Robin Williams has died – suicide suspected

This is shocking, terrible news.

Oscar winning actor Robin Williams is dead at the age of 63 of an apparent suicide.

He was found just before noon at his home in Marin County, California.

An Oscar winner for Good Will Hunting who became a star on TV’s Mork & Mindy in the late 1970s, Williams had been battling severe depression and had recently been in rehab.

His spokeswoman Mara Buxbaum said in a statement: ‘Robin Williams passed away this morning. He has been battling severe depression of late. This is a tragic and sudden loss. The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time.’

One of his last roles was that of a gay man finally coming to terms with his sexuality in the film Boulevard which screened last month at the Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles.

I saw the film and it is one of his most restrained and effective performances on film. Williams was the only main cast member not at the screening and it seems clear now why.

In the film, his character begins an unsettling relationship with a young hustler and his safe existence with his wife (Kathy Baker) is rocked to its foundation.

Williams had also played a gay man opposite Nathan Lane in the box office smash The Birdcage.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office Coroner Division received a 9-1-1 call just before noon that Williams was found unconscious and not breathing. He was pronounced dead at 12:02 pm.

He had last been seen alive at 10 pm the night before. Authorities suspect the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia.

Williams returned to series television last fall in the CBS comedy The Crazy Ones which was not renewed for a second season. It was his first regular sitcom since Mork & Mindy.

His film roles included Mrs. Doubtfire, The World According to Garp, Popeye, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, One Hour Photo, Patch Adams and Night at the Museum.