It’s an utter shock to learn about the death of Robbin Williams, one of the world’s greatest actor/performers. We try to take a look inside his life and find out why he decided to take his own life.
Life and Death of an American Original: Robin Williams!
Death: Truly a shocker of the year!
Life: Here it is. Someone who came to light as an alien through a popular TV show, whose fierce fanatic comedy captivated us on screen for decades, has died at age 63 on 12th August, 2014!
We identify with him for his wild, often improvised humor, on stage and on screen. Rare do we know that behind the scenes he struggled mightily with substance abuse and depression.
From Mork in Mork & Mindy, to Daniel Hillard and Mrs Doubtfire in Mrs. Doubtfire , to his manic make-you-laugh-so-hard-your-ribs-hurt livecomedy specials, Robbin Williams was a true Comedy Legend. His frenzied energy was magical and exhilarating.
But behind all that zaniness lurked something darker. DRUG ABUSE AND DEPRESSION!
Williams often described himself as A MAN LOOKING OVER A CLIFF.
In an exclusive interview to one of the popular channels he said “It’s not just the fear of falling, it’s a thing of YOU CAN DO THIS, You can jump, you can fly. The idea is just one, for someone who has no talent, it is not the possibility.” Well, this is what he thought; this is what his belief was.
He had all the talent, all the will, all the love of the family for who he was and the adulation of the world for the craft that he mastered, plenty of work in hand, all the money, all the fame that made him; A LEGEND. Yet, no combination of all these could insure a happy life?
His death is a major shocker to the world. So much so that American President Obama weighed down on his death and said “He was one of a kind. He came into our lives as an alien but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit”.
The body of work this tremendous force of nature left behind resulted in a long overdue Academy Award and three other nominations for the same, six Golden Globes, two Emmy Awards, two Screen Actor’s Guild honors and two iconic animated voices in animation productions that will delight kids for ages to come. Williams ventured into indie films walking the snowy sidewalks of Sundance and walked the red carpet at Cannes. He took his standup act around the world playing to Royalty and numerous heads of state. He donated his time to amazing charitable causes such as “Comic Relief” and toured Iraq and Afghanistan with USO.
He did not stop until he did!
How can we ever forget his remarkable performances as John Keating in Dead Poets Society, a fun-loving poetry professor who came to a stuffy boarding school, then challenged and inspired his students through his outside-the-box teaching methods and Dr. Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting, whereHe shined as a therapist tasked with helping a young math prodigy overcome his anger and work toward a healthy relationship with both a girl and the world at large. These two characters somewhere brought out the elements of the real person behind the comedian Robin Williams.
He was clearly an INSPIRER. A person of TREMENDOUS CALIBER who encouraged others towards life!
Then why did he choose to end his own life?
Why did he lose the will to live and perform for the world, to inspire them, to encourage them?
Are we not seeing what we should be seeing?
Is that over learning, over achieving and over fame lead to death-row?
“The non-actor has a major advantage because it’s harder to hide the symptoms”. Said Dick Cavett. The host of The Dick Cavett Show from 1968 to 1975. He is also the author, with Jimmy Fallon, of the forthcoming Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks.
He said, “Robin Williams will not be the last cherished performer to be snatched from our midst by depression and suicide.”
Churchill called it a “the Black Dog”. He said that this seem to have a much too close affinity to a performer’s life. Depression seems to stalk the lively arts like Jack the Ripper, accompanied by depression’s hand-maiden, suicide.
Well the question remains; is there something in the brain chemistry of the actor/performer that produces this sorrowful result?
Dick Cavett quoted that Robin knew he wouldn’t live for all. He said “I know Robin knew this. His death recalled a moment with him years ago in a small club. He came off stage after bringing a cheering audience to its feet. “Isn’t it funny how I can bring great happiness to all these people,” he said. “But not to myself.”!!
Robin’s idol was Jonathan Winters, one of the world’s hardest talents. Is it really difficult to have all that within you and retain personal balance?
Well, someday, we will definitely find some chemical link between great, great performing talent and susceptibility to that awful conqueror; “The Depression”, of the talented performer.
For now, all we can say is…
Rest in Peace, Robbin Williams
Make God Laugh!
You will be missed! Hugely!
