KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gruesome details have been released surrounding the death of actor and comedian Robin Williams. We are not reporting specific information about how he killed himself. We do know that the coroner is waiting on toxicology reports to see if Williams had drugs or alcohol in his system when he died.
We also know that Williams’ personal assistant found him in his San Francisco Bay area home Monday morning. His wife returned home later.
Local comedian David Naster has played at comedy clubs across the country and said he knows Robin Williams from the road.
“And so when I would go to the comedy store and hang out there, Robin would pop in to do his stuff,” Naster said. “He wanted attention, was manic.”
Reports are that Williams suffered from depression and was bi-polar. He also struggled with substance abuse. Naster said he has experience some of the same issues and knows other comedians who have too, including good friends Rosanne Barr and Richard Jeni, who also took his life. Naster says the mania sometimes works.
“When you are creating, you are grabbing from out there, grabbing from out there from where people don’t go,” Naster said. “They don’t want to go, they are too scared to go there, and I love it out there, it’s great.”
Naster calls comedians, including himself, egomaniacs with inferiority complexes.
“And you are always battling that but while you are doing it, you are on top of the world, it’s a blast.”
Which sounds a lot like bi-polar disease, says Susan Crain Lewis, President of Mental Health America.
“Individuals with mental illness tend to be above average intelligence and often their mental illness makes them very creative individuals.”
While Lewis stopped short of saying entertainers have a higher than normal propensity for mental illness, she did say it is a field where some people with mental health issues, like bi-polar, can thrive.
“If you can get yourself into a field like entertainment, like comedy where that is embraced, that can really be a huge asset,” she said. “And simultaneously ended up with passion and work that fit that piece of who they are — a person who has a mental illness.”
If you or a loved one suffers from depression or have suicidal thoughts, there is help available. Visit fox4kc.com/youmatter for more information.
