Actor Robin Williams dead at 63 from apparent suicide

Actor Robin Williams, star of the new film "Old Dogs", arrives at the film's premiere in Hollywood, California in this November 9, 2009 file photo.[Photo/Agencies]

TIBURON, Calif. - Robin Williams, the versatile actor whose madcap comic style made him one of television and film's biggest stars, was found dead on Monday from an apparent suicide at his home in Northern California. He was 63.

The Marin County Sheriff's coroner's division said it suspected Williams committed suicide by asphyxia, but the cause of death is still under investigation and an autopsy will be conducted Tuesday.

"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 supporting role as a fatherly therapist in the 1997 drama "Good Will Hunting," had been suffering from severe depression recently, his publicist Mara Buxbaum said.

Williams had struggled with addiction in the past and had entered a Minnesota rehabilitation center this summer 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 death of Williams, who had introduced his frenetic and physical style as the quirky alien in the late 1970s TV comedy "Mork & Mindy", shook Hollywood, and fellow actors mourned the loss of what many called a big-hearted man and one of the most inventive comedians of his time.

Fellow comedian 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."