MARIN COUNTY, California — Robin Williams was struggling with early stages of Parkinson’s Disease when he died, his wife said Thursday. The actor’s “sobriety was intact,” she said.
“Robin spent so much of his life helping others. Whether he was entertaining millions on stage, film or television, our troops on the frontlines or comforting a sick child — Robin wanted us to laugh and to feel less afraid,” Williams’ wife Susan Schneider wrote in a statement released Thursday. “Since his passing, all of us who loved Robin have found some solace in the tremendous outpouring of affection and admiration for him from the millions of people whose lives he touched. His greatest legacy, besides his three children, is the joy and happiness he offered to others, particularly to those fighting personal battles.”
Williams had been active as an actor in the last year of his life, performing in a CBS sitcom that was canceled earlier this year and acting in four films that have yet to hit theaters.
He spent time in a treatment facility in July, a time when his wife and representative have said he was battling depression.
Williams entered rehab because of drug and alcohol addiction at least twice previously.
Media reports at the time speculated that Williams had resumed drinking alcohol, but the statement from his wife appears to dispute those reports.
“Robin’s sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression, anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson’s Disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly,” she said. “It is our hope in the wake of Robin’s tragic passing, that others will find the strength to seek the care and support they need to treat whatever battles they are facing so they may feel less afraid.”
