Zak Williams Opens Up About His Father Robin's Final Months & the Detail He Shared About How Close Relief Was

Oct 07, 2026 by apost team

More than a decade has passed since Robin Williams died, and his son Zak is still working through what those final months looked like — and what they meant.

Speaking on The Squeeze podcast, Zak Williams, 43, reflected on the period leading up to his father's death in August 2014. Robin had been experiencing deeply distressing symptoms — intense anxiety, paranoia, memory problems, tremors, difficulty judging space, and sleeplessness. He had initially been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. An autopsy later revealed he had Lewy body dementia, a condition that his widow Susan Schneider Williams described as "the terrorist inside my husband's brain."

What Zak described on the podcast was a father who was actively looking for help — who was, in those final weeks, trying to find his way to something that would bring relief. "The days, weeks, months prior to him dying by suicide, I was really feeling for him because he was having a frustrating time and was seeking support and was just trying to figure out what it was that would be most helpful to kind of help him experience some relief," Zak said.

And then he said the part that is hardest to sit with.

"That was hard for me because I don't think he was far off from finding something that would have felt like it was more helpful for him."

Robin was 63 when he died. Zak has spent the years since becoming one of the most visible mental health advocates in his generation — driven by a grief that never fully resolves and a belief that the systems that failed his father can be improved for everyone who comes after.

"The main thing for me," Zak said, "is just I loved him so much."

The Lewy body dementia diagnosis came only after Robin's death, when an autopsy revealed the extent of the disease. The condition affects thinking, behavior, and movement, and is notoriously difficult to diagnose. It is distinct from Parkinson's disease, though the two share some symptoms. Robin had been experiencing symptoms consistent with it for years without a correct identification.

Susan Schneider Williams wrote a deeply candid account of the final months of their marriage in the journal Neurology, published after his death. She described the experience of watching her husband deteriorate in ways that she could not explain or name. "He was losing his mind and he was aware of it," she wrote. "Can you imagine the terror of experiencing that?"

Zak has spoken publicly about his own grief journey — appearing on Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry's documentary series "The Me You Can't See," partnering with mental health organizations, and consistently using his platform to encourage people to seek help and to reduce the stigma around doing so. He has a son of his own — McLaurin Clement Williams, born in 2019 — and has spoken about the weight of introducing his child to a grandfather he will never know.

"I had hopes that he would have found some peace," Zak told the podcast. "For me there's some unresolved considerations relating to that."

The unresolved considerations are, in some sense, the work. Zak Williams has turned them into advocacy, into visibility, into the kind of public grief that helps other people feel less alone. His father gave his heart to the world for decades. His son is still doing it.

If you or someone you know is struggling, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

apost.com

Are you a fan of Robin Williams and his legacy? Do you think Zak's honesty about his father's final months and his own grief is something more people need to hear? Let us know in the comments and pass this on to your family, friends, and anyone who has ever loved someone through a hard time.