Did Robin Williams have a parrot?

Such a tragic loss! At best I hope his death brings more attention to mental illness and our attitudes towards it as a society. Does anyone know whether he owned birds? I just had to smile when I saw this picture on facebook. I can't see via search that it's already been shared.

Yes he did, as a matter of fact, but he donated it to the SF Zoo. Found this quote about his doing a fundraiser for the zoo, just to visit the parrot:

"Williams really had come to visit his old pet parrot he had donated to the zoo years ago when travel made keeping the bird impossible. He was "very thrilled to see the parrot with other parrots acting like a parrot," Peterson said. "I think it brought him great joy."

He also played with CoCo the Gorilla. That's on UTube.

What a super tragic loss.

The bird's name is Cora. His favorite phrase was purportedly "Birds can't talk."

ShaunaR said:

Such a tragic loss! At best I hope his death brings more attention to mental illness and our attitudes towards it as a society

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Really sad that some people don't understand that a "mental illness" can mean you are not thinking right, Not knowing what you are doing...

The public not realizing that he most likley didn't do this with a "lucid" "sound mind" makes me SICK

I just can't believe the things people are saying without knowing the man or his family

Love You Robin....

Joe, I could go on a whole rant on this subject and I almost had to be tied down yesterday I was so mad. It's an ILLNESS, not a choice.

Turns out there was so much more going on than the public ever knew...

Aside from the fact that he might just be the poster child for manic-depression.

Money problems. TV Show got cancelled. Lost his Napa Valley ranch. Not getting offered the parts he wanted anymore. Struggling with sobriety and depression. Then diagnosed with Parkinson's... (You're on your way out the slow way.) He didn't take meds for his depression, because they also killed his creativity. The Manic part of manic depression, was the side we all saw publicly...

I can sort of see where that could lead a person to say, it's been a really good life, but it's downhill and picking up speed from here...

Someone prone to depression could easily be triggered by any one of those. Getting hit with all of them at once? Probably pretty overwhelming! Especially if it's going to make headline national news the second anyone finds out, and you don't want to be pitied...

It's hard to understand those dark places... if you haven't been there.

But it makes a lot more sense as the details begin to emerge.

Turns out the fundraiser at the zoo was his last public appearance, and the people that knew him, said he was mostly interested in seeing his old buddy... kinda makes you wonder if he was saying goodbye?! People who commit suicide, generally do little things that put their life in order for them... signs you only see in 20/20 hindesight. Maybe this was one of the signs?

The thing about clinical depression is there really doesn't have to be anything "wrong" for them to be depressed.

Manic depression is now called bipolar disorder. That's a subject my family knows a whole lot about.

thekarens said:

The thing about clinical depression is there really doesn't have to be anything "wrong" for them to be depressed.

Manic depression is now called bipolar disorder. That's a subject my family knows a whole lot about.

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Well, my point was he was dealing with it to begin with, and then got hit with a whole bunch of stressors...

I don't know that much about it.

I've lost four friends to suicide though... and several more to just plain reckless disregard for their lives... (though that profile pretty much fits most of the BASE jumpers I know.)

So I struggle to understand it.

When I was a teen I had a friend who struggled with depression, even on heavy medications. One night she called me because she wanted to die, but knew she shouldnt. Being on the phone with me all night was the only way she could keep herself from doing it. She cried all night for "no reason." That night changed my life. She was a smart, "happy" girl, I am just glad I was able to be there for her, I am sorry that Mr. Williams did not have that person in his life, or was too overwhelmed to talk to them.

Birdman666 said:

.....

He also played with CoCo the Gorilla. That's on UTube.

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[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GorgFtCqPEs"]Koko the Gorilla with Robin Williams.mp4 - YouTube[/ame]

So funny! I've seen the one before with Robin Williams.
I just looked at one of the clips with Mr. Rogers, and she pointed to his cuff link and asked if it was a flower. He said was a sun. That's amazing!