Actor Robin Williams found dead in apparent suicide: Sheriff

Robin Williams reacts after receiving the Stand Up Icon Award during the second annual 2012 Comedy Awards in New York on April 28, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS 
Robin Williams reacts after receiving the Stand Up Icon Award during the second annual 2012 Comedy Awards in New York on April 28, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS 
Robin Williams pays tribute to actor Matt Damon during the 24th American Cinematheque Award benefit gala in Beverly Hills, California on March 27, 2010. -- PHOTO: REUTERS 
Robin Williams attends the premiere of License To Wed at the Pacific Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, California on June 25, 2007. -- PHOTO: REUTERS 
Robin Williams, winner for Best Supporting Actor in Good Will Hunting, posing for photographers with the Oscar at the 70th Annual Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 23, 1998. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
US actor Robin Williams poses for photographers during a photocall in Rome in this file picture taken on Nov 15, 2005. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
US actor Robin Williams poses for photographers during a photocall in Rome in this file picture taken on Nov 15, 2005. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Robin Williams poses during a photocall to present his new movie The Final Cut as part of the festival competition at the 54th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin on Feb 11, 2004. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Robin Williams with Sarah Michelle Gellar, his co-star in TV series The Crazy Ones, in a picture he posted on his twitter account on Feb 28, 2014. -- PHOTO: TWITTER/ ROBIN WILLIAMS
Robin Williams in costume as Theodore Roosevelt for the film Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. -- SCREENGRAB: INSTAGRAM/ ROBIN WILLIAMS
Robin Williams with his dog leonard in a picture he posted on his Instagram account in 2013. He captioned the picture, "Worth a repeat. My dinner with Leonard. Miss him when I'm on location."  -- SCREENGRAB: INSTAGRAM/ ROBIN WILLIAMS
Robin Williams with his son Zachary Pym in  a picture he posted on his Instagram account on April 11, 2014. He captioned the picture, "You're a grown man now and I'm so proud of you. A little bit of you will always be my "Mr Pym". Happy Birthday, @zakpym!" -- SCREENGRAB: INSTAGRAM/ ROBIN WILLIAMS
Robin Williams with his daughter Zelda Rae Williams in a picture he posted on his Instagram account on July 31, 2014. He captioned the picture, "#tbt and Happy Birthday to Ms. Zelda Rae Williams! Quarter of a century old today but always my baby girl. Happy Birthday @zeldawilliams Love you!"  -- SCREENGRAB: INSTAGRAM/ ROBIN WILLIAMS
Actor-comedian Robin Williams was known for films like (clockwise from left) Jumanji, Patch Adams, Flubber and Mrs Doubtfire. -- PHOTO: ST FILE

(REUTERS) - Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams was found dead on Monday from an apparent suicide at his home in Northern California, Marin County Sheriff's Office said. He was 63.

The sheriff's coroner's division said it suspects the death was a suicide due to asphyxia, but the cause of death is still under investigation.

"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," Williams's wife Susan Schneider said in a statement.

Williams, who won an Academy Award for his role as a fatherly therapist in 1997's Good Will Hunting, had been suffering from severe depression recently, his publicist Mara Buxbaum said.

Williams, who introduced his frenetic style on late 1970s TV series Mork & Mindy and had struggled with addiction in the past, had entered a Minnesota rehabilitation center last month to help him maintain sobriety.

His representatives at the time said Williams was not using drugs or alcohol but had gone to the center to "fine-tune and focus" his sobriety after working a longer-than-usual schedule.

The Marin County Sheriff's office said it received an emergency call about noon local time on Monday, saying that Williams was unconscious and not breathing at his home near Tiburon, north of San Francisco.

Fellow comedic actor Steve Martin said in a tweet: "I could not be more stunned by the loss of Robin Williams, mensch, great talent, acting partner, genuine soul."


Here are some videos of Robin William's influential and inspiring work.

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