Watch CBS News

Sacramento Comedy Community Reacts To Robin Williams' Death

TIBURON (CBS13) — Actor and comedian Robin Williams was found dead in his home on Monday in an apparent suicide, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Department.

An autopsy will be conducted on Tuesday on the man best known for his roles in "Mrs. Doubtfire," "Good Morning Vietnam" and "Aladdin."

MORE NEWS

Friends and strangers stopped by Williams' home in Tiburon to leave flowers and prayers at his doorstep.

Daniel Jennings, 15, is friends with the late actor's stepson and says he would hang out at the home often.

"He would come into the room and hang out and he would say jokes," he said. "His comedy side just came out and I always appreciated that, so cool to experience that."

Kirsten Andereck, a close family friend, says Williams had been battling depression and had also recently been in rehab.

"He was battling a lot of things, depression being one of them and from what I understand I think he was kind of unhappy with where his career was going," she said.

In Sacramento, Scott Edwards knew Williams back in the late 1970s when he was just another anonymous comic performing in a tiny San Francisco club.

"Back in 1979, 1980, when I saw him in a 24-seat comedy club, I had no idea what our mutual futures would be," he said.

Their paths crossed again when in 1980, Edwards opened Laughs Unlimited in Old Sacramento. Over the years, Williams dropped by a few times to give impromptu performances.

"It's a great loss to entertainment, but especially to comedy," Edwards said.

Despite his global celebrity, Williams still compared notes and performed with local comedians like Sacramento-area comic Keith Lowell Jensen.

"Really just acted like one of us," Jensen said. "He liked being a comic, and he treated all the other comics, regardless of what their status was, like we were all part of the same club."

Williams would do sets in local clubs even leading up to his death, a tribute to his first true love of standup comedy.

Those who knew him believe the comedian's personal demons he battled for hears may have eventually been too much.

"I'm wrecked," Jensen said. "I saw it on Facebook and started right away trying to verify it. I was sure it was a hoax, but it wasn't."

"How could a man that brings so much joy be depressed?" Edwards said. "There's no easy answer, but you know the years of chemical abuse had played a part."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.