August 11, 2014: Robin Williams, one of the greatest comedians and comic actors of all time, commits suicide at his home in the San Francisco suburb of Paradise Cay, California.
He had been born in Chicago on July 21, 1951, and had made his name as a standup comic in San Francisco, and also in Los Angeles, before making it big in 1978 with an appearance on Happy Days as an alien, and following it up with a spinoff sitcom, Mork & Mindy. He made some classic comedy films, and proved himself as a dramatic actor as well. Sometimes, he was able to do both in the same film: The World According to Garp, Moscow On the Hudson, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, The Birdcage, Good Will Hunting. He even played 2 Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt in the Night at the Museum films, and Dwight D. Eisenhower in The Butler.
But he suffered from depression his whole life. It's been said that all great comedy is a response to suffering. Other comedians have committed suicide, including Freddie Prinze, Richard Jeni, and, possibly, Lenny Bruce. No matter how many people they make laugh, they can't cure the sadness within themselves. It's what leads so many of them to take drugs. Unlike Prinze and Bruce, Robin was able to get clean. But it didn't stop the inner pain.
An autopsy showed that he was afflicted with both Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia, the latter described by his widow, Susan Schneider, in the title of an article she wrote as "The Terrorist In My Husband's Brain." I suppose it was too much for him -- or maybe he wanted to spare his family the pain of his decline, thinking it would be less painful for them if he died all at once. We'll never know if that was the right choice.
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Here's what I wrote at the time, in my original blog, the usually sports-themed Uncle Mike's Musings, and I'll let it stand as the rest of this post:
In the immortal words of Mork from Ork, "Shazbot!"
Robin Williams is dead. He was found at his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. It appears to have been a suicide, following decades of struggles with alcohol, drugs and depression. He was 63.
He was one of the funniest men alive, until he wasn't.
He didn't really have a connection to sports. Although the opening montage to Mork & Mindy did show him and Pam Dawber on the goalposts at the University of Colorado's Folsom Field.
And there was the scene from Good Will Hunting, when the characters played by Robin and Matt Damon discussed love and Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.
Robin Williams is dead. He was found at his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. It appears to have been a suicide, following decades of struggles with alcohol, drugs and depression. He was 63.
He was one of the funniest men alive, until he wasn't.
He didn't really have a connection to sports. Although the opening montage to Mork & Mindy did show him and Pam Dawber on the goalposts at the University of Colorado's Folsom Field.
And there was the scene from Good Will Hunting, when the characters played by Robin and Matt Damon discussed love and Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.
Then there was this riff, imagining if golf had never been invented, and then, instead of 500 years ago, an insane Scotsman were to invent it now.
In his 1st appearance as Mork, on Happy Days, he told Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) that Ork wanted an Earthman. This being late 1950s Milwaukee, Richie was afraid Mork was going to kidnap Hank Aaron of the Braves. And Mork said, "No, we'd have to trade the whole planet for him," before saying it was going to be Richie.
That show was already a generation in the past. And Hank Aaron, thankfully, is still alive. Robin Williams is dead.
Mel Brooks and Tony Bennett were on Johnny Carson's 1st Tonight Show, 52 years ago; they're still alive. Robin Williams was on Carson's last; he's dead.
Too many good people have died this year. As much as anyone, including my father, who died a few weeks ago, Robin Williams made me laugh.
Thank you, you nut.
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UPDATE: Since then, Hank Aaron and Tony Bennett have died. Robin's family had him cremated, and scattered his ashes over San Francisco Bay.
A 2019 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History was advertised as George Carlin, played by "Nice" Peter Shukoff, against Richard Pryor, played by rapper Valin Zamarron, a.k.a. ZEALE. The episode turned into a "battle royale," with Gary Anthony Williams playing Bill Cosby; comedian Jackie Tohn playing Joan Rivers; and "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist playing Robin Williams.
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August 11, 2014 was a Monday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 11-3 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Derek Jeter, in his last season, went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.
* The Miami Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5 at Marlins Park (now LoanDepot Park) in Miami.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers, 11-6 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers, 7-0 at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. How many Rays pitchers does it take to pitch a 3-hit shutout? Apparently, 4: Drew Smyly (7 2/3rds innings), Kirby Yates, Joel Peralta and Grant Balfour.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-3 at Petco Park in San Diego.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 11-1 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.
* And the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Indians, the Los Angeles Angels, the San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals were not scheduled.
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