14 DAY TRIAL // Last August, one of Hollywood’s most beloved comedians, actor Robin Williams, took his own life after what was described in the media at the time as a long battle with depression. His daughter, Zelda, is now speaking out on her loss for the first time.
Zelda, 25, is slowly getting back to work after the tragedy, she says in a new interview with NBC’s The Today. However, her focus is on continuing her father’s legacy, including supporting the charitable causes and organizations he dedicated so much time and money to.
The why is not important, what we do next is
Zelda will be at the Challenged Athletes Foundation’s Noble Awards today. She talks about how her dad would take part in all the events he could for this cause, and how much he loved to let other people in general know that whatever they were going through, they weren’t alone.
This is also why he would often speak so candidly about his alcoholism and drug addiction: he made fun of his past problems because he knew that this meant he acknowledged and dealt with them. At the same time, it helped him put a smile on other people’s face, even those who were in similar situations.
Zelda hopes her father’s death will bring more attention to the need of discussing mental health, even though he never showed a sign of struggling with depression in his later years.
She wants people to focus on that, to use this painful loss and transform it into something good, instead of dwelling on the “why” of it. “It’s not important to ask,” she says.
“Diseases are - until we find out exactly how they work, we don’t have an explanation. There’s no one I can offer. A lot of people who have been through it and lost someone… who have gone on to lead very full lives know that there’s no point questioning it and there’s no point blaming yourself or the world… it happened so you have to continue to live and manage,” Zelda continues.
Her interview is available below.
Robin Williams’ shocking death
At the time of his death, Robin Williams was struggling with severe depression: he had just completed a stint in rehab and had been having some health problems. Inside sources claim that he was also having a tough time financially, which forced him to take on projects he would have never agreed to otherwise, like the sequel to “Mrs. Doubtfire.”
Of course, the family never spoke of this publicly, except to confirm the fact that he was depressed. His rep denied the alleged money troubles, saying that he was well off and in a position in which he could have not worked for the rest of his life and still live comfortably.
Williams, like his daughter says in the interview, was always restless, “fun and flighty and strange,” like the hummingbird she has tattooed on her hand. He had his demons, which he turned into comedy gold, and he had his brilliant days.
We might not remember the same Robin Williams his daughter remembers, but he will never be forgotten.