Robin Williams Dead of Suicide at 63

[Ernest Jones]

My awesome mother sent me this today.

[phan52]

I never watched Mork and Mindy, but then I saw him live doing standup and saw The World According to Garp. I became a fan for life. Something I never missed was when he would appear on a talk show. He was always at his manic best and the hosts just loved being with him. They were as entertained as the audience.

So saddened, I will miss him so much.

[Shorty]

He was always at his manic best and the hosts just loved being with him. They were as entertained as the audience.

In those interviews you could always see that he had the "happy face" on and you knew that the pain would return the moment the cameras were off. He was clearly an unhappy soul.

Of all the celebrity deaths, this is one that doesn't surprise, sadly

[JetFan1983]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phan52

He was always at his manic best and the hosts just loved being with him. They were as entertained as the audience.

In those interviews you could always see that he had the "happy face" on and you knew that the pain would return the moment the cameras were off. He was clearly an unhappy soul.

Of all the celebrity deaths, this is one that doesn't surprise, sadly

Robin Williams wasn't an unhappy soul. He was a beautiful soul. A wonderful person who made millions laugh, cry and feel things they otherwise were unable to feel without his help. Was he unhappy, morose, depressed and dark at varying times in life, particularly the end? Of course. But I would never finalize his existence as "an unhappy soul." What he clearly had was some form of a mental illness that finally took his life for reasons we all probably never understand.

Robin Williams wasn't happy all the time. He wasn't sad all the time. He had a range of emotion few humans are capable of comprehending, even when they see it on display in a play or movie. In the end, he was simply a man, one so full of life, it couldn't be contained in a single glib statement or sentence or breath.

I do understand your point however, and a friend said the same thing to me last night over the phone, particularly about his talk show interviews. He wasn't terribly surprised either, and maybe I shouldn't be. But I can't categorize Robin Williams as an unhappy soul. He's someone I've never met. I prefer to remember him as a wonderful but flawed individual who made a terrible mistake in his final moments. He was a person that felt so much that for whatever reason he couldn't survive an idle August morning on a Monday in 2014.

Anyway, I hope this doesn't turn into an argument as I do respect your opinion. It's very scary to think that for all the manic happiness he could display on stage in those interviews, in his darkest times, he was likely experiencing the exact opposite roller coaster of emptiness, loneliness, and hopelessness.

But for all that, I choose to remember him for the beauty, empathy, and kindness he showed again and again throughout his career. He was almost like everyone's crazy uncle who always knew how to make us smile when we were down or tell us how things really were when we were indifferent. It truly is amazing to see how many people he touched so deeply by the outpouring of support since the announcement of his death.

[Cool Breeze]

The gut wrenching part is reading the tweets by his teenage daughter about loving and missing her dad.

You'd like to think that no matter how bad things got that you wouldn't take your own life, especially when you have children that it will effect directly.

But then again, I don't have issues with clinical depression so I don't know where he was mentally and emotionally.

This goes to show that the wealthy are not immune to mental disorders any more than any of the rest of us.

He was a cool guy, and the world is worse off without him.

[Shorty]

I'll tell you one thing I absolutely HATE. Not joking.

Something like this happens and people have to address tweets or whatever in the second person

" You did this... You did that"  Not "He or "Robin Williams"

Translation: I want everyone to know what a compassionate and eloquent person I am. I'll wrote a note to a deceased person.

There was a time when people had these thoughts and they simply remained so. Thoughts.   At least use third person if one must publicise their thoughts in an "it's all about me" culture.

And when it comes from daughters or partners it's worse. They don't have those private conversations that they should have had, so they burnish their own reputations on Twitter. Great stuff.

BTW - Wife is in the same house, but he's discovered at lunchtime by his assistant. Does seem like an odd situation.

[nevets88]

[Ernest Jones]

So I went to the video store (yep, still got 'em in Canada) to rent The World According to Garp as my farewell. Looked everywhere and started to get annoyed with the video store's bizarre concept for the alphabet when I discovered that THEY HAD POOLED EVERY MOVIE HE EVER MADE INTO ONE SEPARATE SECTION! I thought it was a really nice touch and acknowledgement of how we all mourn his loss. Well done. I'm going to get all drunk and maudlin while watching, but sometimes sorrow mixed with nostalgia is the one of the most powerful and life affirming emotions we can experience. If there was no sorrow how could we ever appreciate joy?

[RJH999]

So I went to the video store (yep, still got 'em in Canada) to rent The World According to Garp as my farewell. Looked everywhere and started to get annoyed with the video store's bizarre concept for the alphabet when I discovered that THEY HAD POOLED EVERY MOVIE HE EVER MADE INTO ONE SEPARATE SECTION! I thought it was a really nice touch and acknowledgement of how we all mourn his loss. Well done. I'm going to get all drunk and maudlin while watching, but sometimes sorrow mixed with nostalgia is the one of the most powerful and life affirming emotions we can experience. If there was no sorrow how could we ever appreciate joy?

You seem to be taking this hard. You seem like you need a hug.[IMG]http://www.imgion.com/images/01/Bear-Hug-.jpg[/IMG]

[Ernest Jones]

You seem to be taking this hard. You seem like you need a hug.[IMG]http://www.imgion.com/images/01/Bear-Hug-.jpg[/IMG]

You know what, I am taking this hard and I'm not even that big of a fan. I was discussing this with my wife just now and I think it's because his first film role of note was the first film based on a John Irving novel and John Irving is very close to my heart. So I guess it's a little bit of transference, and I'm thinking I should start saving my money because the day that John Irving passes will be devastating to me and I think I would like very much to attend his funeral. Any way, sad, sad stuff. I'm a big old softie and have been told on many occasions that I'm just too damn sensitive for my own good. Whatever, I like who I am. Edit* as a final (possibly) comment, let me just say that if the character Jenny Fields had been a real person, I think she would have been exceedingly proud of what young Garp had accomplished in the "real" world.

[jamo]

Whatever, I like who I am.

:beer:

[iacas]

My awesome mother sent me this today.

Patch Adams has a 23% at Rotten Tomatoes.

I always liked that movie. Quite a bit, actually.

Donner, party of fifty?

[saevel25]

Patch Adams has a 23% at Rotten Tomatoes.

I always liked that movie. Quite a bit, actually.

Donner, party of fifty?

I agree as well. It might not be one of his best roles, but it was a good movie.

[Ernest Jones]

I agree as well. It might not be one of his best roles, but it was a good movie.

Full disclosure: never saw it, but I do love my mom. :-)

[dchoye]

I tune in to watch Mork and Mindy to watch Mindy cause I thought she was cute but over the years I grown to appreciate the incredible performer Robin William became. Very sad at the loss just like everyone else has posted

[boogielicious]

When Johnny Carson signed off for good, Robin Williams was one of the last guests. It was well known that Johnny wanted to save his favorites for last.

[jamo]

[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GorgFtCqPEs[/VIDEO] Just saw this video linked to. Robin Williams playing around with Koko the sign language gorilla.

[phan52]

Norm MacDonald's tribute offers the essence of Robin Williams. A good soul.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/norm-macdonald-met-robin-williams-funniest-man-world/story?id=24950575