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Don Lemon Tonight

Robin Williams Dies at Age 63

Aired August 11, 2014 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Alisyn Camerota.

Tonight, an American tragedy to tell you about. The entertainment world is reeling over the shocking death of Robin Williams.

LEMON: Yes, one of America's most beloved funnymen, he burst on to the scene with the television classic "Mork & Mindy."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBIN WILLIAMS, ACTOR: Run for you lives. The emotions are coming!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: His co-star, Pam Dawber, said this: "I am completely and totally devastated. What more can be said?"

Even President Obama was touched by Robin Williams' passing, saying: "Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between."

And his movie roles made him a superstar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Good morning, Vietnam!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was a classic, of course. He was a four-time Oscar nominee who won for "Good Will Hunting" and he made no secret of his struggles with sobriety and depression. And now investigators suspect his death was a suicide.

LEMON: We have a lot to talk about, Alisyn.

Tonight, we're going to talk to people who knew and loved Robin Williams, dead at the age of 63.

We are going to begin first, though, with CNN's Nischelle Turner, also Hal Sparks, actor and comedian and director who worked with Robin Williams just two weeks ago. And also former broadcaster Pat O'Brien, he knew Robin Williams and he's written a book about his own journey.

Thanks, everyone. Sorry that we have to gather here on such a sad occasion.

Hal, I'm going to start with you because you worked with Robin just a few weeks ago. It was a surprise to tell us about, for me to be telling this to our audience. So, tell us about working with him.

(CROSSTALK)

HAL SPARKS, ACTOR: Yes. We do a show, there's a new comic show that stand-ups are doing called "Set List."

It is an improvised stand-up show, almost a show that you would say was built for someone like Robin. The rest of us all treat it like it is this test of our ability. And I had done a show. I was the last performer of the night. It was one of those things where I felt like I had done a really great show and felt awesome about it.

And then I realized that Robin was dropping in for a guest set and had decided to do it. It was like walking a tightrope and realized that they had removed the net while you were up there because there was no way to compete with the energy and power and creativity that he was going to bring and that's exactly what it was.

Fascinating enough though, you could tell in his energy that there is a level of respect he has for other performers, and especially other comedians, that he almost in the beginning of what he was doing, tamped it down, because I think he was abundantly aware of how much of a bulldozer he could be creatively in any situation.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: And this was so recent. Could you tell that he was struggling with depression?

SPARKS: No. I mean, Robin -- I had worked Robin on an event for the G.I. Bill, when the new G.I. Bill was being written. And he had always had an emotional intensity that -- a lot of people will write it off as some sort of manic-depressive nature and all that stuff, or some hidden dark side that comics deal with and all that stuff.

But the reality was I think it was just an overpowering amount of empathy he had for people. He loved people, it seemed, and it is like he could feel their pain. That's what drove him to do stand-up, to goof around so much. It was like this overbearing desire in himself to make other people not hurt and to feel joy.

And you could just see it. You could look at the pictures of it and you could see in this man's eyes a depth, quite frankly, that you just don't see in a lot of pictures of stand-ups standing around and doing their thing. There are tears in there that are not for himself. It is not like an egocentric thing that everybody associates with stand- ups. It is really, I think he just felt other people's pain so much.

LEMON: I want to bring Pat O'Brien in here, because, Pat, we will talk about addiction soon enough in the show, and which you have had struggles with and you wrote a book about it, and I'm sure Robin Williams help you to deal with your issues.

But let's talk -- let's see what his wife said. His wife said that she wants to -- she hopes that we remember his life and not how he died. You interviewed him a number of times. You knew him. You knew about the friendship he had with Christopher Reeve. Explain to us what kind of a man he is.

PAT O'BRIEN, SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Well, hi, everybody. Awful news. It's been a long a while since I cried like this today.

But the ironic thing, I was thinking on the way over I drove by The Comedy Store and it said RIP Robin Williams, about a thousand people out there here in L.A. The ironic thing is that Robin Williams, as you guys have pointed out, made everybody in the world laugh, everybody, and maybe if Mork is real out of this world as well. The one person he couldn't make happy was himself.

That's the real tragedy of this in that he suffered with demons. He worked on them. He didn't shy away from -- I did it in public, he did it in public. He didn't shy away from it. He talked about it. He maintained his sense of humor all through it.

But at the end of the day, this is a tough disease. As Dr. Drew pointed out, who, by the way, got me sober originally, it's a brain disease, an obsession. It is not to be made fun of, it is not to be laughed at. This is not a Z100 deal like Lindsay Lohan and all that. It makes me sick when people do that.

When I got out of my first rehab, by the way, Don, Robin was one of the first people to greet me. And he grabbed me and he hugged me. And he said, hey, papa, and he said, welcome home. Then he said you're in a safe place now.

And that safe place is being in rooms of recovery, knowing that you need help and listening to other people talk about their problems. Many times, there were scenarios, and that's the safe home where you can talk about it and get it out in the open. But now as we lose Robin and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Whitney Houston and all these people, we remember that, yes, they will bring attention to this, but there are 27, 28, 29 million people who suffer from this every day.

And those are the people that should get attention as well. There is a way out. There is a solution, but you just got to find it.

CAMEROTA: That's a great message, Pat.

And, Nischelle, part of the reason this feels like such a big loss tonight is because he was in the public eye and successful for so long. NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, 40-plus years.

CAMEROTA: Yes, 40-plus years. He was a working comedian and we all -- from "Mork & Mindy" and beyond, he touched people's lives. In fact, he was on television recently. Here's a clip of his most recent TV show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: The refrain from that 1972 spot was, you deserve a break today. And, today, people really need a break. Food is one thing, Hannah. But a moment together with family is everything. Human connection. Look at each other in the eye. Those special moments are so gone, so missed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Even that seems poignant now, listening to that.

Nischelle, what do we know about these last weeks of his?

TURNER: Well, it is interesting, Alisyn, because you said he was a working comedian. Not just that. He was an actor. He was a thespian. He actually gained the most fame for his dramatic roles, when he won the Oscar for "Good Will Hunting." And then there were movies like "Dead Poets Society" and "Good Morning Vietnam," where did he bring comedy and drama together.

But what we know from what happened today was that the Marin County Sheriff's Department said at noon today, they did come to Robin's home in Northern California and they found him there dead. They do believe it was an apparent suicide. The coroner's office said they believe it was suicide due to asphyxia -- asphyxia. Excuse me.

But they are still investigating the cause of death. Now within the last month, we did get information that Robin did go back to rehab. At that time, his representatives told us that he was reentering rehab to maintain his sobriety, to kind of do some fine-tuning and do a quick fix and make sure that he didn't get off the straight and narrow.

That was back in July. This is now August. And now we are getting this news. But Robin does leave us with a filmography that we will see later this year, "Night of the Museum" part three, "Secret of the Tomb." It will be released December 19. At this point, we haven't gotten word from 20th Century Fox that that will be moved.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: "Merry Friggin' Christmas."

TURNER: Also, "Merry Friggin' Christmas," yes.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And I was on the set of "Merry Friggin' Christmas." (CROSSTALK)

TURNER: Yes, I did hear that, in Atlanta, correct, Don?

LEMON: Yes. And we wanted to interview Robin, just being honest, and his people did not want us to interview him. I wonder if that's the reason why now. We were on the set with him and Hal Sparks. I interviewed Hal Sparks and I asked Hal Sparks what it was like to work with Robin Williams. He shared that and then Robin Williams just sort of photo-bombed us in the background. That movie has yet to come out.

(CROSSTALK)

TURNER: November 7 is when it is coming out. We did just get late word from the studio that they are not going to move the release date. It's going to open in wide release. But it is still going to be released on November 7.

LEMON: That's probably going to be, if not his last film, one of his last films.

Stick around, guys. We have much more to talk to you about.

But I want to bring in now a friend of mine, and it's Joy Behar.

Joy, how are you doing tonight, my friend?

JOY BEHAR, FORMER CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Hi, Don.

Well, it is a sad, sad thing, because it always is very sad, and maybe it is because I'm a comic myself, when a comedian dies, particularly someone who has brought so much laughing into the world and so much pleasure and so much fun.

It is just heartbreaking to hear this information and this news. They don't stop bugging me, because it's like...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Someone is calling your phone.

BEHAR: Well, they're calling me because they would like me to make statements about this. And I'm talking only to you, because, you know, the thing about it is, it is sad to me that someone who could bring so much laughter and pleasure to others did not do it for himself, you know?

He was a tortured soul, I think. And I remember when I had my show on HLN, he came on the show. He was a big star. I had a small...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Joy, let's look at it. Let's look at it. And then you and I will talk about it.

(CROSSTALK) BEHAR: He came on the show and he was as funny as can be.

I remember when I was at Catch a Rising Star starting out back in the '80s. He would come to the club and just kill it, just kill it on stage. And the minute he would walk in the door, everybody would just go wild. Nobody wanted to follow him. It was a nightmare to follow the guy.

LEMON: Yes.

Hey, Joy, we have a clip of that.

BEHAR: Yes?

LEMON: You interviewed him back in 2011 while he was appearing on Broadway in "Bengal Tiger in at Baghdad Zoo.

Let's look at it and then we will talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Yes, I was picked upon briefly for -- like sixth grade wasn't good. I was called leprechaun, which was kind of like -- it's great if you have a pot of gold, but if you don't, screwed.

BEHAR: Why were you called leprechaun?

WILLIAMS: I was little.

BEHAR: Oh, because you were little.

WILLIAMS: Little.

BEHAR: And hairy.

WILLIAMS: I wasn't hairy back then.

BEHAR: You weren't that hairy then?

WILLIAMS: Then I'd be called rhesus. What do you mean?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: You could do all preparing you wanted to, but was there any way to really prepare for a Robin Williams interview, Joy?

BEHAR: Hard for me to hear.

LEMON: Joy?

BEHAR: Yes.

LEMON: I said you can do all the preparing you want, but Robin Williams, you never knew where he was going to go.

BEHAR: Never. LEMON: Yes.

BEHAR: He was right -- just my speed in terms of an interview, because he would just take you wherever he wanted to go. And it was always, always funny.

And he could be serious for about two seconds and then he would be funny again. But he was a good soul. He was a very generous guy. He was nice to people. He was not a mean guy, you know? Just -- it's a terrible thing. I'm at somebody's house tonight.

And we're having dinner, et cetera. People just screamed. It was so shocking when this came through. I mean, and -- well, what else can I say? It is just -- it is a terrible, terrible thing.

LEMON: Can I ask you something? Because they were showing pictures. We just had pictures up of him with Whoopi. And I reached out to Whoopi today and Whoopi's representative and they were very close, obviously.

BEHAR: Yes.

LEMON: And the representative said she just can't talk right now. She is not answering her phone.

(CROSSTALK)

BEHAR: Yes, right. I can imagine. They did Comic Relief together. I'm sure you have tried to get in touch with Billy also.

LEMON: Yes.

BEHAR: Yes.

LEMON: What did we lose, Joy?

BEHAR: Well, you always -- you just lose that voice, you know? He was not only funny. He was brilliant in so many ways, the way that his brain worked and the things that would come out of him.

The guy was subversive also, which is another wonderful thing about him. He would say things in this way that you didn't even know how politically interesting he was, too. Just a genius in so many ways, up there in the same vein as Jonathan Winters, who was his role model, I think, and his idol, that same sort of genius brain that operated.

LEMON: Yes. Listen, as a comedian, he would probably appreciate your ring tone during an interview about him with "Call Me Maybe." Interesting ring tone.

But, Joy, I appreciate that...

BEHAR: "Call Me Maybe,: yes.

LEMON: I appreciate that you gave us the exclusive. And thank you so much for remembering... (CROSSTALK)

BEHAR: OK. Thank you. You're welcome. OK, bye-bye.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: It is sad to hear everyone's remembrances and then to see the funny clips of his as Mrs. Doubtfire and other things. He had such a repertoire.

LEMON: Brought so much joy.

CAMEROTA: He did.

LEMON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: We are remembering Robin Williams tonight in the wake of his shocking death today, but right now here he is in his Oscar- winning role, "Good Will Hunting."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Ask you about love, you would probably quote me a sonnet. But you have never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable, someone that could level with you her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Tonight, our breaking news is the death of Robin Williams at his home today in California.

Investigators believe the cause was suicide due to asphyxia. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday. A media rep for Williams said the comedian had been battling severe depression lately. He also battled alcohol and he was in rehab at least twice, including one stint just a month ago.

But let's talk about all that. We're joined now by actor and comedian Dom Irrera, Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of "Dr. Drew" on HLN, who is a specialist on addiction, and Pat O'Brien is back with us.

Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here.

Dr. Drew, I want to talk to you. We know that his reps said he checked himself into rehab in July, just a few weeks ago. And they said that it was for maintenance. Do you see some sort of connection between his struggle...

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: ... depression?

DR. DREW PINSKY, HLN HOST: Alisyn, I don't know even what that means anymore, when people say rehab. They don't even -- we so stigmatize mental illness and addiction that when somebody says the word rehab, I have no idea what they're talking about.

The only way I can understand what that might have been was that then he was severely depressed, and the depression was threatening his recovery, and he went into a psychiatric hospital to have appropriate treatment for depression. Why we can't say that is just baffling to me.

He had at least three reasons to have severe depression. He clearly had the genetic basis for it. He had addiction and addiction -- and a recent relapse after a long period of sobriety. And he had cardiac surgery. People don't remember that.

People need to keep in mind that when you have your chest opened up, the biology is such that it affects the brain and causes severe depressions many times. This poor man -- and he survived -- his cardiac disease, he survived. But the brain disease, he was taken away from his family, us, himself.

The brain disease is what took him away. And we can't even talk freely and openly about it.

LEMON: Dom, you know -- just last year, you had -- did a podcast with Robin Williams. And he openly discussed -- I'm not sure if he did with you, but he spoke to Larry King and many other interviews. Pat O'Brien will probably agree with him, but he spoke openly about his issues, about addiction, about depression. And I think he wanted the stigma removed from that, Dom.

DOM IRRERA, COMEDIAN: Well, yes, he -- first of all, that podcast, I remember so clearly, because it was him and I for 45 minutes.

And the most fun with Robin was being alone with him, because he would calm down. And you would get the real him.

And we have lost so many comedians the last couple years to drugs and depression. Like what John Lennon said, it's getting better all the time -- it couldn't get much worse, because to lose him is like -- I'm stunned. I did not see this coming, you know, not even a little bit.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Drew, I want to go back to you for a second, because I heard you an hour ago say something that I think is really powerful. And everybody tonight who may be suffering with depression or knows someone suffering from depression needs to hear it.

You said depression is treatable, and it will pass. But people who are suffering with depression don't believe that.

PINSKY: That's right. It doesn't feel like it will ever pass.

I was really talking about suicidality. Suicidality passes, essentially always. It can come back, but it passes. And if you can stay with people through those moments when they feel so impulsive, this doesn't have to be a fatal condition. But emotions pass. Depressions come and they go. They always

improve. And, again, I spent decades in a psychiatric hospital, where one of my primary responsibility was sorting out the relationship between medical problems and depression. They commonly coexist together and fuel one another.

We have got to remember that these are medical conditions of the brain that have treatments, and people don't have to die from it. This is a tragedy that should wake us up to that.

LEMON: Can I ask Pat a question?

Pat, I want to ask you, because you said that he helped you with your addiction. And I know that you and I text a lot and you're very witty as well. But you're also very forthcoming about your addiction. How did he help you?

O'BRIEN: Well, he taught me -- and, by the way, don't get Dr. Drew and I started on rehabs or Twitter.

The stigma that goes along -- alcoholism is the only disease in drug addiction that people will not admit that they have, and that we have to get that out of -- we have to take that out of the conversation. There has got to be a public outcry about mental health issues and alcoholism.

And we have to get the fine lines of Obamacare in there so that these people can be treated. It takes, I don't know, Drew, three months to even settle down alcoholism, which is a brain disease. A lot of people can't afford that. I could, thank God. So could Robin. But a lot of people can't, so it goes untreated.

How many times, Don and Alisyn, have you done stories there about shootings and kids being killed and Colorado, and it all begins with depression, drugs and alcohol, and then a gun? People have got to understand it is not a joke anymore. We're all butts of jokes, and I understand that.

But it is not a joke. And it should be every day, we have to think about people who are not celebrities. What, is it 30 million, Drew, 28, 29, 30 million. But Robin helped me by explaining to me that once you get into a recovery, it is better to begin recovery knowing you're an alcoholic than to be outside somewhere wondering if you are.

And I love him for that. And he put his arms around me and he said, papa, welcome home.

CAMEROTA: That is so beautiful.

And one of the admirable thing about Robin Williams is that he did talk publicly about his struggles, and he did talk about addiction. And, of course, he did work that into his comedy routine. So let's watch a clip of that from 2009.

(CROSSTALK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: You get drunk, you go out for Indian food, you wake up in Bombay with a camel licking your balls.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: Ta-Da! You are an alcoholic.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: And some people say, Robin, I am a functioning alcoholic, which is -- you can be one. It is like being a paraplegic lap dancer. You can do it, just not as well as the others, really.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now...

LEMON: God bless him.

CAMEROTA: God bless that humor, as raw as it is.

Joining us..

LEMON: I saw him, before we go to Ant, I saw him in -- I think it was 2011 at the Trevor foundation event and he performed and talked. He was hilarious. He had everybody just cracking up about -- and he was talking about addiction and his own issues. And people were -- he made it into a joke.

CAMEROTA: That's his gift, to talk about painful things and to make everybody laugh.

Joining us on the phone is another comedian and actor named Ant. He was in rehab with Robin Williams.

Ant, thanks for joining us.

Tell us what you remember about that experience with Robin.

ANT, COMEDIAN: Hi. Thanks.

Just to be clear, I was not in rehab with Robin. I had met Robin when I got out of rehab. And he was just -- listening to Pat -- just very, very kind. And I remember talking to him about his relapse, because I had relapsed as well. And I just said I think it is really awesome that you have come back into treatment and into recovery.

And he said, you know, my life depends on it. All of our lives depend on it.

And he was a really, really giving, nice person to young people in recovery, very, very visible and very kind. CAMEROTA: And that's so important. To have somebody as visible as

he, as successful as he as a role model, that's a beautiful thing that he gave to people.

(CROSSTALK)

ANT: That wasn't the first time I had met Robin. I had met Robin several other times. When I was starting out in comedy, I would go to The Comedy Store in Los Angeles, and I would have these late spots.

And he would come in, and everybody would get bumped so that he could do his thing. And then he would stay after and he would watch young comics and he would approach ones that he found was funny. And a couple times, he would come up to me and say, you're really, really funny. You have got just stay with it, stay with it. Don't quit.

And he's always just been that kind of supportive person, both in recovery and out of recovery.

CAMEROTA: And, Ant, what do you think it is about comedians? This is not an original concept, that there is some sort of dark side that...

(CROSSTALK)

ANT: Oh, we're all miserable and depressed. We're all miserable and depressed.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Well, is there a depressive streak that allows you to tap into that sort of humor?

ANT: No.

Comedy is, what, tragedy plus time, they say, right? And comics just have this inane gift of seeing something. Norman Lear told me one time two people can be in a horrible car accident. One will see the humor in it and the other will see the tragedy. That's the difference between a comedian and a regular person, basically.

But we do. We have to pull on some of the dark things that happen in our life in order to create the comedy, in order to create that sort of relatability, because everybody has been in pain at some point or another. Some people know just how to deal with it.

Others of us who are born with addiction have this other 3,000-pound gorilla on our back that we sometimes really can't seem to shake. Unfortunately, it seems like Robin was -- those ghosts and that gorilla was just too heavy.

LEMON: Hey, Ant, before we go to break, I want to ask you something. Is there truth, as a comedian, the whole sad clown thing that people talk about, that many comedians, they are comedians because deep down inside they may be a little bit depressed or they're sad?

(CROSSTALK) ANT: I think there's truth to that. I do. I would say yes.

But, for the most part, I would say that we live in a time right now with the Internet and with the way communication happens and the way that we communicate with each other, that we're really, really blessed. It is a special time, that we are now given ways and opportunity to sort of deal with that.

The one interesting thing about Robin -- and I hope that you're really hitting this home -- is that he started to understand that his addiction was becoming -- was rearing its head and he checked himself back into Hazelden so that he wouldn't relapse.

And there is just a lot, a lot of heavy things going on. And I can't even imagine the pressures that he was under in life. So there's a bit of truth to that. There is a bit of truth to that.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Well, Ant, we appreciate you talking about it publicly, too. Every time somebody talks about it publicly, we hope it helps other people listening. Thanks so much for your memories of him.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: It helps to remove the stigma. We appreciate that, Ant, and all of our other guests. Some of them will be back throughout this hour, the next couple of hours here on CNN.

We have got lots more memories of Robin Williams tonight and his extraordinary career, including the role that first made him a star in TV's "Mork & Mindy."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: I don't know if it was a dream or not. All I know is it was terrifying, and you were in it too.

PAM DAWBER, ACTRESS: Me, what did I do?

WILLIAMS: Don't play dumb.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: We start out first by going through this human car wash and being covered in Shake and Bake. And the entire cast of "The Untouchables" was there too.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: And then we end up in this big hot tub, where we played connect the dot with each other's freckles and bob for wet things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. A sad and shocking breaking news

tonight here on CNN is one of America's most loved comedians, Robin Williams, dead today -- died today in his northern California home. He was 63 years old.

Robin Williams achieved stardom with the hit TV show "Mork & Mindy" and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1997 movie, "Good Will Hunting."

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I remember them both vividly.

LEMON: What a great movie.

CAMEROTA: Impressive.

LEMON: Today we were looking over his list of accomplishments and you go, Robin Williams was in that?

CAMEROTA: I know.

LEMON: Was in that, was in that. So back with us now, Hal Sparks, also with us, Shaun Robinson of "Access Hollywood," Krista Smith, CNN entertainment commentator and senior West Coast editor of "Vanity Fair" and Pat O'Brien is back with us.

Shaun, you and I talked, Michael Jackson, you were in the documentary after that death. Whitney Houston, you and I talked, we talked Phillip Seymour Hoffman and now we're talking about this. And it seems like, you know, sadly, we are talking about stars who had addictions or dealing with issues. And it happens way too often. And talk to us about the stigma and how Hollywood deals with these things.

SHAUN ROBINSON, "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD": It is really so sad to be here, Don. And as you said, we -- you and I have talked so many times about these very tragic deaths. And when this news was announced today, people were just so much in shock. So devastated. It reminded us of the death of John Ritter. Another shocking, shocking celebrity who died way too soon. But with Robin Williams, the way he died. This apparent suicide had everybody talking about, you know, why didn't a lot of people see these signs?

Yes, we knew he had been in rehab. We knew he had these struggles. But Robin Williams was someone who, as I've been hearing you talk, made so many people laugh.

I just want to share with you some of our observations that "Access Hollywood" as I was talking to the crew before I came over here. And what we remembered about Robin Williams, whenever we were in a junket with him, an interview situation with him, he was the guy who came into the room and spoke to everybody. He spoke to the camera people, the audio people, he spoke to the producers, and that is rare. Not everybody does that.

Many celebrities, they may come in, they just sit down, do the interview and then when the red light is off, they're out the door. That happens a lot. But Robin Williams was one of those guys who just came in and was just so nice. And just lit up the room with just a positive energy. And after the interview was over, oftentimes he would stay and just tell jokes. And I heard you talking about, it's hard to prepare for an interview with Robin Williams. You couldn't prepare. You just knew just to be completely on your toes.

LEMON: It was fun to watch --

ROBINSON: So just a devastating loss.

LEMON: It was fun to watch an interview actually try to corral Robin.

ROBINSON: Yes.

LEMON: Because, you know, it didn't happen. There's no way that you could do it.

CAMEROTA: Fool's errand. And Hal, you've talked about that, too. I mean, we all knew him as having manic energy. He was so manic on the stage. But behind the scenes what was he like?

HAL SPARKS, ACTOR/COMEDIAN/DIRECTOR: He was -- he was so affable as to almost tamp it down. There was a coiled spring aspect to him that was just this energy was so ready to burst all the time that even when he was being kind of deferential to everyone around him, you could tell he was doing it by pushing down what -- his natural instinct which was very explosive, very energetic and very funny.

And it was almost as if he was -- he was proud of the fact that he could be funny and he knew he had a skill on this area but he almost looked at it as sort of this weapon that could be waved around, you know, uncaringly. He didn't want to eat people's, you know, time or energy unnecessarily. So around a lot of comics, he was actually, you know, very tepid almost in some ways. Until he went on stage and then all bets are off. But he always had this energy that belied his empathy.

And I think while a lot of people talk about him not being able to love himself, or that going on, I can't speak to that at all. But what I can speak to is what I saw. And what I saw was a man who cared so much about how everyone else was feeling, that I think he carried that with him. You could just feel the love and respect. And that's why he seemed to act out. It wasn't the attention thing or some sort of -- like I said, the comic that needed the attention or feels sad inside about themselves. But that he could almost empathetically feel everybody else's bad week and he wanted to get rid of it for him.

LEMON: It was just who he was, right?

SPARKS: Yes.

LEMON: And Krista, listen, let's talk about this because, you know, I was doing my research. And I thought that Robin Williams was someone who, you know, had EGOT, he was an EGOT, right? Had the Emmy, the Tony, and then on and on. But he did not win a Tony.

KRISTA SMITH, CNN ENTERTAINMENT COMMENTATOR: Grammy. LEMON: And a Grammy. But he had everything but that Tony even though

he was on Broadway. It would be great if they gave him one posthumously and then he would be an EGOT. But I mean, not many people get to have that kind of a career.

SMITH: No. I -- Don, honestly, I think the president put it best when he said that he came to us as an alien but he ended up touching every aspect of the human spirit. And if you've been king on social media at all, you know, Twitter is devastated. And what I find so moving about it is that you have people like, you know, Steve Martin who is obviously the actor and comedian, then you have Miley Cyrus, and it just shows the range of how many people he touched and the effect that he had on them.

I mean I remember him from "Dead Poets Society" and I only wish that I had a teacher like that. And there's a lot of millennials that first met him when he was Aladdin. So I think that to say the word comic genius, a lot of times is overused but in this case I absolutely think that it's appropriate. And as Joy said earlier in the show, his brain, he had such a big brain. He was so quick on his feet.

And if you actually listen to what he was saying, he was so astute, he was so political. He knew exactly what was going on. And you just don't get that kind of -- you know, that doesn't happen that often and certainly in a lifetime maybe once. And Robin Williams was definitely that person.

LEMON: All right. Thanks, everyone. And stick around. We'll talk to -- we're going to talk to pat a lot more here on CNN this evening as our coverage continues.

CAMEROTA: All right. When we come back live on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with an actor who worked with Robin Williams. He was a man so funny, he could get laughs out of even a charity appeal. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBIN WILLIAMS, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: We want to you pick up that phone and call us at the number that's dancing above my waist right now. That's right, 976-FREE. Now it's over, what happened? Remember that the money you are donating is going directly to homeless people. I have that incredible voice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Hollywood and the world mourning the loss of Robin Williams tonight.

Joining us now is CNN's Ted Rowlands. He's at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

What are you seeing there, Ted?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn and Don, as you can imagine, it's very emotional here. People from around the world are coming to pay their tributes to Robin Williams. You see some messages and flowers being left here. Actually the public doesn't have a lot of access tonight because there is a movie premier. "The Expendables III" is premiering at the Chinese which is right where Robin Williams' star on the Walk of Fame is. James DuMont is here for that premiere but he worked with Robin Williams in "The Butler."

And we were talking, James, that what -- he was just an incredible talent. But also you said an incredible person.

DUMONT: An incredible person on and off screen. A year ago, actually a year ago -- tomorrow would be, we were on the premier of "The Butler" together and brought out my "I Like Ike" because I played Sherman Adams, the chief of staff under Eisenhower. And Robin Williams was a flawless, amazing icon as Eisenhower. And he is an amazing person on and off screen. So it's a real tragedy. My heart goes out to his family, his children in particular.

(CROSSTALK)

ROWLANDS: A shock (INAUDIBLE) today.

DUMONT: A shocker for sure. Absolutely. Particularly given the beautiful life on and off screen that we've come to know, was exactly and even beyond that when I worked on the set with him. So we have some icons in this movie but we really lost a big icon today for sure.

ROWLANDS: And you said it's -- the thing that you took away with working with him was he was this incredible talent. He could bounce in and out of character.

DUMONT: He basically went from, like, being Eisenhower to, like, imitating "Precious." Because Lee Daniels directed "Precious" and so sometimes things would go a little slow and he'd go, "Precious, Precious," and we'd all be on alert and then boom, he'd go right back into Eisenhower. It's just a remarkable, talented, amazing generous person on and off screen. And I -- the pleasure was all mine to work with him. And even at the end I said it was an honor to work with you. And he's like, no, it was an honor to work with you.

And it was truly genuine and sincere and that's just the mark of a great person, no doubt about it.

ROWLANDS: All right. Alisyn and Don, some stars here but a lot of other folks here. Quickly, just -- these are the regular folks. This is Christopher. He brought a photo that was taken in Iraq when he was serving there. Robin Williams came to entertain the troops.

And Christopher, in a word, what was he like?

CHRISTOPHER, FAN: He was great. He was just honest, humorous guy. He entertained us when we were down over the holidays. And it's just an amazing time to see him perform for us.

ROWLANDS: All right. Just a sampling. It's been going on all night. And -- will for the next few days. There is a formal ceremony here tomorrow morning at 9:30 Pacific -- Alisyn, Don.

CAMEROTA: He touched so many peoples' lives in Hollywood and beyond.

Ted, thank you for that.

LEMON: Absolutely. When we come right back, we're going to have much more on the life and career of Robin Williams.

Plus another big story tonight, bracing for trouble in St. Louis. In a St. Louis suburb where it is another night of unrest over the shooting of an unarmed teenager by a police officer.

Plus, we have the emotional, very emotional interview with his mother and his father. That is coming up. You don't want to miss that interview.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: That's a nice picture with Johnny Carson.

LEMON: Hard to believe, isn't it?

CAMEROTA: Yes. So you're joining us for our special coverage of breaking news, the death of Robin Williams at the age of 63. We're back again with Shaun Robinson, Krista Smith and Pat O'Brien.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Pat, tell us a funny story that you have, probably many of those, but tell us one you remember about Robin.

PAT O'BRIEN, FORMER BROADCASTER: There's a bunch that I could tell. By the way, good to be back on with Shaun Robinson again, but I'll tell you, when Christopher Reeves first came out for the first time ever after his horrible accident, he was in this. We had all gone to the Bahamas or the Jamaica or one of these exotic places for his foundation, to raise money for the foundation. And Robin was there and Chris was there. And Chris had never been out in public before. And so Robin said hey, you -- of course, they were great friends. And Chris, you guys reported, Don and Alisyn, earlier that Chris said that Robin was the guy that made him laugh.

So anyway, we're down there and Robin said, do you want to say hi to Chris, because I hadn't spoken to him yet about this horrible thing that happened to him, and I was all glum and god, what am a going to say to him? So he said meet us in this room, I'll make it up, 222, this big room. So I go and open the door, and it's dark but I can see that there are two things going on in the back of the room. I can see a shadow of Chris Reeves in that big chair with the tubes and then I could see Robin's shadow.

And Robin yells out, hey, Pat, turn that switch on and get some light in here, OK? And I said sure. And when I turned the switch, Chris Reeves made his chair, his wheelchair go back and forth and Robin is screaming, no, not that switch, not that switch. So it was a little bit of humor from Robin and Chris Reeves. And he could make a joke out of anything. And no matter what he did, people would laugh.

And Chris Reeves, who was facing death and trying to raise money for spinal research, he said no, not that switch. I'll never forget that. But if I don't get another chance, let's remember what Dr. Seuss said. Let's not be sad that it's over. Let's smile because it happened. And we're going to miss this dude.

CAMEROTA: That's beautiful. Yes.

And so Krista, is there anything that -- I mean, his wife put out a statement today saying that he had been battling severe depression. Were people aware of that on the West Coast?

SMITH: Well, I think in general people are really shocked and kind of -- and traumatized by the news. It is completely and utterly unexpected. And as you had been talking about earlier in the show, you know, he was very open about it. I mean, early in his career he had battled some substance abuse, had dealt with it openly, talked about it, made jokes about it. So in terms of knowing about some depressive condition, I don't think that people were fully aware at all.

And if you look at all the movies he had done, I mean, he had four films that he had finished and that are due to be released in the next year. There is another "Night at the Museum" coming out. I mean, he was very prolific and he was working. And you know, he kind of made jokes about, you know, having to work and divorces are expensive. But he had such, you know, (INAUDIBLE) as we talked about.

He was just so, you know, no matter how over the top his characters were, there was such humanity to him. And he was such a lovely soul. You know, I just think people are shocked. I don't think anybody expected this.

LEMON: Yes. Let's talk more about that. And by the way, Pat, you know, that didn't go past us. You and Shaun -- you and Shaun used to anchor together on an entertainment show.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Yes, we did. A show I created.

LEMON: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Can I say one thing?

LEMON: Yes, I want to get Shaun in here quickly, though. Go ahead.

O'BRIEN: OK, OK, quick. But I'm getting texts from people all over Hollywood and a lot of other people. And three of them have thanked us for doing the show. Thank you, Don and Alisyn, because they said at this moment they were considering suicide. These are the kinds of things that people out there. And this is what we need to do.

LEMON: Yes.

O'BRIEN: This is information. There is a way out. There is a solution. Please, think about things and get help.

CAMEROTA: I'm so glad you're saying that.

LEMON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Because, you know, we had Dr. Drew on earlier who said, it will pass. People need to know that. Even in your darkest hour, it will pass and people are there to help you.

LEMON: And what he said -- and I think they said that you don't -- depression wants to get you alone in a dark room. Right? That's the one thing it wants to do and that's the one thing that you should --

O'BRIEN: It doesn't -- it doesn't have to happen.

LEMON: No.

O'BRIEN: I mean, it does, but you can arrest it. And you know, God is real. God is with you. Higher power, God, whatever. You don't have to. So for those people sending me those, please hang in there.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

LEMON: Shaun, what do we do -- what do we do, Shaun? I mean, you know, so that we're not having a conversation like this again. Especially when it come to stigma. And if there's anything -- you know, I know it sounds odd, but if there's anything to be gained out of this or to be learned from this, what do we do? And what do we do as broadcasters?

(CROSSTALK)

ROBINSON: You know what, Don? Yes. If anything, I would just -- I like to always focus on the positive. And there are many people out there who are really hurting and especially in Hollywood. There are people who have this facade that everything is great. Everything is perfect. So it is important for to us reach out to people and make sure, you know, we just say, hey, are you doing OK?

We just need a little bit more kindness and empathy for each other. It doesn't matter if somebody is a big movie star or just, you know, the person next door. We just need more empathy and more -- just positivity, and just really reaching out to people and making sure that they're doing OK even though that they have a smile on their face.

LEMON: Yes. Yes. Thank you, Shaun. And I'm sorry to -- someone was talking in my ear so I couldn't complete my thought. Frustrating when it happens.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

When we come right back, one of Robin Williams' greatest performances.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)