# Robin Williams...R.I.P



## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/actor-comedian-robin-williams-found-dead-at-63-1.1955394
He was a Great comedian indeed ,Remember Mork ?


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

thats sad...for a guy that brought so much joy to people...he couldn't find joy himself...

such a shame...


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

Truly sad...so many memorable roles and characters. A wonderful actor and comedian. He brought happiness and laughter to so many. R.I.P.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

This is all over the place. It's tragic. Depression doesnt care who you are. He brought so many laughs yet had so much on his plate.

RIP.

(Psa: there is help out there if you need it.)


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Very sad. 

gobsmacked in fact.

Patch Adams made me cry. Mrs Doubtfire made me laugh. Jumanji made me wonder.

Aladdin...


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Lot of laughs over the years. Another tragic loss


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I fully understand that people no matter what can have depression. But my brain just refuses to comprehend that a person who has brought so much joy and laughter to millions of people was depressed enough to commit suicide. Very tragic and sad.

Rest in piece Robin. Thanks for all the fun and laughter.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Aladdin is one of the few movies I can remember watching with my siblings and just all immersed in their world for an hour and a half. Good times.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Gotta say, frankly I'm not surprised. I would have been *really *surprised if he had died at 87 from bowel cancer, or pneumonia. But the fact that he took his own life at an earlier age does not surprise me. I'm certainly_ saddened_ that we won't get to see him be around any more, because when he wasn't being irritatingly repetitive or too hyper, and bouncing around like a kid in the back seat who you wanted to turn around and smack, I liked him a lot. And clearly from his roles in flics like Mrs. Doubtfire, The Fisher King, Good Will Hunting, The World According to Garp, and Moscow on the Hudson, when he could sit still, the man had depth, and a capacity to connect with important things, not just amuse. But what we valued in him was exactly what killed him: his propensity to let his emotions and distractions run away with him.

Showbiz has a way of exploiting people's weaknesses. Given the choice between repairing people for their own happiness and welfare, or making a bigger deal out of whatever emerges from personality weaknesses, just so people can make some money, it will choose the latter every time. Some people are able to say "No, that's okay, thanks. I'll just sit this one out, and you folks carry on without me. I'll catch up with you later.". But when they don't have the strength to say that, showbiz grabs them by the arm and yanks them in.

People obviously have a responsibility to make good choices for themselves, I suppose, but they could get more help and support from showbiz to make those choices than they generally do.

Na-noo, na-noo, bro. Say hi to Orson for me.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Back in the Mork days, he had a live comedy album called 'Reality, What a Concept'. He was so sharp, some of it scripted but so much riffing, and it was all brilliant, I about wore the grooves out on that one.

RIP, you were a true genius Mr. Williams.


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Ahh man! Really? You will be missed. Shazbot.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I am shocked and I am not. RIP Robin.


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

that's too bad, for someone I assumed had everything...I guess he thought he had nothing

unless he was into that erotic asphyxiation that has killed so many other guys

or maybe he just decided to check out?

oh well, his decision

RIP & thx for the laughs


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Sad news--when he was on--he was one of the funniest around.
And he did have acting skills as well.

Condolences to his family & friends.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

bolero said:


> that's too bad, for someone I assumed had everything...I guess he thought he had nothing
> 
> unless he was into that erotic asphyxiation that has killed so many other guys
> 
> ...


All I heard about was asphyxiation. Keep in mind that both Jimi Hendrix and Cass Elliot were listed as dying from "asphyxiation" as well, only in their cases it was a blockage of air from stuff coming up, rather than stuff going down, or anything around their necks. So, we'll wait and see what the coroner says, but it could be much more benign and banal than our imaginations are leading us to believe at the moment.


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## urko99 (Mar 30, 2009)

A very sad day indeed. He touched so many people, in so many ways. A true talent lost. Perhaps the best comedic Actor of our time. Rest easy now.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

mhammer said:


> All I heard about was asphyxiation. Keep in mind that both Jimi Hendrix and Cass Elliot were listed as dying from "asphyxiation" as well, only in their cases it was a blockage of air from stuff coming up, rather than stuff going down, or anything around their necks. So, we'll wait and see what the coroner says, but it could be much more benign and banal than our imaginations are leading us to believe at the moment.


the word "suicide" seems to be included with the word "asphyxiation", so I don't think it was a sex thing or a health thing.

Its always strange when someone so successful ends it all. esp late in life.
And ironically, it seems to happen to comedians a lot.
Robin did have some addiction issues in his younger days, maybe it had something to do with it.

I wasnt a fan of his work personally, too hyperactive for me, but I know a lot of ppl were. 
RIP.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I don't presume to know the man's personal life at all other than what's been reported over the years. I know he did have heart problems. There is a possibility that he just decided to check out. Hunter Thompson did it. Many others. Some people just don't want to take the slow road to death . If you take a look at some of the lives these people have led what else is there to see or do? He is not having anymore kids. He certainly has no problems with money over the past 30 years. May have decided that he had a full life and decided it was time to go. Just a thought. Again., I don't presume to know what was in his head . 63 is a tad young if you are in reasonable health though




> "I really _like_ being on. It makes it easier. 'Cause being _off_ would be pretty fucking boring."
> 
> Robin Williams


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Diablo said:


> the word "suicide" seems to be included with the word "asphyxiation", so I don't think it was a sex thing or a health thing.


I don't think it was, either, but people deliberately take a bunch of pills or whatever, and what kills them is what the pills result in. And what it resulted in may not have been what they were specifically aiming for. Same way, Whitney Houston may have had too many chemicals in her body at the time, but what technically killed her may have been drowning...in her tub, from what I understand. I'm sure plenty of folks are _nominally _the victim of an overdose, but_ technically _the victim of hitting the back of their head on the granite countertop when they got woozy and fell over from the drugs. That doesn't necessarily mean they would have survived the drugs_ if only _that one fluke thing hadn't happened. Rather, when cause of death is specified,_ something _had to make their body stop working, and in this instance, preliminary signs, according to police reports, are that it was insufficient air. It may well_ turn out_ that it was something creepy, as in David Carradine's case ( http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=7763422 ), but I'm assuming the most benign for now, until otherwise informed.

EDIT at 3:30PM: So, apparently it was the very reason they take belts away from people held in detention.


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## Cartcanuck (Oct 30, 2012)

11 years ago my brother hung himself as a result of depression. He was on meds. He was a very normal guy. He was successful in his career and his family. 

Depression does not discriminate.

Young. Old. Rich. Poor. Famous. Average everyday schlub. 

It f*****g sucks. 

RIP Robin. Make my brother laugh for me.


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## 10409 (Dec 11, 2011)

I'm not usually genuinely saddened by celebrity deaths, but this one stung a little inside. A man who made millions smile suffering from depression...what a cruel irony.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

During my M.Sc. program, one of my course texts was a text on psychiatric diagnosis. One of the phrases in the text that stuck with me was the author's strong recommendation that "if you find your patient charming, you should always _suspect_ mania". The author did not propose this as any sort of litmus test, but as a mental health professional dealing with clients you have no long history with, you need signs and omens of what to keep an eye out for. And when a patient/client is mesmerizing, and makes you eagerly anticipate the next thing that comes out of their mouth or that they do, chances are reasonably good they are at least hypo-manic. And Williams *was* charming in exactly that sort of way.

I've noted here on many an occasion (and probably in a way that made folks roll their eyes and mutter "There he goes again"), one of the bigger challenges for young people, in achieving maturity, is learning to not only manage their emotions, but use emotional information in a strategic fashion, and know when to ignore it. The tendency for young people to interpret the world, and judge the reasonableness or truthfulness of actions and information based on how it makes them feel, or how they think they _will_ feel, is a huge part of why they are simultaneously risk-averse AND risk-takers, why they are so distractible, and why their suicide rate is so high. Everybody gets depressed. You can talk a grown-up down from a ledge; adolescents are absolutely positively iron-clad convinced that there is no way out, nobody understands them, things will never get better, etc. And if left alone to be guided by their own interpretation of the world, they are too easily persuaded by their emotions, and not enough by facts. If left alone with lethal means, they are far more likely to do something terrible.

While many people manage to master the challenge of effectively managing emotions and emotional information (a very very small aspect of what some have referred to as "emotional intelligence") by the time they reach adulthood, many people do not. One longitudinal study into adulthood, I am aware of, of persons with ADD and ADHD noted the persistent claim by such individuals that they _felt_ emotions stronger than their peers. The truth of this claim is hard to judge, but that was their perception. That their continuing distractibility is associated with being led around by the emotional nose does not surprise me in the least. Some folks DO have a harder time managing emotions and emotion information. Not because they're stupid, but because that "emotional information" is louder, more persistent, and they are essentially swimming against a stronger current much of the time.

And such individuals can be immensely "charming" to their peers, all the while bouncing around like ping-pong balls in their life choices. It was the ping-pong ball nature of his presence that so many loved about Williams, and _encouraged_. Indeed, one might say that the charming quality of someone possessed of loose control over their emotions is not only a "sign", it is also what sustains the cadre of "enablers" that surround them. That is, we* like *it when they charm us with their exuberance and semi-randomness, but in appreciating it so overtly, we impede their ability to learn how to _manage_ that tendency to be led around by their emotions.

This is precisely how showbiz chews up and spits out people like Williams. It's not done in any cynically deliberate way, but few of us would have ever said to him "STOP doing that!". When people around you both _enjoy _your immaturity, and stand to benefit from it, they will NOT encourage you to tone it down.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

mike_oxbig said:


> I'm not usually genuinely saddened by celebrity deaths, but this one stung a little inside. A man who made millions smile suffering from depression...what a cruel irony.


Im mostly just confused.
Robin Williams just seemed like someone who was around forever and always would be (unrealistic, I know).
Not to mention how hard it is to understand when someone rich and famous who seemingly couldn't ask for much more, doesn't value their life anymore.
And then you add in the family and kids.....
usually by the time you reach a certain age, you settle down a bit and are less likely to do rash stupid things as well.
it all just doesn't make sense.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I just heard on the news that he may have been in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.

That plus the depression.......

I'm certainly not going to judge.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

The Parkinson's may have been the proverbial straw for him.



Milkman said:


> I just heard on the news that he may have been in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.
> 
> That plus the depression.......
> 
> I'm certainly not going to judge.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

May have been a very personal decision. I can understand that


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Milkman said:


> I just heard on the news that he may have been in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.
> 
> That plus the depression.......
> 
> I'm certainly not going to judge.


Im going to judge, I cant help but to.
but Im not going to condemn.
Throwing ones life away, suicide etc, does detract in some way from my opinions of a persons character (speaking for myself only).
And as a parent, I see it as a form of abandonment of ones children/obligations. No matter how bad things may have got for Robin, Im sure he was worth more to his family alive than dead (in many ways).


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

It's his life, his choice.

I figure there are many who will judge him.

Not me.


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## Cartcanuck (Oct 30, 2012)

Diablo said:


> Im going to judge, I cant help but to.
> but Im not going to condemn.
> Throwing ones life away, suicide etc, does detract in some way from my opinions of a persons character (speaking for myself only).
> And as a parent, I see it as a form of abandonment of ones children/obligations. No matter how bad things may have got for Robin, Im sure he was worth more to his family alive than dead (in many ways).


I agree with your statement in a pure rational form. And I used to think exactly the same thing. 

But unless you have experienced the depths of deep depression you may not have experienced the lack of rational thought that occurs. 

Obviously he was more important and worth more to his family alive than dead. We see that. But in the moment, a clinically depressed individual does not. 

After my brother's suicide I had to learn a lot even though I had experienced deep depression at one time myself. In my anger I truly thought him a coward for taking the easy way out while we had to stay and clean up the mess he left behind. And there is truth to those feelings. But there's also truth in that the fog of depression overrides logical thought processes. The fog of depression is like being drunker than you've ever been x 10. The world is a different place...your body and mind are a different place. And people who experience this to the level of committing suicide can't just snap out of it or decide that what they are thinking it is a dumb decision. 

Personally, I've learned to empathize with them and feel compassion for people when they get to this place. And everyone is different. But I know my brother didn't want to or plan to leave this earth. Robin Williams had several movie projects on the go and seemed to be making plans for the future. I can't help but feel sorry for him that he reached such a low and lonely point in his life. I feel sorry for his family as well, no question. There is no easy answer or understanding of a situation when someone kills themself. Just a lot of pain.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Milkman said:


> It's his life, his choice.
> 
> I figure there are many who will judge him.
> 
> Not me.


I don't know if it's that simple.
we don't let deadbeat dads off the hook for bailing on their obligations because things got too tough....I don't think this is that different. it's the ultimate version of it, IMO.

i think we're too quick to give celebs a free pass on his kind of stuff, honestly.
if it were just some guy that did it, say, your brother-in-law, and left his family alone and heartbroken, you can bet there'd be ppl mumbling under their breath about what a selfish jerk he was for doing it.

- - - Updated - - -



Cartcanuck said:


> I agree with your statement in a pure rational form. And I used to think exactly the same thing.
> 
> But unless you have experienced the depths of deep depression you may not have experienced the lack of rational thought that occurs.
> 
> ...


Thanks given for sharing.
and I think we all feel sorry for him, even those of us that maybe hold him to a higher standard in spite of whatever was troubling him. That's why I said in an earlier post, that my feelings about it are confused.
theres a part of me that feels sympathy, because I know everyone perceives their world, their problems, their blessings, etc differently.
but there's a part of me that feels a little angry at him. Like "boohoo, your show got cancelled and you can't afford a 59th Rolex.....there's ppl who have lost limbs, vision, everything they own, have to work 3 deadend jobs, etc that STILL find something to live for, even if it's only the smile of their children....suck it up."


It it reminds me of when another gifted comedian died of an overdose... Greg Geraldo. His peers did a tribute show for him on Comedy Central....the show closed by asking Sarah Silverman what she would say to him if she could...her face contorted to a mix of sadness and anger and replied "Greg, What the fuck?!?"....it sums up what a lot of ppl feel/think, when someone throws their life away.


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## Cartcanuck (Oct 30, 2012)

Diablo said:


> "Greg, What the fuck?!?"....it sums up what a lot of ppl feel/think, when someone throws their life away.


Absolutely. No matter what, it all comes down to WTF. I'm with Silverman on this one.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

David Letterman honours Robin Williams

[video=youtube;4bVgilYncao]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bVgilYncao[/video]


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Caught part of his stand-up routine on TV. He was talking about post-op reovery from heart surgery. This close enough to what he said.

"The last thing that starts to work after surgery is your ass. Had constipation so bad, they had to call in a priest to do a recto-exorcism"


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I can vouch for that. Trouble is, when they close you up, they only use a handful of staples, and if you laugh, cough, belch, fart, yawn, you swear you're going to pop right open just like John Hurt in _Alien_. So extricating a stubborn stool by sheer force of will and muscle? Fuggedaboudit.

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GuitarsCanada said:


> David Letterman honours Robin Williams
> 
> [video=youtube;4bVgilYncao]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bVgilYncao[/video]


What was nice about Dave's tribute was that they basically showed a lot of clips of Williams simply laughing and being happy, not just making an ass of himself to make_ others _laugh. Good to remember people like that.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Henry Rollins had an opinion on the whole thing , not surprisingly:
https://ca.music.yahoo.com/why-henr...t-robin-williams-225200743-rolling-stone.html


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