Nathan Lane, Robin Williams, Gene Hackman and Diane Wiest in The Birdcage.
Robin Williams, 63, is dead of an apparent suicide. Marin County Sheriff’s Office officials have confirmed that the Oscar-winning actor was found just before noon at his home in Tiburon in Northern California.
TMZ reports that Williams is believed to have died of asphyxia, and notes that he had recently gone into rehab to “focus on his sobriety.” Williams battled alcohol and drug addiction in the 1980s but had been sober for 20 years.
Los Angeles Times reports note that Williams rose to fame in the 1980s as an alien wearing suspenders in the TV sitcom Mork and Mindy and was named the “funniest man alive” in 1997 by Entertainment Weekly. But it was his serious roles that won him critical acclaim: He won a best supporting actor Oscar for his performance as Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting in 1997 and was nominated for Oscars for his roles in The Fisher King in 1991, Dead Poets Society in 1989 and Good Morning, Vietnam in 1987.
LGBT fans also remember him for his role as Nathan Lane’s husband in The Birdcage in 1996 and a divorced father who dons old lady drag to get to spend time with his kids in Mrs. Doubtfire in 1993.
Susan Schneider, Williams’ wife, told TMZ: “This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken.”
