With all courage, the wife of the late American comedian Robin Williams reveals the last months before his death in a new documentary entitled "Robin's Wish", and how mental illness caused his death by suicide in his home on August 11, 2014 at the age of 63 years.
In one of Williams' most important roles in "Good Will Hunting", for which he won the only Academy Award of his career, Williams played Sean Maguire, a psychotherapist who showed his prowess in helping Will Hunting to understand himself and get out of a complex psychological crisis. But in real life, it seems like Williams couldn't help himself.
His death was heartbreaking for his fans around the world, as no one imagined that this cheerful and gentle spirit that we loved in many films, including "Mrs. Doubtfire", "Aladdin", and "The Society of Dead Poets" (Dead Poets Society), its end will be suicide.
View this post on Instagram
Robin Williams was one of my favorite actors / comedians to watch on screen growing up.
He has been in so many movies that I've seen and there isn't one role where he falls flat.
He's truly one of a kind.
RIP Robin Williams and Happy Birthday đ
A post shared by Robin Williams (@robinwilliams) on Jul 21, 2019 at 1:12 pm PDT
Hidden fights
For the first time since Williams' death, the new documentary reveals the difficult last years of his life, and features interviews with some of his close associates, such as director Shawn Levy, producer John Montgomery, writer and producer David E. Kelly, and of course in the lead, his wife Susan.
"Robin's Desire" delves into the details of "Lewy body dementia" that afflicted Williams, a disease that affects the brain cells responsible for thinking, behavior and movement, and led to his depression years after his appearance, but it was not discovered until after his death and an autopsy.
He narrates the suffering of Williams in his career during his last work, including the movie "Night at the Museum", which was shown three months after his death, so he began to forget his phrases during filming and stutter during the conversation, which caused his injury with great anxiety, and doubts about his abilities and performance .
View this post on Instagram
Still from @robinswishfilm of Robin and his director Shawn on the Night at the Museum 3 set #robinswish
A post shared by Robin's Wish (@robinswishfilm) on Aug 18, 2020 at 4:38 pm PDT
"For someone as talented as Robin, who put his heart and soul into his career, it was devastating for him to begin to lose his potential and watch his humanity slip through his fingers," Suzan says.
She continues that the disease developments reached his personal life as well, so he avoided meeting his friends or going to comedic shows, staying at home instead, and he suffered frequent panic attacks and disturbed his sleep.
His last days
Suzanne tells USA Today how Williams was fond of simple romantic gestures until his last days, and says that "Just two weeks before his death in 2014, Williams did not stop his surprises, I had to do some things in The Apple store (where they first met) and suddenly he came to me carrying flowers and surprised me, then said, 'Here is where it all began.'
His last days were not the worst, as Williams showed remarkable improvement just before his death. His wife says, "The night before his suicide, he wished me a quiet night and we planned to meditate together the next morning."
"After we changed some medications for Parkinson's disease and depression, he seemed to sleep better and showed more interest in reading, but it is clear that Robin's suicide was a result of a brain disease."
And she continued, "His brain was very damaged, Robin wanted to end the disease, he did not realize that this means that it will also end."
Robin's wish
Susan is now "56 years" working as a vice president of the American Brain Foundation, and a mental health advocate, despite the harshness of what she went through, and whose influence continues until she is not able to see any of his work until now, but she was able to use this pain in Helping those suffering from brain diseases.
She hopes that she will continue her late husband's mission to help others. She says, "Two years before his death, Robin and I were discussing what we want our legacy to be in life." And he said without thinking, "I want to relieve people from their feelings of fear." Then she continued. Robin's wish. "
The death of Williams affected his fans around the world, and it was a cry to everyone that mental illness can end the life of anyone, even if it was a comedy, and contributed to lifting the stigma on mental patients and the need to provide them with assistance.
As Williams said in his movie "Good Will Hunting,": You're going to go through tough times, but it will always alert you to things you didn't notice.