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Robin Williams, the comic and actor known for his fast delivery and improvisational humor, died at age 63 of suspected suicide.

He was pronounced dead yesterday at his home in Tiburon, California, according to a statement from the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, which listed asphyxia as the probable cause of death. Williams had been battling severe depression, according to a statement from his publicist, Mara Buxbaum.

Williams started as a stand-up comic and gained fame with the 1970s TV comedy “Mork & Mindy.” On film, he won an Academy Award for his supporting role as the therapist in the 1997 release “Good Will Hunting.” He was also nominated three times for Oscars for leading roles, for 1987’s “Good Morning, Vietnam” and later in “Dead Poets Society” and “The Fisher King.” He provided the voice of the wacky genie in the 1992 Walt Disney Co. animated feature “Aladdin.”

“This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings,” Williams’s widow, Susan Schneider, said in a statement. “I am utterly heartbroken.”

It was Williams’s ABC TV role as an alien who came to study Earth that launched his Hollywood career. He garnered a dozen Golden Globe nominations and won six times, including for playing Mork, from the planet Ork.

‘Happy Days’

The character first appeared in a 1978 episode of the series “Happy Days,” according to Imdb.com, before his own show began running later that year.

The actor also won two Emmy awards, in 1987 and 1988, for roles in variety shows. In all, he was nominated eight times for Emmys, including for “Mork & Mindy.”

Friends in Hollywood expressed their shock at word of Williams’s death.

“I could not be more stunned by the loss of Robin Williams,” fellow comedian Steve Martin said on Twitter. “Mensch, great talent, acting partner, genuine soul.”

Williams was known to make appearances at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley, near his home in Tiburon, where he would perform his standup routine and test new material.

He returned to television last year on CBS with “The Crazy Ones,” a series about an advertising agency that also featured Sarah Michelle Gellar and James Wolk. The network canceled the show in May at the end of its first season.

Marin County Communications received an emergency call at 11:55 a.m. local time yesterday concerning an unconscious man inside a home in Tiburon, according to the statement from the sheriff’s coroner division. The actor was pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m. He was last seen alive at his home at 10 p.m. on Aug. 10.

Belushi’s Death

Local authorities plan to conduct a comprehensive investigation before confirming the cause of death, according to the statement. A forensic examination is scheduled for today, with toxicology testing to be conducted later, the coroner said.

The coroner’s office plans a press conference today at 11 a.m. local time.

In addition to depression, Williams struggled with substance abuse, including an addiction to cocaine in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and alcoholism.

He was a friend of the late comic John Belushi and partied with him frequently. The death of his friend and the birth of his son led Williams to quit drugs, the actor said in a June 2001 taping of “Inside the Actors Studio.”

“Was it a wake-up call? Oh yeah, on a huge level. The grand jury helped too,” Williams said.
Mississippi Roots

On Aug. 9, 2006, Williams checked himself in to a rehab facility for treatment of alcoholism, according to a statement at the time from his publicist. In July, he entered a rehab facility in Minnesota for a program that reinforces sobriety, though he hadn’t suffered a relapse, the Los Angeles Times reported then, citing a representative.

Robin McLaurin Williams was born on July 21, 1951 in Chicago. He was a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator Anselm J. McLaurin, according to a bio at Imdb.com. Williams studied political science before entering the Juilliard School to study theater. After Juilliard, he performed in nightclubs.

Williams’ wild comic talent followed in the footsteps of his idol Jonathan Winters, according to Imdb. His movie roles ranged from “Popeye,” “Flubber” and the cross-dressing “Mrs. Doubtfire,” to dramatic roles such as “Awakenings,” in which he plays a neurologist who helps encephalitis patients recover their lost memory, and “Good Will Hunting.”

He had three projects in post-production, according to Imdb. He provides the voice of Dennis the Dog in the feature “Absolutely Anything” and reprises his role as Teddy Roosevelt in “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” scheduled for release on Dec. 19, according to Box Office Mojo.

In “Merry Friggin’ Christmas,” he plays a grandfather who embarks on an eight-hour road trip with his son, played by Joel McHale, to track down forgotten presents.

Williams was on the honorary board of Trips For Kids, a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit that provides local mountain bike outings and environmental education for disadvantaged kids. Other members include local actors and musicians Huey Lewis, Bob Weir, Peter Coyote and Carlos Santana.

Williams had three children, Zachary, Zelda and Cody, from two previous marriages, according to his publicist’s office. He and Schneider were wed in October 2011, US Weekly reported at the time.

“On behalf of Robin’s family, we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief,” Schneider said in the statement. “As he is remembered, it is our hope the focus will not be on Robin’s death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.”

Source : Bloomberg