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Robin Williams strange journey into obliviion.

posted 5 years ago by exithereplease (3553)
26 replies | jump to latest

Great actor. Great Stand Comedian.

But there was a gradual slow decline.

From out of nowhere he exploded in the 70's with the TV series, "Mork and Mindy".

Then came the 80's with great films like "Morning Out Of Vietnam", "Dead Poet Society".

And the 90's with box office hits like, "Awakenings, "Hook", "Mrs. Doubfire", "The Birdcage" and "Jumanji".

At one point outside of Tom Hanks he was the biggest movie star on the planet (1994 or 1995) and the definite true talk show king.

Then it was a gradual slow downfall at about the same time Jim Carrey came about around 1994.

Big budget flops like "Flubber" (97) and "Bicentennial Man" (99) in between an Oscar winning role in "Good Will Hunting" from 1997 apparently did no good.

Slowly, his films got grossed less and less and when the 2000's came around he starred in supporting roles that eventually led to straight to video releases.

And in the 2010's...a failed single season television series nestled in one of the best time slots on television.

But that to failed.

It must have been a blow to any ego who was once among the biggest box office stars on the planet.

[–] kuku (3510) 5 years ago

It must have been a blow to any ego who was once among the biggest box office stars on the planet.

I doubt he cared about that. More than anything, since he had much bigger problems.

The alimonies he had to pay to his (several) ex-wives was decided when he was a big star, and it wasn't changed after the decline in his career. When he killed himself, his only option to avoid jail was to keep working non-stop in whatever he was offered to just pay alimonies, and even though, it was not enough, he was running out of money.

In a nutshell, he had to keep working until his death, he couldn't retire without risking going to jail or homeless. A blow to his ego? I think he would have wished that was the problem.

[–] exithereplease (3553) 5 years ago

A blow to his ego? I think he would have wished that was the problem.

I think that WAS his problem.

He savored every moment of ascendancy. And he deserved every little bit of it.

I doubt marriage problems with his third wife and alimony payments had anything to do with his suicide.

He was a workaholic.

[–] kuku (3510) 5 years ago

A blow to his ego? I think that WAS his problem. I doubt his third wife and his problems with marriage had anything to do with his suicide.

With all due respect, that's utter bullshit.

I've been in the edge of going homeless. If you never been there, you have no fucking idea what that means. Any 'ego' issue just become irrelevant the moment you're running out of money.

[–] exithereplease (3553) 5 years ago

I'm glad you turned your life around.

But of course it's his ego!

Robin Williams wasn't going homeless. LOL He was worth anywhere from 50 million!!

From 2019 article:

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/robin-williams-net-worth-how-he-gave-to-his-children.html/

FROM THE LA TIMES:

The comedian's third wife also got emotional describing her reaction to the dispute over an estate said to be worth $100 million.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-robin-williams-widow-lawsuit-susan-williams-20151104-htmlstory.html

[–] bohemianroxie (2478) 5 years ago

True...Robin Williams came from a well to do family and then made mega millions of his own.
I think he loved working and the decline in his health and his career is what he couldn't live with. His prized possession; his mind, was going. The ultimate.
Most people would have a problem with that much less someone that had depended on it all their life.

[–] exithereplease (3553) 5 years ago

Yikes...

If he was the biggest box office star on the planet in 2019, he'd still be alive.

[–] bohemianroxie (2478) 5 years ago

What are you blathering on about?
Of course he would be...but that isn't what happened..Everyone's career declines and that's even without the mental deterioration that Robin was experiencing.

[–] exithereplease (3553) 5 years ago

...so it WAS his career then?

thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFS2i0Nwthw

Mind looks pretty good here in 2013, unless he has some magical drug...

It was his failed box office performances. Of being the a top star in Hollywood among the BIGGEST HITS of the year.

And then F.A.I.L

The decade drug on...

And then another decade...

He savored every moment of ascendancy. And he deserved every little bit of it.

...

At one point outside of Tom Hanks he was the biggest movie star on the planet (1994 or 1995) and the definite true talk show king.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFS2i0Nwthw

And don't dismiss his brain or body...that's junk. See his 2013 interview with Letterman. He killed it!

Slowly, his films got grossed less and less and when the 2000's came around he starred in supporting roles that eventually led to straight to video releases.

[–] bohemianroxie (2478) 5 years ago

You do know Robin was diagnosed with Parkinson disease before he died, right?
He recognized his own decline and feared it worsening.
It wasn't until his death that they discovered he had Lewy body dementia.

So it doesn't matter what you think but it's obvious he felt the signs of it and knew what was coming. It doesn't get better.
If you've never witnessed the decline of someone with any sort of dementia then you can't know how debilitating and heart breaking that can be. And Robin could not live with it.
I get that ...and that's what made him commit suicide.
The decline of any career is so common it's hard to understand why anyone questions it. It happens to everyone but a sparkly few.

[–] exithereplease (3553) 5 years ago

Nonsense.

It's his career.

Did you not see his interview with Letterman a year before he died?

Yes. My grandmother died of dementia (Alzheimer) and it sucked.

She once called me her son in the nursing home visit.

It was weird. I was 12. She was 89.

[–] bohemianroxie (2478) 5 years ago

What's your deal?
You just want to argue for the sake of arguing?
I've already said what I think.

My mother had dementia a few years ago and she wasn't at a home but at my home and I was an adult.
It's the end of all ends. It's worse than death.

[–] kuku (3510) 5 years ago

Robin Williams wasn't going homeless. LOL He was worth anywhere from 50 million!!

This is one of his ex-wives, the one that was waitress and nanny

https://www.celebworth.net/2019/02/how-much-money-does-marsha-garces.html

She made $10 millions per year. I don't think she made that working as a waitress, which means the income was mostly from Williams. He was paying to her several million per year. And he had two more ex-wives. A $50 million net would give him 4-5 years until running out of money and going to jail.

Unless he was willing to accept every role to pay the bills. That¡s no retirement. He just decided to go out in his own terms.

[–] exithereplease (3553) 5 years ago

Oh okay, so the L.A times and the NY TIMES and USA TODAY are all wrong.

All the judges and endless jury's all lied.

Robin Williams was apparently broke.

LOL

https://www.google.com/search?ei=PrjSXcfxB7XE0PEP25SM4A4&q=robin+williams+net+worth

[–] kuku (3510) 5 years ago

Oh okay, so the L.A times and the NY TIMES and USA TODAY are all wrong. All the judges and endless jury's all lied. Robin Williams was apparently broke.

Don't assign to me words I haven't said.

I didn't say he was broke. I said he would have run out of money in a few years. Instead of that, he killed himself and left all that money to his offspring.

Of course, you could argue that the money paid to his ex-wives would go to his offspring eventually. But it seems that the ex-wives were enjoying quite an expensive standard of living, so by the time they would have inherited, most of that money would be gone.

He decided to kill himself so he could leave that money to his children, before running out of money in a few years.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I think the reasons you gave along with having a debilitating illness that was only going to get worse over time were what brought him to suicidal depression.

He was in a hopeless situation.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

All you people act like you're discussing politics lol

[–] exithereplease (3553) 5 years ago

Take you Trump and shove it lol

[–] exithereplease (3553) 5 years ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20150704001838/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=robinwilliams.htm&sort=gross&order=DESC&p=.htm

OT: WTF happened to BOXOFFICEMOJO?

Here's a webarchive flash back from October before the site got gobbled up by the bloody jaws of Amazon.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Oblivion? Hardly. Careers have peaks but Williams’ peaks include some of the most beloved and iconic films ever made. He was never in oblivion. Other older actors have turned to character roles and light comedies in the latter part of their careers: DeNiro, Hoffman, Streep to name a few. Doesn’t lessen their greatest work or preclude them from stepping back into a serious role when one comes along.

Perhaps a few flops and an overall career shift into less illustrious projects was something that bothered him deeply, as well as all his other burdens: ex wives, failing health, aging. When it comes to suicide, the answer is usually “all of the above and then some.”

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

With the benefit of hindsight I think there was always a depression issue there. I watched a documentary on him a couple of years ago and there were moments where the mania stops an he becomes rather quiet and sullen. I think that is why the mania existed in the first place it was a distraction from his own thoughts and feelings like he was trying to run away from something.

Not to mention his drug abuse and addictions.

Some may disagree here and it is subjective of course but many of his films weren't that good and some of them were rather depressing as well. I am not sure though if those failures are really what pushed him to suicide, in fact I don't think it was a matter of being "pushed". I would say it was a gradual process over decades, I doubt he just woke up on morning and for the first time in his life he thought about suicide. More like he decided one day that today was the day.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

This happens to most actors as they age. I think he had bigger issues going on.

[–] Quasimodo (16388) 5 years ago

This is what happens when you shove half of Colombia up your nose and have a good go at draining a Great Lakes worth of alcohol...

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14411) 5 years ago

You can blame Lewy Body Syndrome on this one. Williams didn't have a chance.