distance and depth
and sometimes he even had trouble moving
a condition Susan calls quote of frozen
Stan's smile my boy
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notifications Robyn had made up his mind
on the night of Sunday August 10th Robyn
said good night to Susan it was the last
thing he ever said to her he committed
suicide on August 11th a final
declarative statement against the
disease that had been plaguing his brain
for the last 10 months death is not the
enemy and gentlemen we're gonna fight a
disease let's fight one of the most
terrible diseases of all indifference
Susan was lost the world was shocked
everyone grieved the world had lost one
of the most beloved and talented men in
show business and it came as a complete
surprise
Robin was good at hiding his problems
and keeping his issues to himself and he
simply hadn't been ready to share his
tragic battle with the world you treated
disease you win you lose you treat a
person I guarantee you you win no matter
what the outcome
Robin is survived by his widow and three
children Zack Zelda and Cody Cody
married on July 21st 2019
it would have been Robins 68th birthday
honestly I've never been more shocked or
upset about a celebrity death than I was
for Robin Williams but let's not talk
about that let's use the comments to
talk about our favorite Robin Williams
moments or movies for me it's gonna be a
Ladin mrs. Doubtfire and the birdcage I
love her cage so come talk to me in the
comments or on my youtube channel or on
twitter or instagram at rebecca brayton
also please watch this other video