Robin Williams Dead of Apparent Suicide at 63

View photo

.

Robin Williams, the manic comic who morphed from TV's Mork from Ork to Oscar-winning glory, is dead of an apparent suicide. He was 63.

Emergency personnel were called to Williams's home in Tiburon, California, at 11:55 a.m. local time, per the Marin County Sheriff's Office.

Williams was found unconscious and pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities are investigating the death, and an autopsy is forthcoming, but initial evidence points to "a suicide due to asphyxia," according to Marin Sheriff's Lt. Keith Boyd.

In a brief statement, publicist Mara Buxbaum said Williams had 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."

"This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend," said Williams's wife, Susan Schneider.

"While the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken. On behalf of Robin's family, we are asking for privacy during our time of profound grief. 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."

In July, Williams entered rehab for the second time, but not because of a relapse.

"After working back-to-back projects, Robin is simply taking the opportunity to fine-tune and focus on his continued commitment, of which he remains extremely proud," a rep for the actor said at the time.

Williams reportedly spent a few weeks at Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center in Minnesota.

The actor spoke publicly about his battle with substance abuse. In 2006, he sought treatment for alcoholism after 20 years of sobriety. A rep for the actor said in a statement that Robin "found himself drinking again and has decided to take proactive measures to deal with this for his own well-being and the well-being of his family."

During an interview with Good Morning America months later, Williams explained that falling back into alcohol abuse was "very gradual."

"It's the same voice thought that… you're standing at a precipice and you look down, there's a voice and it's a little quiet voice that goes, 'Jump,'" Williams told Diane Sawyer. "The same voice that goes, 'Just one.' … And the idea of just one for someone who has no tolerance for it, that's not the possibility."

When asked why he relapsed, Robin answered: "It's [addiction] — not caused by anything, it's just there… It waits. It lays in wait for the time when you think, 'It's fine now, I'm OK.' Then, the next thing you know, it's not OK. Then you realize, 'Where am I? I didn't realize I was in Cleveland.'"

The actor admitted he also struggled with cocaine abuse in the early 1980s while starring in the sitcom Mork and Mindy, but quit cold turkey after his friend John Belushi's fatal overdose in 1982.

"Cocaine for me was a place to hide," Williams told People in 1988. "Most people get hyper on coke. It slowed me down. Sometimes it made me paranoid and impotent, but mostly it just made me withdrawn. And I was so crazy back then — working all day, partying most of the night — I needed an excuse not to talk. I needed quiet times and I used coke to get them."

Williams, whose career highlights also included Emmys, Grammys, Golden Globes, and the Mark Twain Award for American Humor, is survived by Schneider and three adult children, daughter Zelda, and sons Zachary, 31, and Cody, 22.

In his final tweet and Instagram post on July 31, Robins wished his daughter a happy 25th birthday: "#tbt and Happy Birthday to Ms. Zelda Rae Williams! Quarter of a century old today but always my baby girl. Happy Birthday @zeldawilliams Love you!"