The tributes to Robin Williams flow from around the world as stunned friends and family search for answers about why the comic legend would take his own life at home in California.
Investigators believe
Williams, 63, used a belt to hang himself from a bedroom door sometime
between late Sunday and when his personal assistant found him just
before noon Monday, according to Marin County Assistant Deputy Chief
Coroner Lt. Keith Boyd.
Boyd would not confirm or
deny whether Williams left behind a letter, saying that investigators
would discuss "the note or a note" later.
The coroner's investigation "revealed he had been seeking treatment for depression," Boyd told reporters.
"He has been battling
severe depression of late," Williams' media representative, Mara
Buxbaum, told CNN on Monday. "This is a tragic and sudden loss."
The autopsy completed
Tuesday morning showed "no indication of a struggle or physical
altercation," which was consistent with the death being a suicide, Boyd
said.
The personal assistant
found Williams "clothed in a seated position, unresponsive, and with a
belt secured around his neck with the other end of the belt wedged
between the closed closet door and door frame," he said.
Williams' left wrist had
cuts when he was found dead in a bedroom at his home, Boyd said. A
pocket knife was found near his body, and a red material consistent with
dried blood was found on the knife, Boyd said. He said tests will be
conducted to determine whether the substance is blood.
Williams was last seen
alive at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, by his wife, when she went to bed,
Boyd said. He apparently went into a bedroom at an unknown time after
that, and his wife left the home at about 10:30 a.m. Monday, believing
him to be asleep.
Williams' personal
assistant, concerned because he wasn't responding to knocks on his door,
entered the room and found him dead at about 11:45 a.m., Boyd said.
The actor made at least two trips to rehab for drug treatment, including a visit this summer, and he underwent heart surgery in 2009.
Williams married graphic designer Susan Schneider in a Napa Valley, California, ceremony in October 2011.
"I lost my husband and
my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and
beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken," Schneider said.
"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."
"Robin Williams was an
airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a
bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between," President Barack Obama
said in a statement. "But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives
as an alien -- but he ended up touching every element of the human
spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable
talent freely and generously to those who needed it most -- from our
troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets."
Williams on laughter in Heaven
Once on the TV program
"Inside the Actors Studio," Robin Williams was asked, "If Heaven exists,
what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly
gates?"
After a joke about a concert including Mozart and Elvis, he added, "to know that there's laughter."
On Tuesday, the morning
after Williams' death shocked the entertainment industry and his fans
around the world, someone who knew him well described the man behind the
legend.
"There had to be two
people in the room" with him, his friend Bob Zmuda told CNN's "New Day."
"Then you were an audience, and then he came alive."
But one-on-one, Zmuda
said, Williams "had no social skills. He couldn't handle it... I knew
this man for 35 years and yet it was like I was in an elevator with a
stranger."
Zmuda, a comedy writer,
created Comic Relief, a program that raised funds for those in need
through comedy. Williams hosted it, along with Billy Crystal and Whoopi
Goldberg.
"He was an amazingly
kind and generous person, and it's got to be a terrible time for his
family," comedian Andy Richter said Monday night on "Conan."
"He's truly one of the
all-time greats," said actor Will Arnett, who was a guest on the
program. "He was even better as a person. He was even more fantastic --
just the loveliest, sweetest, one-of-a kindest guys that I have ever
worked with." Arnett described Williams as "a soft, warm, emotionally
sweet guy."
Host Conan O'Brien
explained that the news broke while his show was being taped. "We are
thinking of Robin's family. We are thinking about everyone he touched
around the world through his life and we are thinking about Robin," he
said.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
played Williams' daughter in the CBS comedy "The Crazy Ones," which was
recently canceled after one season. She told People Magazine
that "to everyone he worked with, he was the best boss anyone had ever
known," and both an inspiration and father figure to her. "And to his
family, I thank them for letting us know him and seeing the joy they
brought him."
In character, Williams warned against suicide
"Riffing with Robin Williams was extremely invigorating -- and extremely exhausting," comic Gilbert Gottfried wrote in a column for CNN.com.
"I knew I had to be on my toes every second. And when we would actually
connect onstage, it was electric for me." Williams was "generous to his
fellow stand-up comedians," he said.
"I've known people who have committed suicide, and my shock always reveals how little I knew about them," Gottfried wrote.
In the 2009 film "World's Greatest Dad," Williams played a man named Lance Clayton -- and delivered a line now making the rounds online: "If you're that depressed, reach out to someone. And remember: Suicide is a permanent solution to temporary problems."
Marin County deputies
responded to an emergency call from Williams' home in unincorporated
Tiburon at 11:55 a.m. Monday, reporting "a male adult had been located
unconscious and not breathing," a news release from the sheriff said.
Williams was pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m.
From Julliard to 'Happy Days'
Born in Chicago on July
21, 1951, Williams studied theater at Juilliard School before taking his
stand-up act to nightclubs. He was cast as Mork, an alien visitor to
Earth, for a 1978 episode of television's "Happy Days."
"Happy Days" star Henry Winkler said he "realized I was in the presence of greatness" at Williams' first rehearsal as Mork.
"I just realized my only
job is to keep a straight face," said Winkler, who played "The Fonz."
"And it was impossible. Because no matter what you said to him, no
matter what line you gave to him, he took it in, processed it, and then
it flew out of his mouth, never the same way twice. And it was
incredibly funny every time."
It is "unimaginable that
this is the reality today, that this incredible human being,
incredible, delicate, funny, dramatic human being is gone," Winkler
said.
The role led to the spin-off show "Mork & Mindy," which showcased Williams' unusual comic improvisation talents.
He proved his dramatic acting skills in "Good Will Hunting," a 1997 film that earned him a best supporting actor Oscar.
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His memorable movies
over the past three decades include "Good Morning, Vietnam," "Dead Poets
Society," "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "The Birdcage."
Williams credited the
influence of Jonathan Winters' comic irreverence and quirky characters
as a great influence on his comedy. The connection between the two was
completed when Winters was cast as Williams' son on "Mork & Mindy."
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