Robin Williams - When the Laughter Stops 1951-2014 Read Free Page A

wrong: when he didn’t reply to repeated knocks on the door at around 11.45am, she entered the room and discovered her client. By that time, of course, it was too late. Mara was beside herself: ‘The caller [Buxbaum] was distraught and indicated at that time it was an apparent suicide due to a hanging that had taken place and that rigor mortis had set in,’ said Boyd. No one would talk about whether there had been a suicide note.
    As more details emerged, it became clear that something had been very wrong in recent months. Williams had been sleeping up to eighteen hours a day, spoke of constant tiredness and loss of appetite and had also been quite reclusive. ‘His bedroom had blackout curtains, because Robin didn’t want light in his bedroom,’ a source told
RadarOnline.com
. After his death, pictures emerged of his last public appearance, attending an exhibition at Bay Area Art Gallery. He looked painfully thin, gaunt even, indicating a severe loss of appetite might also have been an issue: another sign of depression. But there was no obvious indication that anything had been wrong. The artist Mark Jaeger, whose work had been on display that night – Robin had purchased a work of his in the past – related that he had appeared to be in good spirits that night, laughing frequently and not drinking. The two discussed possiblefuture projects. But Williams’ painfully thin appearance hinted that something really was wrong.
    In the aftermath, Jaeger, a ceramics teacher at Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield, was clearly distressed. They had met through Robin’s wife Susan, a curator of exhibitions at 142 Throckmorton Theatre, and Williams had been extremely supportive of his work, buying a huge clay head from his ‘Superhero’ series, which featured ordinary people as superheroes. The two had had a good chat. ‘We were actually talking about turning the superhero concept into a movie script,’ Jaeger told
Marin Independent Journal.
‘This idea of a superhero homeless person, goes out at night and does good deeds and takes care of people in need. I said, “Robin, I’m enthused. I love the idea that it could be a movie but I don’t know how to do that,” and he said, “Oh, you just jot down some notes on a piece of paper.” And I said, “Then what?” and he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. I’ll connect you with the right people and we can go through this process and I’ll help you through the process,”’ Jaeger said. ‘He was so generous. Every time I talked to him, he had such a humility. I’m a nobody, and he made me feel like my work is important.’
    Others said that Williams was really not himself. ‘The last time I saw Robin was over the weekend, we would catch up on the street, just casual,’ a neighbour who did not wish to be named told
Mail Online.
‘He was very drawn and thin, he did not look like the Robin who first moved into this community many years ago. He was a shell of himself,exhausted and not in the best spirits, but still the nice guy I had always known. There seemed to be something on his mind. He was not at all like his stage persona; that was not the Robin I knew. He was more quiet and down-to-earth, not over-the-top, like he was in the movies. He listened well. He was often quiet and very private. The last time I saw him he seemed to be in a bad place emotionally.’
    Others also talked about the fact that Robin was much quieter off screen than on and how he used to enjoy walking his dogs in order to be alone with his thoughts. A picture was emerging of a troubled and complex man.
    So what could have caused such a dramatic change? Williams’ ongoing battles with drink, drugs and depression were now increasingly known but, to the astonishment of many, it now emerged that he might have been experiencing serious financial concerns as well. In some ways this was almost inconceivable – Robin Williams, was a major Hollywood A-lister and had been for decades,