9

Robin Williams:
A Life Behind the Smile
By: Taylor Dunaway
On the day of July 21,
1951 a young man
named Robin McLaurin
Williams was born in
Chicago, IL. This baby
will go on to inspire a
generation of laughter. I
remember when I was a
kid watching movies
starring Robin Williams.
No one expected such
sorrow to be behind that
recognizable grin. Out of
anyone, Id never expect
it to be him. As it turns
out, Robin Williams
struggled with drug
abuse in the 70s and
80s. This changed for
him after his son was
born and his friend and
fellow comedian, John
Belushi, died.

To overcome this time of

sorrow he turned to
biking and exercising.
Later he would go on to
say, cycling saved my
life. In 2003, Robin
started drinking alcohol.
Three years following, he
would check himself in
to a substance-abuse
rehabilitation center in
Newberg, Oregon.
Stating he was an
alcoholic. In 2010 he
would say that he never
considered doing drugs
since the 80s. In March
2009, Robin was
hospitalized due to heart
problems and had
surgery to replace his
aortic valve. In 2014 he
would enlist himself in a
treatment center for his
alcoholism. It was this
same year, on August
11th; he would take his
own life. Robins wife
would go on to say that
he had severe
depression around the
time of his death. Soon
after it was released that
he was struggling with
early stages of
Parkinsons disease.