Robin Williams will long be remembered as a loving soul with a gift for making people laugh. But on the anniversary of his birth, his son has penned a message that comes from a far more personal place.
Zak Williams, a mental health advocate, took to social media to honor his father on his birthday, July 21.
“My father lived to make people feel seen,” Zak wrote. “He gave permission to feel deeply and to laugh through the pain.”
Although he is remembered for his good-nature and humor, Robin died by suicide in August 2014 at the age of 63. He was battling Lewy body dementia as well as depression and substance abuse. Experts have often pointed out that many people suffering through mental struggles and physical illness hide behind a mask of joy.
Zak said that even as he continues to mourn his father, he remembers his “generosity and relentless kindness” to cope.
Xak’s full statement reads:
Today would have been my dad’s 74th birthday.
Every year, this season arrives with gravity. In just sixty days, we pass through Father’s Day, his birthday, and the anniversary of his death. It’s a tender and complicated stretch of time. One that asks a lot of the heart.
For me, grief isn’t linear. It loops and echoes. It softens, then crescendos. But alongside it lives a legacy, the kind built not from fame or recognition, but from generosity and relentless kindness.
My father lived to make people feel seen. He gave permission to feel deeply and to laugh through the pain. In his absence, that mission continues.
So today, I hold close the idea that the best way to honor those we love is to live the values they stood for. To lead with service and compassion. To lift others when they’re down. And to find paths of light, even in the dark corners.
To anyone carrying loss right now: you’re not alone. You are part of a passage of love and connection that never really ends.
Happy birthday, Dad. Love you forever.
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