# R.I.P. Robin Williams **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [August 11, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333 "2014-08-11T23:04:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/321 "2014-08-15T15:44:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > **BrainGlutton** didn’t say “it’s time to go.” He said “maybe it was time and he knew it,” and somehow this contradicts the idea of his death being “a mistake.” I don’t know what that is supposed to mean, which is why I asked him to explain. Maybe he meant what you were saying, but I can’t tell. **not moderating, but explaining depression** “it’s time” can be the mantra just the same. I know exactly what BrainGlutton is talking about and you are blessed that you are just curious and perplexed. Depression is looking the second law of thermodynamics directly in its void of all-consuming chaos, knowing its inexorable pull, and moving on for just another day, never forgetting it is there. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/322 "2014-08-15T15:50:31Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > **not moderating, but explaining depression** > > “it’s time” can be the mantra just the same. I know exactly what BrainGlutton is talking about and you are blessed that you are just curious and perplexed. Depression is looking the second law of thermodynamics directly in its void of all-consuming chaos, knowing its inexorable pull, and moving on for just another day, never forgetting it is there. I put the Moderating tag there by accident, so please disregard it. And I don’t know if that’s what **BrainGlutton** is saying. He can explain himself, but there’s no sense in you and I arguing about it. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/323 "2014-08-17T02:41:13Z")
I heard a joke once: man goes to a doctor, says he’s depressed. Says life is harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world. Doctor says,“Treatment is simple. The great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go see him. That should pick you right up.” Man bursts into tears. He says,“But doctor…I _am_ Pagliacci.” Some joke, huh? -_Rorschach of The Watchmen_ ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/324 "2014-08-17T03:16:26Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > I heard a joke once: man goes to a doctor, says he’s depressed. Says life is harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world. Doctor says,“Treatment is simple. The great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go see him. That should pick you right up.” Man bursts into tears. He says,“But doctor…I _am_ Pagliacci.” > > Some joke, huh? > > -_Rorschach of The Watchmen_ Dude, that joke H&S already been told, like, twice in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/325 "2014-08-17T13:21:12Z")
Shit. Well, apropos, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/326 "2014-08-17T14:43:51Z")
I wrote this 7 months before he died. Doubt he read it; its arrogant as hell to think anything we write here is seen by anyone who doesn’t post. That said… > [@The Famous People Thank You Thread...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-famous-people-thank-you-thread/677749/1): > > **The Famous People Thank You Thread** > > …for people who really don’t ever get thanked enough; for people who should have every restaurant meal comp’d for the rest of their lives, But Don’t: > > Look, if life was Fair they would… but if life was Fair, 2 Carnies would have dragged me out & beaten the living Hell out of me long before now. > > I’d like to start: > Dear Robin Williams, > > Thank You, you Magnificent Son-of-a-Bitch! Thank you for making me realize that thinking fast and trying to be funny, with a lot of practice, can sometimes work. Thank you for letting your passion loose with your thoughts > and for being brave enough to share that with us. Thank You for smiling even when your characters lose; it almost made me feel like I fit in inside. > > Thank You for making movies that were funny & using that to make movies that were Serious and Amazing. Thank you for showing that even the smartest guy in the room can have his guts ripped out from the inside when > you think with your heart. And Thank You Most of All for showing the world the class of taking it all, all the crap people dump daily, in stride. > > A fist-bump & a nod from the Anonymous Internet; I’m no one you will ever know, I’m nobody you will ever meet. Its just the only way I have of saying Thank You! > > Sometimes that’s not that Horrible. (I Hope) [Cite](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=711969) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/327 "2014-08-20T03:37:20Z")
I missed the window to comment right away. Then it was sinking in. Then I figured I had nothing to say because everyone else had already said it. But the quantity of tributes made me remember this: “A heart is not judged by how much you love. but by how much you are loved by others.” I wish he could have kept that in mind. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/328 "2014-08-20T17:34:03Z")
Fun Fact: Did you know Robin Williams [consorted with demons](http://wonkette.com/557328/robin-williams-probably-consorted-with-demons-says-wnd-in-touching-memorial-ad)? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/329 "2014-08-20T17:35:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Fun Fact: Did you know Robin Williams [consorted with demons](http://wonkette.com/557328/robin-williams-probably-consorted-with-demons-says-wnd-in-touching-memorial-ad)? About your last post… what were you saying? > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Let’s not exclude the possibility: Maybe Robin did not even make a mistake. Maybe it was time and he knew it. > [@Marley23](#): > > I’m going to ask you what this means. I’m not sure I should do that given some of the hijacks and inflammatory remarks in this thread, but just for the hell of it- what does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/330 "2014-08-20T17:58:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m going to ask you what this means. I’m not sure I should do that given some of the hijacks and inflammatory remarks in this thread, but just for the hell of it- what does that mean? It means that I think suicide is sometimes a good idea, at least for the suicide. I’d probably do the same if diagnosed with Parkinson’s. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/331 "2014-08-21T18:22:14Z")
Word has come out that Blizzard Entertainment will honor Robin Williams with a character in their next World of Warcraft expansion who will be called Robin the Entertainer. > [@](#): > > After Robin Williams’ death last week, a handful of grassroots campaigns cropped up as fans lobbied game studios to pay tribute to the comedian—and longtime video game fan—with a special character in a future release. Nintendo responded to one fan petition with a gracious tribute to Williams while declining to say whether the company plans to put a Williams character in the next Zelda sequel. But Blizzard, the studio that makes World Of Warcraft, did agree to honor Williams with an in-game presence. And it appears that Blizzard’s designers got straight to work on it: The WOW fan site Wowhead dug through the latest beta for an upcoming WOW expansion, Warlords Of Draenor, and discovered avatars for three characters billed as “Robin The Entertainer,” all of which reference famous roles from Williams’ career. > > One Robin, seen above, is a musclebound blue djinn, an unmistakable nod to Williams’ turn as the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin. (It’s a likeness almost as striking as Erik Adams’ old Halloween costume.) > > Another Robin is a gray-haired woman, presumably referencing the title role in Mrs. Doubtfire > > And the suspenders on a third Robin make this avatar a visual echo of the TV role that launched Williams’ career, Mork & Mindy’s Mork from Ork. [Article](http://www.avclub.com/article/heres-what-world-warcrafts-robin-williams-characte-208404?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=feeds) (with pics). ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/332 "2014-08-21T20:24:27Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > It means that I think suicide is sometimes a good idea, at least for the suicide. I’d probably do the same if diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Wow. Nobody is saying that William’s death was an accident, it was a deliberate act. But it was his time? I can’t respond in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/333 "2014-08-26T13:34:50Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Joel McHale mentioned him the other night on the Soup, which is now a live show. He said he had the chance to meet Robin Williams years ago and he that every single nice thing said about him…is absolutely true. Joel said that while people tell you to “never meet your heroes”, this was one time where that was not true. Williams lived up to every expectation and was a great guy. I haven’t read this thread in a while (explanation below) so I don’t remember if this was posted. Norm MacDonald’s [remembrance](http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/12/5995383/norm-macdonald-tweeted-our-favorite-robin-williams-remembrance-to-date) in tweet form. I’m bumping this thread because yesterday I listened to Marc Maron’s WTF podcast in which he interviewed Robin Williams. He reposted the interview from 2010. I suggest everyone who was even a casual fan listen to it. In it he is not the manic performer that you would see on Letterman. It was a normal conversation filled with insight and humor. It gave a really good sense of what he was like as a person. The one chilling part is when Williams talked about a brief moment when he thought of suicide while drunk. He went through the entire inner monologue he was thinking at the time. It is worth the time to seek out. Here is a brief article about the interview. [Robin Williams on WTF with Marc Maron: a powerful interview that changed how I thought about the comic.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/08/12/robin_williams_on_wtf_with_marc_maron_a_powerful_interview_that_changed.html) ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/334 "2014-08-26T14:14:31Z")
Beautiful Billy Crystal and tribute to RW last night on the Emmy Awards. I cried. [link](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/robin-williams-honored-emotional-emmy-tribute-article-1.1916760) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/335 "2014-08-26T14:35:25Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Wow. > > Nobody is saying that William’s death was an accident, it was a deliberate act. But it was his time? > > I can’t respond in this forum. I think what **BG** is saying is that Mr. Williams saw himself in a death spiral and decided to take the easy way out instead. Or maybe he’s conflating Mr. Williams with Mr. Carradine. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/336 "2014-11-12T03:11:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Robin Williams’ suicide was triggered by a horrible disease called Lewy Body Dementia … sources connected with his family tell TMZ. > > TMZ has obtained documents showing Williams was struggling with the disease, which is marked by abnormal protein deposits in the brain that disrupt normal function. > > Lewy Body Dementia is a condition commonly associated with Parkinson’s … and people afflicted by both often get severe side effects from Parkinson’s meds. Hallucinations are common, where patients see phantom objects, people or animals. The patients often try to converse with the illusions. > **[Robin Williams -- Dementia Hallucinations Triggered Suicide](https://www.tmz.com/2014/11/11/robin-williams-dementia-lewy-body-parkinsons-suicide-death/)** > > Robin Williams' suicide was triggered by a horrible disease called Lewy Body Dementia ... sources connected with his family tell TMZ. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/337 "2014-11-12T03:17:42Z")
It seems to me that Robin Williams made a career out of conversing with illusions. ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/338 "2014-11-12T22:23:13Z")
Without the release of a suicide note, we’ll never truly know what made him do it, but he had plenty of reasons to feel depressed, not least of which was the two divorces and the endless critical panning of his last dozen films and his failed TV show. You add the Parkinson’s Disease and a history of anxiety, depression, alcoholism, likely mixed with some anti-depressants, and then his money situation–yeah, I could see people committing suicide. People kill themselves for far more frivolous reasons, too. A lot of comics still held a grudge against him for joke thievery which is unpardonable in the stand-up world, but at the same time there are those who praise him for his humanitarian work. I think it all balances out in the end. Very often, people in the moment of killing themselves are disrupted by another person, or some event that stays their hand, and they never get that close to it again. In this case I’m pretty sure he knew exactly what he was doing. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/339 "2014-11-12T22:32:38Z")
I think Tom Paxton summed it up simply in the chorus to his song “Phil,” a tribute to his friend musician Phil Ochs, who also hanged himself: I know I’m going to spend the rest of my lifetime a-wondering why You found yourself so badly hurt you had to die. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333/340 "2014-11-12T22:38:57Z")
Does anybody know if substance abuse causes or hastens Lewy Body Dementia? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-robin-williams/695333.md?page=18)