--- description: Robin Williams' wife Susan Schneider reveals the actor was dealing with the early stages of Parkinson's Disease. title: Robin Williams Dead: Actor Was Suffering from Parkinson's image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd92fa6d2d24ac728/69869f8ef983e7c0ab04f39f/143556702.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Robin Williams Was Battling Parkinson's Disease, Wife Says ## Video: The Many Faces of Robin Williams: A Career in Photos [Watch (HLS stream): The Many Faces of Robin Williams: A Career in Photos](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KV0zG3Zo.m3u8) (1:40)  _Published 2014-08-13. The Faces of Robin Williams_ by [ashley Ross](/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 14, 2014 6:38 PM CUT  NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 28: Susan Schneider (L) and comedian Robin Williams attend The Comedy Awards 2012 at Hammerstein Ballroom on April 28, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic) NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 28: Susan Schneider (L) and comedian Robin Williams attend The Comedy Awards 2012 at Hammerstein Ballroom on April 28, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic)Gilbert Carrasquillo—FilmMagic/Getty Images by [ashley Ross](/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 14, 2014 6:38 PM CUT The wife of Robin Williams revealed Thursday that at the time of his death, the late comedian was not only battling depression and anxiety but the early stages of Parkinson’s Disease. “Robin’s sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression, anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson’s Disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly,” said Susan Schneider, in a statement. Parkinson’s affects nearly 10 million people, according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. The National Institutes of Health cites that “for people with depression and Parkinson’s disease, each illness can make symptoms of the other worse.” Research linking the two has focused on depression following a diagnosis, but it can be assumed that the actor’s depression predated his Parkinson’s diagnosis. Schneider was Williams’ third wife. Read her entire statement below. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3111911/robin-williams-dead-parkinsons/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3111911/robin-williams-dead-parkinsons/"},"headline":"Robin Williams Was Battling Parkinson's Disease, Wife Says","datePublished":"2014-08-14T18:38:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:40:42.764Z","description":"Says \"sobriety was intact\" when he died","url":"https://time.com/3111911/robin-williams-dead-parkinsons/","keywords":["celebrities","remembrance","entertainment","robin williams"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd92fa6d2d24ac728/69869f8ef983e7c0ab04f39f/143556702.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"ashley Ross","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd92fa6d2d24ac728/69869f8ef983e7c0ab04f39f/143556702.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Susan Schneider and Robin Williams","caption":"Susan Schneider and Robin Williams","creditText":"Gilbert Carrasquillo—FilmMagic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3111911/robin-williams-dead-parkinsons/","name":"Robin Williams Was Battling Parkinson's Disease, Wife Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Many Faces of Robin Williams: A Career in Photos","description":"The Faces of Robin Williams","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KV0zG3Zo/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-13T21:09:16.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KV0zG3Zo.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3111911/robin-williams-dead-parkinsons/","duration":"PT1M40S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3111911/robin-williams-dead-parkinsons/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```