The Legacy of Robin Williams

Like most people I was troubled over the recent suicide of the legendary comedian and movie star Robin Willians.  When his publicist said that he had been struggling with depression recently I immediately thought of Williams' idol Jonathon Winters, who admittedly was committed to a psychiatric hospital in 1959 and 1961 and also struggled with alcoholism and depression.  When Winters died last year Robin Williams wrote a tribute to him in the NY Times.  Nobody could have imagined at the time that a little over a year later similar eulogies would be delivered for Williams.     

A lot of pundits have offered their thoughts on what was responsible for a rich and famous celebrity ending his own life.  Some say it was due to financial problems.  Other say it was chronic depression.  Still others claim that it was brought on by the medication he was taking after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.  Whatever the cause, it was a tragic ending to a brilliant career. 

 

 

Most people would list "Dead Poet's Society", "Good Will Hunting", "Good Morning Vietnam", or "Mrs. Doubtfire" as their favorite Robin Williams movie, but I think my favorite was "Awakenings".  This movie showed you the depth of two great actors.  Robin Williams playing a character who wasn't funny and Robert DeNiro playing a character who wasn't dangerous in a mostly true story that was completely fascinating.



High School photo

Williams claimed that he was a fat child who was bullied and turned to humor to ward off the bad guys, but his mother denies that he was ever fat.  He apparently also claimed to be from Scotland earlier in his career, and David Letterman made reference to this recently in recalling the first time he saw Williams doing stand-up in the 70s.  Williams was actually from Chicago and also lived in Detroit and northern California as a child.  His father was an automobile executive and was gone for much of his childhood, and since his mother also worked he was raised with the help of a maid.  Interestingly enough Williams' second wife was his former nanny during his first marriage.  At the risk of sounding like an armchair psychologist I have to ask if perhaps there wasn't some transference in play here?

Another interesting thing I discovered was a quote from Bob Zmuda, a friend of Williams, comedic partner of Andy Kaufman, and the founder of Comic Relief. 

“There had to be two people in the room with him", his friend Bob Zmuda told CNN’s “New Day.” “Then you were an audience, and then he came alive.”  But one-on-one, Zmuda said, Williams “had no social skills. He couldn’t handle it… I knew this man for 35 years and yet it was like I was in an elevator with a stranger.”

No social skills, but when there was an audience he "came alive".  For somebody like that it had to be difficult to function the majority of the time with no audience around.  And as the reports came in we learned that he died alone, having spent the night in a separate room from his wife.  His body wasn't discovered for an estimated ten hours.  So tragic!

Williams' untimely death serves as yet another example of the old saying "money can't buy hapiness".  The simple truth is that many celebrities are driven to stardom by the same demons that eventually destroy them.  The emptiness and need for approval that is missing in their lives seems to subside when in front of a crowd, but when the crowds are gone they have to face the demons again.  That's why so many are beset by drugs, alcohol, and depression.  What they sought and eventually found in the entertainment business was only a temporary high that eventually wore off.  The drugs and alcohol are really just a substitute for the entertainment high which in itself was a substitute for a breakdown in their social and familial environments.  John Belushi, Chris Farley, Freddie Prinze, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Heath Ledger, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Curt Kobain, Anna Nicole Smith, Judy Garland, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin ... etc.  The list goes on and on of celebrities who self-destructed.  And many who didn't self-destruct like Rodney Dangerfield, Mike Wallace, Ashley Judd, and Owen Wilson have battled depression throughout their lves.  It's always good to be reminded that the glitz and glamour of fame while alluring, may be nothing more than a facade or a bandaid on a mortally wounded soul.     

The Guardian did an incredibly insightful piece on Williams a few years ago.  Reading it now you have to wonder how those closest to him could have been caught off guard by his sudden decline?  Despite the incredible volume of work he left over the past 35 years, it may be that Robin Williams' true legacy will be a reminder that all is not as it appears in Hollywood. 

http://www.newsweek.com/king-comedy-newsweeks-1986-profile-robin-williams-264094