Good Night Vietnam: RIP Robin Williams

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Mon Aug 11, 2014 at 07:34:36 PM EST
Tags: Robin Williams (all tags)

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Update 8/12: A new detailed statement from the Marin County Sheriff's on Robin Williams death. Really sad.

***

As Howard Cossell would say, "An unspeakable tragedy tonight in Tiberon, CA." Robin Williams, who struggled so hard against depression, lost the battle and took his own life today at age 63. The Marin County Sheriff's office has issued a release:

At this time, the Sheriff's Office Coroner Division suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia, but a comprehensive investigation must be completed before a final determination is made. A forensic examination is currently scheduled for August 12, 2014 with subsequent toxicology testing to be conducted.

Depression kills. Our condolences to his family and everyone who knew and loved him.

There aren't many people who could dislodge Iraq and ISIS from all three major cable news networks, for over an hour, and Robin Williams is clearly one of them. R.I.P. Robin, and thank you for sharing your talent and generosity will so many millions of people. You will be missed.

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Good Night Vietnam: RIP Robin Williams | 64 comments (64 topical)

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He was so, so good as a comedian and actor. (5.00 / 4) (#1)
by Angel on Mon Aug 11, 2014 at 07:36:40 PM EST

I will miss him.

It is said that some of the best humor (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by Anne on Mon Aug 11, 2014 at 08:08:49 PM EST

comes from pain.

The world has lost yet another gifted comedian who brought so much laughter to others, but could not seem to bring that same joy to his own heart.

I hope he has found that joy, finally, but my heart aches for those he leaves behind, now struggling with a new and lasting pain.

What you say is true (none / 0) (#3)
by Peter G on Mon Aug 11, 2014 at 08:40:49 PM EST

but depression is just such an evil, insidious, and dangerous disease.


What Simon and Garfunkle wrote (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by Mordiggian 88 on Mon Aug 11, 2014 at 09:06:14 PM EST

They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town,
With political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born into society, a banker's only child,
He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.
But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes:
Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show.
And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht!
Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got.
(chorus)
He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."
(chorus)

: Used to have that album... (none / 0) (#7)
by unitron on Mon Aug 11, 2014 at 10:58:14 PM EST

...way back in the day.
Of course that song was based on the 1897 poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson.

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Cory

Oh, no question; I didn't mean to (none / 0) (#5)
by Anne on Mon Aug 11, 2014 at 09:13:45 PM EST

minimize it. I've had family members who struggled with depression - most notably my brother, and like Williams, you can add several varieties of substance abuse, which no doubt came about as an attempt to and a consequence of self-medicating the pain.

There's a certain level of detachment that one ends up coming to in order to avoid being pulled down into the black hole. I love my brother, but even absent the drugs and alcohol, he does not think clearly and has resisted helping himself. There are times when one is tempted to wonder if this is how he wants to be, except it's almost impossible to comprehend why anyone would want to feel that way. But that brings one back to the "not thinking clearly" part, and one has to let go of that anger.

Sometimes love is just not enough.


Anne, I have a sister that you could be describing (none / 0) (#11)
by ruffian on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 08:13:42 AM EST

She does take anti-depressants and they do help for a while, but it is a continuous monitoring process. She knows the suicidal feelings well enough now that she checks herself into a local mental health facility when she knows she needs to. It is hard for those of us without that disease to imagine how it feels, when what we call 'the blues' is not the same at all. And hard to know that our loved one may eventually feel there is only one way out of the darkness.


: It's in my family too (none / 0) (#59)
by CaptHowdy on Wed Aug 13, 2014 at 09:01:55 AM EST

I just saw the Birdcage recently. Very sad.

Not a Fan of His Comedy, but... (5.00 / 2) (#10)
by ScottW714 on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 07:54:37 AM EST

...I really loved his serious acting roles, and I thought he had so many more roles left to play, and destined to be one of the great actors of my time.

Goodwill Hunting & Dead Poets Society are still two of my favorite movies.

Odd Factoid:
Robin Williams was one of the last people to see John Belushi alive at the Chateau Marmont. His parting words to Belushi, "If you ever get up again, call."

I can't imagine living in the world of depression, where death seems better than life, it breaks my heart.

Ironically, John Belushi's death ... (5.00 / 2) (#48)
by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 04:48:06 PM EST

... was the catalyst which spurred Robin Williams to first seek professional help to try and overcome his own addiction issues. To his infinite credit, he was always remarkably candid with the media and general public about his problems with cocaine and alcohol abuse.


He has (none / 0) (#13)
by jbindc on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 08:27:06 AM EST

4 more movies coming out.


And "The Fisher King"... (none / 0) (#15)
by kdog on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 09:02:09 AM EST

what a performance in "The Fisher King"...one of my all time favorite movies.

A true original, a peerless talent.


Yes, another favorite. (none / 0) (#18)
by ruffian on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 10:46:28 AM EST

really so sad.

I saw Phillip Seymour Hoffman's film 'A Most Wanted Man' over the weekend. He was so good, and I felt so sad watching, knowing what we will be missing in the future. Feeling that double today.


: I know what you mean... (5.00 / 1) (#24)
by kdog on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 11:23:00 AM EST

at least the great Robin Williams gave us 40 years of his talent, compared to say a Jimi Hendrix...and the art is immortal.

Glad Jeralyn mentioned his generosity (5.00 / 4) (#12)
by ruffian on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 08:22:54 AM EST

He was someone that truly gave his talents to good causes with apparent joy - I hope it did break the darkness for him on those occasions with his friends doing benefits.

I've been such a fan of all his work for so long, I can't pick a favorite. We were truly lucky to have had him among us.

OK, I'll pick a favorite - may be one of the broader performances, but 'Mrs Doubtfire' is pure genius in my view. Some scenes have me laughing till I cry every time.

: I am a fan and admirer of many of his films (none / 0) (#14)
by Peter G on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 08:52:42 AM EST

but I think "Hook" is actually my favorite. Robin Williams as a grown-up Peter Pan, battling Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook. A celebration of fatherly love.

Dead Poet's Society. (5.00 / 1) (#20)
by Angel on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 10:53:54 AM EST

: Agreed. (none / 0) (#40)
by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 03:57:08 PM EST

"Dead Poets Society" was a sad yet gorgeous film. As Mr. Keating, the jocular English teacher at an exclusive prep school, Robin Williams offered us a tantalizing first glimpse of his extraordinary versatility and range as an actor.

I loved him (5.00 / 1) (#21)
by jbindc on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 11:02:27 AM EST

On an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where he played an audio engineer who became an anti-authoritarian vigilante after the death of his wife and unborn child and who was a master manipulator and (ironically), pushed someone he felt wronged him into suicide.

He was brilliant as the bad guy.

And as the creepy deranged guy... (5.00 / 1) (#23)
by kdog on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 11:15:50 AM EST

in "One Hour Photo"...another of his many memorable roles.


i saw that episode (none / 0) (#26)
by nyjets on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 11:30:29 AM EST

He was great. I did enjoy watching him. The episode itself was mediocre. Funny considering the fact the episode itself was annoying and mediocre.


In some audio commentary (none / 0) (#27)
by ruffian on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 11:37:29 AM EST

on a Breaking Bad DVD I was watching over the weekend, the director reiterated what others have said - he has no qualms casting successful comedic actors in dramatic roles, because comedy is so much harder.


Makes sense (none / 0) (#28)
by jbindc on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 11:39:33 AM EST

Comedians are really "acting" to make people laugh.

(As an aside, another comedian who gave a brilliant performance as a bad guy on L&O: CI was Stephen Colbert).


And on the original L&O, ... (none / 0) (#43)
by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 04:24:05 PM EST

... Chevy Chase played against type as a once-popular actor who's arrested for DUI, and reveals himself as an appalling anti-Semitic bigot in the process -- a character no doubt probably based loosely on Mel Gibson.

And if you're a fan of Martin Scorsese's films, you'll know doubt remember legendary comic actor Jerry Lewis as a cold and obnoxious talk show host who's initially stalked and ultimately kidnapped by a couple of obsessed losers (Robert DeNiro and Sandra Berhhardt) in the dark and disturbing "King of Comedy," a role for which Lewis received the best reviews of his film career -- although some Hollywood cynics had suggested at the time that he was simply being himself. That was a film clearly ahead of its time, in its examination of the cult of personality.

Aloha.


More (none / 0) (#44)
by jbindc on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 04:27:01 PM EST

comedians who've played bad guys.

Like watching RW, it's amazing to watch these people transform from what we know them as (funny) to evil and creepy.


: There's also Martin Short on "Damages." (none / 0) (#51)
by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 04:56:46 PM EST

In the second season, he played a con artist impersonating a family lawyer to a Bernie Madoff-like clan under pressure for conspiracy and fraud, and was the one guy who walked away from the ensuing maelstrom.

For me it's often the opposite. (none / 0) (#29)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 11:59:28 AM EST

Often, when I see broad comedic actors like Jim Carrey or RW play dramatic roles, I have a hard time accepting them.

For me, many of their fundamental mannerisms I see in the dramatic roles immediately remind me of their various hysterical, over the top work in their comedic roles, and it takes me out of the movie.

iow, I'm too often reminded that I'm watching an actor who's trying to be serious, instead of a character in a story.

That said I loved JW's Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society, Fisher King, and Carrey's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc., etc.


Aloha, Robin Williams. (5.00 / 2) (#32)
by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 12:58:06 PM EST

"And in the sweetness of friendship, let there be laughter and the sharing of pleasures, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning, and is refreshed."
- Gibran Khalil Gibran (1893-1931), "On Friendship," The Prophet (1923)

I'm pretty much appalled by this comment. (5.00 / 5) (#38)
by Anne on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 02:43:27 PM EST

Maybe more than appalled.

I almost don't know where to start.

I don't think he needed to be functional, or to live a normal life.
He didn't need a job. He needed the will to overcome his depression and survive.

Survive to do what? Impersonate a chair? This man was only in his early 60's - and you think he didn't need to be functional? I can't even believe you suggested he didn't need to live a normal life.

Overcoming depression isn't a matter of having the will to do it; it's not a hump that a blast of euphoria will get someone past. When the euphoria goes away, the depression roars back - and then what? What has it accomplished?

What you have suggested is something millions of people have turned to in their desperation to feel better, to not feel the pain; why do you think so many people with mental illness, including depression, turn to alcohol and drugs? And aren't cured, or helped?

Good God.

Robin Williams tried all manner of substances, legal and illegal; none of them apparently blasted him to a place where he was beyond the depression. Where he was over it. Where he magically found the missing will that would make all the difference.

Do you know anything about clinical depression? Do you want to?

You would be well-served to do some reading and research about depression; there is a level of - I hate to say it - ignorance in what you have posted that is unacceptable given the vast amounts of information out there.

At the stage of addiction (5.00 / 3) (#39)
by fishcamp on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 03:55:35 PM EST

Robin Williams was allegedly suffering from I doubt there would be any euphoria from a hit of heroin supervised or not. The euphoria that comes from heroin and many other drugs only happens the first and maybe the second time it's used and after that it becomes a maintenance problem. Cocaine is a bit different than opiates. The mind tricks you into believing the next hit will be better but it never is. Unfortunately many of us have had friends commit suicide and it's a hollow feeling that sometimes never goes away. It also reminds us of past friends that have taken their lives and it becomes even more sad. I'm sad.


All I was (5.00 / 2) (#41)
by lentinel on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 04:16:29 PM EST

suggesting is that survival, just survival, was better than death by suicide.

No cure.

Just something that might have enabled him to live another day.

I understand your anger at my comment, and admit that I am not knowledgable about clinical depression. But I will endeavor to learn about it.


Clinical depression is an insidious ... (5.00 / 2) (#45)
by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 04:36:39 PM EST

... form of mental illness. Yes, you should endeavor to learn more about it. But then, I can't excuse myself, either. We should all seek to learn more about mental illness, and this is as good a time as any. No doubt, we all know somebody who suffers or has suffered from it, or perhaps some of us have had bouts with it ourselves. But rather than empathize with its victims, we instead tend to stigmatize them, simply out of our own ignorance about the subject.


: One thing (5.00 / 2) (#52)
by lentinel on Tue Aug 12, 2014 at 05:41:56 PM EST

I do know is that the drugs that are commonly prescribed to treat depression can have dangerous side effects.
One drug, which I chose to look up at random, OLANZAPINE-FLUOXETINE ORAL, had this warning:

Antidepressant medications are used to treat a variety of conditions, including depression and other mental/mood disorders. These medications can help prevent suicidal thoughts/attempts and provide other important benefits. However, studies have shown that a small number of people (especially people younger than 25) who take antidepressants for any condition may experience worsening depression, other mental/mood symptoms, or suicidal thoughts/attempts.
Tell the doctor immediately if you notice worsening depression/other psychiatric condi