Upon hearing of the death or
Robin Williams, the only question I had in my mind interspersed with
the shock of the news his passing was the only any real writer worth the
title should ask: why. Why a man who specialized in putting smiles on many a
face and warmth in the coldest heart for over forty years would take his own
life by hanging himself after attempts to slash his wrist.
This central tragic irony
gnawed at me and i'm sure everybody else that a man who could somehow
give you pathos and comedic energy all in one go could succumb to his
own demons. It's hard to imagine that Williams, though troubled, would see his
death as viable option. It's even harder picture such a man taking his own life
when he had spent it inspiring other to laugh and enjoy theirs.
Williams has had bouts with
alcoholism and drug addiction and has over the years been refreshingly
forthcoming about his demons. Reports suggest that Williams had money troubles
owing to alimony owed to his two ex-wives and had been forced take roles to pay
bills. Williams confirmed as much in a 2010 interview with The Guardian
explaining why he took roles in movies that were notable for all the wrong
reasons[1].
Williams had resorted to
selling some of his assets to ease his money problem as according to the
Telegraph:
“For the past two years he had been trying to
sell his ranch in the Napa Valley near San Francisco, saying: “I just can’t
afford it any more”. Despite dropping
the asking price from £21m to £17.8m, there had been no takers. He had even
resorted to selling some of his collection of 50 bicycles to raise cash”[2].
The effort to deal with his
money problems were also taking it’s toll on Williams as “One neighbour who saw
him in the days before his death said he had become “a shell of himself” and
looked “drawn and thin””[3].
Williams also recently went
back into rehab to deal with his recurring addiction to alcohol just last month
with his spokesman said “was to “fine-tune and focus on his continued commitment”
to staying sober”[4].
However, to our and Robin
Williams detriment, we were to find out that his recent attempts to battle his
long term battle against addiction and depression was to be in vain.
All that’s
left now is our many memories of him doing what he did best, entertain. Many of
my fondest cinematic memories are of Williams energy and range from his still
memorable vocal performance as the genie in Aladdin, his funny yet heart-warming
turn as a dad reconnecting with his family through a certain Scottish child-minder
to his Oscar winning performance as a therapist doing all he can to stop a
young but arrogant genius from squandering his talent.
In sum, we’ve lost one of the
great ones and we’re all poorer for it.
[1] D.
Aitkenhead, 2010, Robin Williams: ‘I was shameful, did stuff that caused disgust
– that’s hard to recover from’, http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/20/robin-williams-worlds-greatest-dad-alcohol-drugs
[2] N.
Allen et al, 2014, Robin Williams had ‘serious money troubles’ before his
death, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11029799/Robin-Williams-had-serious-money-troubles-before-his-death.html
[3]
Ibid
[4]
Ibid
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