Robin Williams (r) and Nathan Lane in The Birdcage Robin Williams, the American comedian and actor who brought warmth and depth to the role of a gay man trying to juggle his straight past with his gay life, has died, an apparent suicide. Williams, 63, rose to prominence in the TV series Mork and Mindy, playing a naive alien with such outrageous ad-libbing that the show's writers eventually left gaps in the script so he could indulge his flights of comedic mania. He went on to appear in a multitude of highly-regarded movies and was a staple of the TV talk show circuit. But it was in the 1996 comedy movie The Birdcage that Williams endeared himself to gay audiences, treading the fine line between farce and humanity as the slightly less flamboyant half of a gay couple, paired with Nathan Lane's outrageously camp drag queen character. Sheriff's officials say an emergency call was received around 7 o'clock this morning, NZ time, regarding a man who was unresponsive in Williams' Tiburon, California, home. He was pronounced dead at the scene. If you need to talk, there is help out there. Please call OUTLine on 0800 OUTLINE. After hours you can call the 24 hour Depression helpline: 0800 111 757.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 12th August 2014 - 11:21am