Robin Williams’ widow sets the record straight about his death
<p>Susan Schneider Williams who is the widow of the late Robin Williams, has spoken in a rare interview to clear up the number of “misunderstandings” about her late husband’s death.</p>
<p>Williams, a veteran actor, took his own life in 2014 when he was 63.</p>
<p>Soon after his death, it was revealed the star was battling a degenerative condition, Lewy Body Dementia.</p>
<p>Susan revealed she had only learnt about her husband’s diagnosis after his death.</p>
<p>Speaking to the<em><span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/01/robin-williamss-widow-there-were-so-many-misunderstandings-about-what-had-happened-to-him" target="_blank" title="www.theguardian.com">Guardian</a></em>, she said: “The doctors said to me after the autopsy: ‘Are you surprised that your husband had Lewy bodies throughout his entire brain and brain stem?’</p>
<p>“I didn’t even know what Lewy bodies were, but I said: ‘No, I’m not surprised.’ The fact that something had infiltrated every part of my husband’s brain? That made perfect sense.”</p>
<p>Susan is to be a part of the new documentary,<span> </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-deaths/robin-williams-tragic-final-days-laid-barre-in-upcoming-documentary-robins-wish/news-story/9d55f0da55fac9d1cf38abe4796e5085" target="_blank" title="www.news.com.au">Robin’s Wish</a></em>, which will follow the actor’s last few days before his death, as well as his disease. </p>
<p>“If my husband weren’t famous I would not have put myself through this,” she said.</p>
<p>“But there were so many misunderstandings out there about what had happened to him, and about Lewy bodies. So this felt like the right thing to do.”</p>
<p>In another conversation with<span> </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://ew.com/movies/robins-wish-exclusive-trailer-robin-williams-doc/" target="_blank" title="ew.com">Entertainment Weekly</a></em>, Susan revealed how working on the film that honoured her husband, helped her understand the condition that took over him towards the end of his life.</p>
<p>“Armed with the name of a brain disease I’d never heard of, I set out on a mission to understand it, and that led me down my unchosen path of advocacy.</p>
<p>“With invaluable help from leading medical experts, I saw that what Robin and I had gone through, finally made sense — our experience matched up with the science.”</p>
<p><em>Robin’s Wish</em><span> </span>documents the actor’s final days as his worsening condition alarmed loved ones and colleagues.</p>
<p>Friends and family say Williams’ behaviour began to deteriorate two years before his death.</p>
<p>“I would say a month into the shoot (of<span> </span><em>Night at the Museum 3</em>), it was clear to me — it was clear to all of us — that something was going on with Robin,” director Shawn Levy said in the doco.</p>
<p>“That’s an experience I’ve not spoken about publicly ever. We saw that Robin was struggling in a way that he hadn’t before to remember lines and to combine the right words with the performance.”</p>
<p>Comedian and close friend to Robin Rick Overton says that Williams began to skip his regular stand-up gigs at his regular venue of choice, the Throckmorton Theatre.</p>
<p>“There were a couple of shows where I was expecting Robin to be there and he didn’t make it, for one reason or another,” Overton says.</p>
<p>His neighbour John Hepper says he would see Williams out on walks with his dog and became concerned about the actor’s rapidly changing physique.</p>
<p>“His ribs were actually showing (through his T-shirt),” Hepper says in<span> </span><em>Robin’s Wish</em>. “I grabbed his skin. ‘Robin, you’re really getting thin.’</p>
<p>“He said, ‘Yeah, boss, I’ve gone to the doctor, but they don’t know what it is.’”</p>
<p>The night of Williams’ death, his neighbour Hepper spotted him outside with his dog.</p>
<p>“Boss, I really need a hug,” he remembers Williams saying.</p>
<p>“So, I gave him a hug, and he started to cry.” Hepper put his arm around the actor’s shoulder and spoke in depth with him for 15 minutes.</p>
<p>“He talked about family, and what was going on in his life and some things I think he felt that I would keep private,” he says.</p>
<p>It was revealed that on the beloved star’s last night before his death, he had told his wife “Goodnight, my love” before shuffling to his office with his iPad in hand.</p>
<p>Susan recalled being thrilled that her husband had seemed to pick up reading again.</p>
<p>The next morning, when Williams’ assistant tried to enter his office, she found the door was locked and quickly texted Susan: “He’s not up. What should I do?”</p>
<p>Susan knew he was gone.</p>
<p>The police would later find Williams – a loving husband, a devoted father, a faithful friend and one of the world’s most critically acclaimed actors – dead with no note.</p>
<p>He left behind three children, Zachary, 37, Zelda, 31, and Cody, 29.</p>
