On August 11, 2014, Robin Williams died by suicide in Paradise Cay, California. An autopsy later showed that he had Lewy body dementia — a debilitating brain disease.
Robin Williams/InstagramThree weeks before Robin Williams’ death by suicide inside his California home on August 11, 2014, he posted this photo on Instagram to celebrate his 63rd birthday. It was the last picture he’d ever share with his fans before his tragic death.
On August 11, 2014, Robin Williams died in his home in Paradise Cay, California. The actor was discovered with a belt around his neck, and investigators later found cuts on his left wrist. Tragically, it was soon confirmed that Robin Williams died by suicide at the age of 63.
Up until that point, Williams had spent nearly his whole life making people laugh. A talented comedian and Academy Award-winning actor, he was highly respected among his peers and cherished by his millions of fans.
But despite his happy-go-lucky persona, Robin Williams struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction early on in his career. And later on in his life, he would grapple with mental health issues and physical ailments.
Still, many of his family members, friends, and fans were stunned by his sudden demise — and desperate for answers. How did Robin Williams die? Why did Robin Williams take his life? Tragic truths would soon emerge.
This is the heartbreaking story of Robin Williams’ death and the terrifying disease known as Lewy body dementia that helps explain his suicide.
The Hidden Struggle That Preceded Robin Williams’ Death
Robin Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 21, 1951. The son of an executive for the Ford Motor Company and a former fashion model, Williams was eager to entertain at an early age. From family members to classmates, the future comedian simply wanted to make everyone laugh.
When he was a teenager, his family relocated to California. Williams would go on to attend Claremont Men’s College and College of Marin before briefly moving to New York City to attend Juilliard School.
Robin Williams soon went back to California to give the comedy world a try — and created a popular stand-up act in the 1970s. Around the same time, he started appearing in numerous TV shows like Mork & Mindy.
But it was in 1980 that Williams would make his big-screen debut in the movie Popeye as the titular character. From there, he starred in a number of successful films, including Good Morning Vietnam and Dead Poets Society. All the while, he continued to wow people with his comedic skills.
For decades, Robin Williams lit up the big screen with his smile. But under the surface, he struggled with personal demons. In the 1970s and ’80s, Williams developed an addiction to cocaine. He only quit when his friend John Belushi died of an overdose — after partying with him the night before.
Though he never touched cocaine again after Belushi’s death, he began to drink heavily in the early 2000s, which led to him spending time in rehab. All the while, Williams also battled depression. Despite the ongoing success in his professional life, his personal life was full of ups and downs.
Still, it seemed like Williams could bounce back from any setback. And by the early 2010s, it looked like his darkest days were far behind him. But then, he received a heartbreaking diagnosis from his doctor.
How Did Robin Williams Die?
Three months before his death in 2014, Robin Williams was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He shared the news with his wife Susan Schneider Williams and his three children (from his two previous marriages). However, he wasn’t ready to share the diagnosis with the public quite yet, so his loved ones agreed to keep his condition private for the time being.
But in the meantime, Robin Williams struggled to understand why he was feeling paranoid, anxious, and depressed. He didn’t feel like the Parkinson’s diagnosis adequately explained those issues. So he and his wife planned to go to a neurocognitive testing facility to see if there was something else going on. But tragically, he would never make it there.
On the night before his death, Robin Williams seemed like he was in a peaceful mood. As Susan Schneider Williams later explained, he was busy with an iPad and appeared to be “getting better.” The last time Susan saw her husband alive was around 10:30 p.m., just before she went to sleep.
His last words that he said to her that night were: “Goodnight, my love… goodnight, goodnight.” At some point after that, he relocated to a different bedroom in the home, where he would breathe his last.
On August 11, 2014, Robin Williams was found dead by his personal assistant at 11:45 a.m. At that point, his wife had left the house, thinking that her husband was asleep. But his assistant decided to pick the lock on the door.
Inside, Robin Williams had clearly died by suicide. Discovered in a seated position on the floor, he had used a belt to hang himself, with one end tied around his neck and the other end secured between a closet door and door frame in the bedroom. Police later noticed superficial cuts on his left wrist.
On a nearby chair, investigators found Williams’ iPad (which did not contain any information related to suicide or suicidal ideation), two different kinds of antidepressants, and a pocketknife with his blood on it — which he had apparently used to cut his wrist. Since he was clearly already gone, no efforts were made to revive him, and he was declared dead at 12:02 p.m.
There were no signs of foul play at the scene, and the only drugs in Williams’ system were caffeine, prescribed antidepressants, and levodopa — a medication used to treat Parkinson’s disease. An autopsy later confirmed that Robin Williams’ cause of death was suicide by asphyxia due to hanging.
His loved ones and fans were devastated when they learned how Robin Williams died. Meanwhile, his publicist put out a statement that he had been struggling with “severe depression” in recent times. So, many assumed that this was the main reason why Robin Williams took his life.
But only his autopsy would reveal the true culprit of his anguish. As it turned out, Williams had been misdiagnosed with Parkinson’s and had a different disease — which remains largely misunderstood to this day.
The Crippling Disease That Helps Explain Robin Williams’ Death
