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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Renamed user e8LqRIqjJf2zlGDYPSu1aXoc (talk | contribs) at 06:08, 13 August 2014 (→Anyone in Boston?: another thought). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Vital article

Robin Williams unable to comment on his death?

This needs to be rewritten: "According to his publicist, Williams suffered from depression, though he would not confirm the reports that the death was by suicide." Maybe to something like this: "A publicist for Williams stated Robin suffered from depression, though he would not confirm the reports that the death was by suicide."128.84.127.81 (talk) 15:07, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I'll respond. BOTH sentences are pretty much equally ambiguous. But I really don't think there's any useful information there anyway. HiLo48 (talk) 02:11, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Death 2014

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robin-williams-dies-suspected-suicide-724724 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Justinabrahms (talk • contribs) 22:58, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Press release: http://www.marinsheriff.org/uploads/854.pdf --Cawhee (talk) 23:01, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The release reads as follows:
August 11, 2014
Investigation into Death of Actor Robin Williams
PRESS CONFERENCE
A press conference will be held on August 12, 2014 at 11:00 am.
The press conference will be located in the Sheriff’s Office Assembly Room at 1600 Los
Gamos Drive Suite #200, San Rafael, CA 94903.

 — QuicksilverT @ 23:28, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This is what I love about wikipedia. How the editors always rush to put up the death of a celebrity. I know it should be up-to-date and this isn't any place for rambling thoughts, but this is just sad. And makes it sadder that at the end of the day his death was nothing more than a bunch of editors rushing together quickly to be the first and following editors to announce his death. Charlr6 (talk) 23:54, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

How about the news services that report such things? Are you of the opinion that they should allow a respectful interval between someone's death and delivering their reports — perhaps a month or two? — QuicksilverT @ 00:12, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Replying with a comment like that to try and contradict me proves my point. I've struck a nerve. There is a difference from a website that only people on it can work on, and Wikipedia, where loads of editors all over the world will be 'fighting' to get their editorial mark put on. And then some editors who try to take over it, and keep it to how they want to, even though Wikipedia states there are no 'owners' of a page. It always happens. Charlr6 (talk) 00:18, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Yep. I rushed here to make a minor edit, and as of this second, it's still there nothing. I'm part of something I didn't care about yesterday! Strange phenomenon, but absolutely exists. InedibleHulk (talk) 01:38, August 12, 2014 (UTC)
Also, like it or not, when something like this happens Wikipedia has become the first place many people turn to (including some news media, and if that doesn't disturb you, it should). So I don't personally consider it a "race" by any means. It's a case of we need to have the information up as fast as possible. The problem, of course, is in the accuracy. And of course it's so easy for a false death report to sneak in. However, of course, in this case the original reports came from legitimate sources like the police themselves. 68.146.52.234 (talk) 13:30, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I have to agree with Charlr6. My thoughts exactly. Good on you Charlr6. 71.62.148.154 (talk)

Semi-protected edit request on 11 August 2014

Link to official Marin County Sheriff Article on Robin William's death http://www.marinsheriff.org/uploads/854.pdf Ballance (talk) 23:18, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Adding the report is unnecessary, given that this is ample third party sources. Mike V • Talk 23:33, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
original source material, official govt docs, viewed as less important than 3rd party accounts by wikipedia. "the monkey has grabbed hold of the camera and is now taking snapshots of the news." 69.201.168.196 (talk) 00:02, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Odd wording of his death

The article states: "Williams was found unconscious at his residence and was pronounced dead at the scene." If he was already dead, he would have been found dead at the scene, not "unconscious". No? I assumed that "unconscious" implied being alive, yet not conscious. Thoughts? Thanks. Rest in Peace, Robin Williams. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 23:22, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It may be journalist spin; a competent law enforcement person would have used the word "unresponsive", instead of "unconscious". Unresponsive could mean unconscious or dead, without a person not trained in medicine or first aid having to make an inference. — QuicksilverT @ 23:34, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
OK, thanks. So, if journalists are essentially getting it "wrong", we don't have to repeat that error here. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 01:17, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It's not journalists getting anything wrong. Unless a person is found in a state of extreme damage (i.e. beheaded) a person is not dead until someone of authority says they are dead because there have been many cases where someone appears to be dead but is not. Put another way, Williams was found legally unconscious. He was not legally dead until someone in authority pronounced him as such. Sometimes that happens on site as was the case here, and sometimes it doesn't occur until the person is taken to hospital where the determination is made, even though for all intents and purposes the person was already dead. This is what we as journalists are trained to write. 68.146.52.234 (talk) 13:55, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Temporary full-protect

I apologize for having to shut down an article in the midst of breaking news, but on the advice of WMF tech staff I've implemented a temporary full-protection on this article to prevent the server cluster from breaking down under the load. Please direct technical questions on this to Jdforrester_(WMF) or Legoktm. Everyone, please feel free to request edits here; I'm told that batch editing, or even just slower editing, is just fine, we're just trying to prevent thousands of people from trying to make edits at the same time. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 23:29, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

For clarity, confirming that this was a WMF request to avoid load. My thanks to Fluffernutter and the rest of the community group who gave their advice in response to my request, and in advance to you all for your understanding. We don't want the cluster to go down like it did when Michael Jackson died, for example. Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 23:38, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Does it need to be full protection? I would presume that established editors can be trusted to edit the article. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 23:36, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
If you read Fluffy's comments, the problem is the edit-rate, not the edit themselves. It's a technical matter, not an issue of trusting others.--v/r - TP 23:38, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
OK, understood. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 23:55, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
JDF: Understood entirely. Any sense of how long? --j⚛e deckertalk 23:39, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
@Joe Decker: I sincerely hope that it's totally an over-reaction on my part and it will prove to be unnecessary; I'd much rather be proven a cautious fool than an optimistic one. (Right now the edit level rate has dropped down to a level that makes the servers a lot better placed, so it seems to be working.) In terms of timing, I picked 12 hours out of the air as that's normally the window over which big news spikes flatten off, but it may not be needed. Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 23:47, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Just for the avoidance of doubt, I went with James's air-picked 12 hours when I protected, but I am fine with anyone lifting the protection as soon as the crisis is over and/or whatever magical load balancing is needed is done; no need to wait around asking me if changing the prot level is ok. (also, semi may need to be manually restored when my full expires; if I'm not around someone should be sure to keep an eye on that.) A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 23:51, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, and ... *headdesk*, I could have looked for myself, sorry about that. Anyway, glad to help out here, and that sounds like an entirely wise move AFAIC. Cheers, --j⚛e deckertalk 23:51, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Interesting. This is the first time in over nine years editing Wikipedia that I've seen an article fully protected for this reason. It suggests a possible enhancement to the protection mechanism, something like leaving an article semi-protected, but automatically throttling the rate at which edits can be saved. If the rate were limited to, say, one per minute, it would still allow work to proceed by registered editors, albeit with some frustration due to delays in saving the results. — QuicksilverT @ 00:06, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
@Hydrargyrum: That's an interesting idea. There was no similar suggestion in the current list of protection bugs and enhancements, so I've created one for this. Thanks! Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 08:14, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

And I've now lifted the protection after staff (or the passage of time?) got the cluster back under control. The article is back to its previous level of semiprotection. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 00:22, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Fluffernutter: I've changed the semi protection to indefinite as that's what it was prior to your full protection (I'm assuming this is what you intended). Regards, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 12:57, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Tiburon

The article states Tiburon is unincorporated, but Tiburon, California states that it is incorporated. Attys (talk) 23:40, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Tiburon is incorporated. However, his home, with a Tiburon address, was outside the city limits. That's why he lived in unincorporated Tiburon. --Jayron32 23:41, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
But what is the relevance? Why does the status of the locality need to be mentioned in a paragraph about his death? Does it somehow make a difference? (I don't live in the US). Moriori (talk) 23:53, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It's a more precise location. It's not really necessary any more than the city is necessary at all, but it's more accurate while still being concise. - Aoidh (talk) 23:55, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) It's relevant. People in the US commonly talk about an unincorporated area. It's really used almost as a synonym for "the outskirts of" or "just outside of", except the place name still applies. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 23:57, 11 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Tks Aoidh and Mendaliv. As this is an international pedia, and unincorporated is a US centric term, perhaps it should be linked so those unfamiliar with the term can see what it means. Cheers. Moriori (talk) 00:21, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
In that case, the article should say the body was found at his home located outside Tiburon or so. The way it's written makes it sound as though Tiburon is unincorporated. Attys (talk) 00:25, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I've added a suggested rewording ... "near Tibureon", happy to have that reverted if anyone has an issue with it, I think it's clearer. --j⚛e deckertalk 00:32, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Apparently, after Joe Decker made that edit, it was reverted back to "unincorporated Tiburon". I have revised it now to read "in an unincorporated area just outside Tiburon".[1] Cheers. Zzyzx11 (talk) 01:31, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Multiple sources including Marin Independent Journal and the NY Times all use "in Tiburon" to describe the location of RW's death. Why not in the infobox? Arbor to SJ (talk) 05:33, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The exact address is 98 St Thomas Way Tiburon, CA 94920 - — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:30A:2CA8:2380:D4D:505B:2E04:B3DD (talk) 05:39, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

To clarify that for the non-U.S. readers: Addresses in the U.S. always have some town name, even if they aren't inside a municipality. (It's comparable to post towns in the UK.) --Closeapple (talk) 07:10, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The IP needs a verifiable source for that address (which corresponds to the unincorporated area Paradise Cay, California. Zzyzx11 (talk) 19:38, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, let’s get a verifiable source. It is much cleaner to indicate "Paradise Cay, California" as the location rather than constructions such "unincorporated Marin County near Tiburon". Interestingly, Paradise Cay is an enclave completely surrounded by Tiburon (since the Tiburon town limits extend into San Francisco Bay). But whether surrounded by Tiburon or not, the location is not *in* Tiburon, and to indicate Tiburon as having been Williams' residence is false. Iscoak (talk) 20:27, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Found Dead?

I found an article that talks about his death. It's from an apparent asphyxiation according to the article; which translates to (in my mind) "he hung himself." -Poodle of Doom (talk) 00:01, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There are other ways to asphyxiate, such as carbon monoxide. In any case, this isn't a space for speculation, the sources will have clearer answers in due time. --j⚛e deckertalk 00:08, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
My money's on plastic bag. InedibleHulk (talk) 01:41, August 12, 2014 (UTC)
WP:NOTFORUM. AndyTheGrump (talk) 01:44, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Well, then that bet didn't count. InedibleHulk (talk) 04:32, August 13, 2014 (UTC)
Earlier this evening, Dr. Drew pointed out that asphyxia can be caused by any number of things, and the authorities aren't giving out details yet. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 05:03, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Details Given. He hung himself with his belt, and had cut marks on his wrists. Perhaps we could use the articles I cited as references if need be? -Poodle of Doom (talk) 20:31, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Apparent suicide

The LA Times reports that the sheriff's office says that it appears to be a suicide. LA Times. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 03:57, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes I saw that report as well. It might be best not to include it In the article yet as most of the out her sources seem to say it was not suicide.--BarsofGold (talk) 04:01, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) Yes, while the LA times source is not specifically cited in the article, several other sources are which say the same thing. Which is why the article ALSO mentions that the Sheriff's office has speculated that it may be a suicide. Read the "Death" section, where it states "The Coroner Division of Marin County suspects the death to be suicide by asphyxia, pending investigation" and is cited to two sources. I'm not sure why we would need to say it twice. --Jayron32 04:02, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Well, no real need to say it twice, except it is from two sources, and one says "suspects" and the other says "apparent". To me, apparent is a stronger statement than suspect. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 04:45, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Should William's Main Page ITN headline read "...commits suicide at the age of 63." ? Tandrum (talk) 08:34, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The San Francisco Gate is reporting that suicide has been confirmed and that he hanged himself with a belt. There were also superficial cuts on his wrists and a folded pocketknife with blood in one of his pockets. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Investigators-Robin-Williams-hanged-himself-5683229.php#photo-6715197 TheLastAmigo (talk) 19:27, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Bipolar disorder?

The statement "Williams had bipolar disorder" has been added to the article based on a single source, Communities Digital News. I know nothing about the reputation of this source (not an issue on it's own), but all that the source says about this is "It has been reported through several sites that Williams suffered from bipolar disorder for years".

For a biography of a living person (which also covers the recently deceased), I'm not convinced this is enough. I'm tempted to remove the claim. HiLo48 (talk) 05:15, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

All evening in the news reports they were talking about severe depression. I don't recall anything said about bipolar. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 05:18, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I often wondered (or thought) that he was hyperactive. I don't know of any source on that. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 05:42, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I have no idea about Robin Williams, but you might be interested to know that bipolar disorder is often associated with ADHD (which I suspect you are referring to), and to my knowledge, especially the rapid-cycle subtypes. I have encountered the idea that rapid cycling might not strictly be bipolar disorder at all, but a symptom of ADHD. See also Creativity and mental illness. Creative people suspected to have been bipolar could equally have been affected by ADHD. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 11:02, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

 Done Highly credible source attesting to his BP added. BTW, didn't you all see the Talk section above titled Bipolar disorder? Take your meds ;) Paulscrawl (talk) 06:25, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

ABOVE MERGED FROM SECTION Bipolar disorder - note ? in this section title - Paulscrawl (talk) 17:08, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Wasn't Williams diagnosed with bipolar disorder at some point? This is very relevant to his depression that led to his death.dnsla23 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dnsla (talk • contribs) 00:14, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have seen some news reports with that diagnosis given -- but none were reputable enough to back it up with any further refs or dates or citations. It could be true -- or it could just be case of "the blind leading the blind" in journalism-land. Let's wait and see. 142.254.3.38 (talk) 03:57, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I will try to find an acceptable one for you. I also have bipolar disorder, and am a member of alcoholics anonymous, so his story in this regard is very meaningful to me. Would be great for people to see this and get a better understanding of how these elements are interlinked. dnsla23 05:02, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

 Done "He was known to have bipolar disorder, depression and drug abuse problems, said Julie Cerel, a psychologist and board chair of American Association of Suicidology." Suicide a risk even for beloved characters like Williams USA Today Great article, with other mental health/suicide authorities cited - in Health section now. Much better BP source than existing pop culture site one (can we lose that now?), in terms of specificity, authoritative cites, and extremely helpful educational info on suicide & mental health, as brought to everyone's attention by Robin Williams' tragic death. A real public service piece, in addition to serving as authority for BP. Let's keep it. Paulscrawl (talk) 06:03, 12 August 2014 (UTC).[reply]

That really isn't much better. It's just more of the same hearsay with a name attached to it. "Was known," by whom? I have emailed Dr. Cerel to inquire about the basis for her claim. Vegemeister (talk) 07:50, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
This Huffington Post article says, "Comedian Robin Williams once told an interviewer that he struggled with depression, but hadn't been diagnosed with either "clinical depression" or bipolar disorder." The NPR interview is from 2006. I can't listen to it, but if it sounds like he was answering seriously I think it should out weigh most of what I've seen on the other side, which is people who've never met him trying to diagnose him from a distance. 66.27.174.138 (talk) 15:20, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Dr. Cerel says the USA Today article's wording implies much greater confidence than what she actually told them. Furthermore, she also came by the claim on lists of celebrities with mental illness. With that in mind, I have removed the claim about bipolar disorder from this article. I strongly caution against adding it back unless you have a source with either an interview with Robin Williams in which he testifies to being diagnosed or self-diagnosed, or an interview with a psychologist who has personally diagnosed Mr. Williams in a professional context. Wikipedia should not be propagating celebrity gossip. If you must, please at least label it explicitly as rumor. Vegemeister (talk) 15:36, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]


After much research, I agree with your action. Nothing definitive has been shown in any "respectable" medical site, or the like. The site http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/08/11/robin-williams-bipolar-sufferer-dead-at-63-due-to-suicide/ outright states in an editorial note: We acknowledge Williams himself has never stated, to our knowledge, that he had been formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder or depression. Yet given his behaviors and symptoms, it seems far more likely he suffered from bipolar disorder — of which depression is a very significant component. News accounts saying he suffered from depression don’t appear to be substantiated by Williams’ own statements on the issue.dnsla23 22:58, 12 August 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dnsla (talk • contribs)

More news articles are coming in reporting him as having had bipolar disorder. For example,
There are, however, quite a lot of uses of words like "reportedly" in these stories. Perhaps we can say something like "Williams, who had been widely reported as suffering from bipolar disorder..." which meets the NPOV requirements as well as the notability requirement (ie. what is notable are the many reports in WP:RS)..
-- The Anome (talk) 23:42, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I just looked at the first link there. It says "Robin Williams was also reported to have had bipolar disorder..." Do you know who reported it? We did! I expect the other articles are similar. There is no concrete evidence for this anywhere. It's not good enough for a BLP. HiLo48 (talk) 23:48, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
What I'm advocating is that we should report the press speculation on the nature of his illness as press speculation -- it seems to be cropping up in reports everyehere at the moment, as the press searches for angles to report. Making this clear also helps clear up any misconceptions in our readers that there is as yet a "smoking gun" regarding this. -- The Anome (talk) 00:02, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
We are not allowed to report our own speculation. Reporting media speculation is not much better. It's a breach of WP:BLP. HiLo48 (talk) 00:22, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have confirmed, via independent email, that in an otherwise superb and useful public service article that still might be used here, Suicide a risk even for beloved characters like Williams (8/12/2014) that Dr. Julie Cerel meant, “I’ve read it might be possible he had..” I gave her link, phone # & email of USA Today's Standards Editor and she agreed to get it corrected. When done, as verifiable on USA Today Corrections and Clarifications, this article might well be be re-posted. Nothing comes close to its expertise on depression (not otherwise specified), substance abuse, and suicide risk. See next BP diagnostic retraction below

I am responsible for forcing retraction of admitted "speculative" bipolar diagnosis by Psych Central's John Grohol in "Robin Williams, Bipolar Sufferer, Dead at 63 Due to Suicide" His revised article remains useless, unless qualified as speculation. Per biography of a living person (which also covers the recently deceased), I don't see the point. -- Paulscrawl (talk) 00:35, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 12 August 2014

Edit for academy award 4 times not 3 2600:1010:B01F:9F63:2C9D:6C67:9906:7028 (talk) 06:18, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The news has been saying 3. What are the 4? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 06:24, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done -- Magioladitis (talk) 06:56, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

From a search of Oscars.org's database:

Robin Williams {d. Aug 11, 2014} 1987 (60th) ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE -- Good Morning, Vietnam {"Adrian Cronauer"}

1989 (62nd) ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE -- Dead Poets Society {"John Keating"}

1991 (64th) ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE -- The Fisher King {"Parry"}

1997 (70th) *ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -- Good Will Hunting {"Sean McGuire"} [statuette]

I can't provide a direct link to the search results because they are tied to a session and will expire, but you search from here: http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/index.html

98.232.26.108 (talk) 17:39, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Last marriage shouldn't have an end date

I tried changing this, but it immediately got changed back, so maybe I can get somebody with more patience to agree with me?

Right now, it says that the marriage ended in 2014 because of his death. That's redundant, and Template:Marriage also states that the 'end' parameter should contain the "Date the marriage was dissolved or the spouse of the article's subject died." Not the date the subject died...

I also tried to back up my case by looking through List of Presidents of the United States and seeing what's been done for marriages for their articles, but it's quite inconsistent. Any thoughts? EditorInTheRye (talk) 13:02, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Every reference I've ever seen to marriage on Wikipedia uses the date of death of one partner to signify the end date of the marriage. Of course one can choose to consider themselves to still be married to the deceased as many do (my dad still considers himself married to my mom who passed away last year), but legally speaking I believe the marriage ends either when one partner is officially declared dead (which can be an issue in the case of a spouse being a missing person) or when a death certificate is issued. 68.146.52.234 (talk) 14:04, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Illness and death

No doubt the illness and death section will continually change but the sentence "According to his publicist, Williams suffered from depression, though he would not confirm the reports that the death was by suicide" seems to put the carthorse before the horse. Perhaps the first half is fine, but the second half says "that the death" way before his death is otherwise mentioned. 194.176.105.154 (talk) 13:38, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Section re-ordering would help ensure logical and chronological continuity and help prevent needless repetition.

Currently:

6 Personal life 6.1 Marriages and children 6.2 Family and friends 6.3 Addiction and health problems 6.4 Other interests 6.5 Charity work

7 Illness and death

Suggested:

6 Personal life 6.1 Marriages and children 6.2 Family and friends 6.3 Other interests 6.4 Charity work 6.5 Addiction and health problems

7 Illness and death

Paulscrawl (talk) 19:04, 12 August 2014 (UTC)  Done -- Paulscrawl (talk) 19:21, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 12 August 2014

Billy Crystal, long time friend and Comic Relief co-host, responded to the news of Williams's death via twitter writing "No words" (Aug, 11th, 10:40 EST). — Preceding unsigned comment added by JrCrosth (talk • contribs) 15:06, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

While I agree we should probably include some more of these reactions, I think we should go with the numerous secondary sources that are popping up discussing them rather than individual tweets. See, for instance, this People blog post. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 15:16, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
 Not done Per John's comment below. When the dust settles we might look to articles of collections of quotations and reactions, but this specific one shouldn't be added. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 18:19, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 12 August 2014

I opt that a new article for Reactions to the death of Robin Williams should be created, where most of the tributes can be moved to. And here's another: Terry Gilliam, who directed Williams twice (in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) and The Fisher King (1991), and who'd also initially wanted him as Cavaldi in his Brothers Grimm (2005) until rejections by the Weinsteins), posted this in tribute on his Facebook page:

Robin Williams, the most astonishingly funny, brilliant, profound and silly miracle of mind and spirit, has left the planet. He was a giant heart, a fireball friend, a wondrous gift from the gods. Now the selfish bastards have taken him back. Fuck 'em!

— Terry Gilliam August 12, 2014

--217.225.210.31 (talk) 16:58, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Facebook is not a source. --John (talk) 17:47, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It's too soon for an article like that. The article would more likely be Death of Robin Williams anyway. Wikipedia isn't the place for a simple list of celebrity comments about an event. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 17:57, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Patch Adams

I don't see anything about the movie "Patch Adams" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.151.71.212 (talk) 17:26, 12 August 2014‎ (UTC)[reply]

See Robin Williams filmography. He's been in far too many works to list every single one in this article. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 17:54, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Twitter and celebs' reactions

Just a reminder that everything here needs a reliable source. Twitter is not one. --John (talk) 17:26, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Reactions:


Sarah Michelle Gellar who worked with Williams on The Crazy Ones said "My life is a better place because I knew Robin Williams, to my children he was Uncle Robin, to everyone he worked with, he was the best boss anyone had ever known, and to me he was not just an inspiration but he was the father I had always dreamed of having. There are not enough adjectives to describe the light he was, to anyone that ever had the pleasure to meet him." Zupkus, Lauren. "Sarah Michelle Gellar Says Robin Williams Was 'The Father I Had Always Dreamed Of Having'". Huffington Post.

Ladymoree (talk) 17:55, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done See John's comment below. This is interesting but it's not appropriate to add this many long quotations. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 18:18, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Quotes

Just as a reminder, per WP:QUOTE and WP:NOTMEMORIAL we are not looking for any more quotes from famous people. We can summarise any that have been published in reliable sources. Only exceptional ones need to be quoted. --John (talk) 18:15, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Wouldn't Obama be exceptional? Already been added, nevermind. Tutelary (talk) 18:46, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I think the Obama quote is the only one needed. The reactions of other celebrities would easily become out of control. Bahooka (talk) 18:50, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It's debatable even if his wife's quote should be included. The presidents, maybe. This is not a wake. Thousands of condolences have been sent from all sorts of people. Cosprings (talk) 02:12, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The quotes add nothing. They are all completely predictable, so they are undue. HiLo48 (talk) 02:18, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Someone put them back in. I move they should all be left out, as my edit did. Cosprings (talk) 02:47, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I have removed them Snuggums (talk / edits) 02:52, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I support this for now. It's flatly unencyclopedic to report a litany of soundbites that, while many are heartfelt and moving individually, have little to no relevance to this man's career, and individually have no effect on the story of his death. There are a multitude of articles out there in reliable sources discussing the outpouring of reactions to his death... if we're going to cover it in this article we should do so by reference to one of those articles. A single paragraph should be more than enough for this article, and it needn't have quotations. Much more and we'd surely be violating WP:DUE (in the same way as we would by listing every single film Williams has starred in here rather than in the filmography article). —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 04:18, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
To quote myself, "This happens on a ton of pages." And "Mr. Stamos is much more notable than and as equally irrelevant as Mitt Romney." Same deal here. InedibleHulk (talk) 04:53, August 13, 2014 (UTC)

Suicide and the alcohol/cocaine connection

I'm reading "Drugs and Society" by Hanson and Venturelli, 5th Edition, 1998, Jones and Bartlett publishers. From what I'm reading, people who use cocaine are about 60 times more likely to commit suicide; alcoholics are about 60 times more likely to commit suicide (especially teens) and when both cocaine and alcohol are used together they form cocaethylene, with gives a very high sense of euphoria but which impells suicide. Currently the emphasis is on Robin Williams' tragic death from depression but the actual cause of the depression is glossed over. I don't want to "add to" the Wiki article since these articles are administered by Wiki editors but I think the cocaine/alcohol connection should be looked into with regards to Williams' suicide. 50.202.81.2 (talk) 19:29, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your comment. This page is for discussing improvements to this article, which must be based on published sources. As you state yourself, the cause of Williams' depression is being glossed over... unless and until a reliable source connects up Williams' history of addiction and his suicide, it's not appropriate to add anything in that vein to this article. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 19:50, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
There has been a recent proposal at Village Pump that Wikipedia should follow Recommendations for reporting on suicide], one of a number of such guidelines prepared for newspapers and associated media, whose main purpose is to mitigate and help prevent copycat suicide that can resulting from such reporting when it is sensationalist in nature. Of course Wikipedia is not a newspaper and in the Village Pump debate a good point was made that how we perceive suicide is culturally dependent - in the West we see it as a public health problem, but that is not necessarily so in other cultures. Nevertheless the IP above is quite right to say substance abuse is implicated in a very great number of suicides. Note that one of the recommendations is not to suggest a single recent cause as that tends to simplify the public perception of suicide. This article might be said to do that with the mention (widely replicated in MSM accounts of his death) of Williams checking himself into rehab shortly before his death.
However, on the whole I think this suicide has been sensitively reported here, perhaps because of the notability of the subject. I wish the same could be said of single-event reporting of suicide, typically of teenagers, in other Wikipedia articles. This is an essay (*not* accepted policy) on the reporting of such suicide, by an editor who apparently specialises in these kinds of edits, which I think needs perusal by the community, and especially with a view to ensuring responsible reporting of teenage suicide. 128.90.94.106 (talk) 20:31, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
They're saying the toxicology report will be available in a few weeks, and at that point it will be clear what to do. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:40, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Screw up

I think someone screwed up the infobox. It's not in the correct place. Can someone fix it? 69.14.13.111 (talk) 20:44, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Never mind seems someone fixed it while I was typing this out.69.14.13.111 (talk) 20:45, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Reactions

I don't know if this will help, but I found this and figured someone could use this for the reaction section. [2]It's celeb reactions to his death. 69.14.13.111 (talk) 20:55, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Date of death

Williams was last seen by his wife around 10 pm (other sources say 10:30) on August 10. How do we know he died on Aug. 11 when he could have died late on the 10th? Why does article list Aug. 11 as date of death? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.222.176.68 (talk) 20:55, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

We go with whatever the sources say. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:07, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It is when he was reported dead or found to be dead, the date may change once conclusive time of death is given but until than we just go with what is the norm here, the time currently given by various news agencies and the department that found him on that date — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.69.172.92 (talk) 21:11, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Issue with last marriage

At the top of the profile it lists 'Valerie Velardi' as being his last wife before he passed away -- however, it was Susan Schneider who was his last wife, according to the rest of the actual post, and this news post. [3]

Arivie (talk) 20:59, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]


also the divorce date of his first marriage is wrong according to http://dailyentertainmentnews.com/breaking-news/marsha-garces-valerie-velardi-robin-williams-ex-wives/ should be 1988 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.7.190.135 (talk) 21:20, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 12 August 2014

Robin Williams had a brain disease which killed him via depression 174.48.133.41 (talk) 23:14, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. -Anupmehra -Let's talk! 00:01, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Robin Williams vegan?

Hi,

I was wondering if someone could add to the article, if they feel the evidence supports the claim sufficiently, that Robin Williams was vegan. A vegan blog I follow posted an article today about Williams' love of animals and it even mentioned in passing that Williams was a vegan. The blog post can be found here: http://www.globalanimal.org/2014/08/12/remembering-animal-lover-robin-williams/

I hope there are others who are better than I am at scouring the internet for reliable source material. If not, I hope that this blog post will be considered as a candidate citation for the claim that Williams was a vegan and an animal rights advocate.

2602:306:BC58:5910:1103:270C:82AD:1FEF (talk) 23:22, 12 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

We would need a better source than a blog for this - particularly one that gives no explanation whatsoever as to how the blogger came by the information. AndyTheGrump (talk) 00:46, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It also seems trivial to add in the first place Snuggums (talk / edits) 02:43, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Obama

I put Obama's eulogy in a side quote because it was longer than the other quotes - due to the importance of the person saying it I copied it in full. It has now been put into the prose instead, which seems inconsistent with the lengths of other quotations. I suggest either to trim the quote or reinstate the box - Little Old Me suggests the box. '''tAD''' (talk) 00:15, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think the box is quite right. It gives undue prominence to Obama as somehow relevant to Williams' life. He's the US President and is given to making an enormous amount of comments on culture and society. That's all. It's not like we're talking about a natural disaster or international incident where individual head of state comments are any more relevant than celebrity commentators. If anything, he's much less relevant than, say, Billy Crystal, or anyone else who has actually worked with Williams. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 01:19, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Absolutely agree, Mendaliv. Exactly why I removed the box quote. -- Winkelvi ● ✉ ✓ 01:34, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Weapons of Self-Destruction

I found different info for this tour.

in August 2008, Williams announced a new 26-city tour titled "Weapons of Self-Destruction".

In 2009, CNN described an [80-city tour], with the same name.

Which is correct?

Thank you - Mitch3000 00:19, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Murder File

Do we have to have cause of dead in infobox? C'mon, this is not a murder case. Lets have some respect people! This is not a bulvar! 50.9.97.53 (talk) 02:20, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Respect for who or what? It's what happened. It's truthful. Why would you want to hide the matter as though it is shameful? WWGB (talk) 02:36, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I don't know what murder has to do with it, but I basically agree. The actual cause was asphyxiation (or asphyxia - same thing). That's all that's needed in the infobox. If the reader wants more info, they can read it in the main body. --Musdan77 (talk) 03:55, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Anyone in Boston?

It would be great if we could get free images of the "Good Will Hunting" bench which has been turned into a makeshift memorial (per [4]) for Williams. It's in the Public Gardens, fwiw. --MASEM (t) 02:25, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You should ask at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Boston and Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Massachusetts as well. I'm not sure where else to get the attention of Bostonians. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 02:44, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Tossed a request to both, but I'll keep scanning Flickr (which has some but not CC) in case. --MASEM (t) 03:27, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Another thought might be to skim the list of users transcluding {{User Boston}} for a user you recognize and directly ask. Even if they themselves aren't in Boston, they might know someone. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 06:08, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

RV film

you need to add the movie RV to the list of movies he starred in. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.74.53.64 (talk) 03:38, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The film RV is indeed listed in his filmography. See this article: Robin Williams filmography. It is listed for the year 2006. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 04:09, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

More information regarding death

This is my first Wiki contribution - I apologize in advance for any issues.

The New York Times has some specifics that contradict the CNN Reference 112 regarding his death that might be relevant to the Illness and death section of this article:

NY Times: "Mr. Williams’s wife, Susan Schneider, went to bed at 10:30 Sunday night and woke up on Monday believing her husband was still asleep in a separate bedroom. A personal assistant, concerned that he was not responding to knocks on his door, discovered the body, cool to the touch and with rigor mortis, at about 11:45 a.m. on Monday."

CNN: "Williams was last seen alive at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, by his wife, when she went to bed, Boyd said. He apparently went into a bedroom at an unknown time after that. His wife left the home at about 10:30 a.m. Monday, assuming Williams was still asleep." 67.149.188.58 (talk) 05:53, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There's no conflict - the way it reads, his wife went to bed 10:30pm Sunday, woke up, assumed Williams was in a different room of the house but didn't check, and left. Williams personal assistant came by likely after his wife left and found Williams in that state. So there's no obvious conflict. (and nor would it be our place to try to point that out) --MASEM (t) 06:02, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) I don't think those contradict at all. Both say Schneider last saw him around 10:30 p.m. Sunday. The personal assistant finding him at 11:45 a.m. Monday doesn't conflict with his wife leaving the house at 10:30 a.m. Monday. It just means they slept in different rooms (at least that night). Not at all uncommon. —/Mendaliv/2¢/Δ's/ 06:06, 13 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]
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