Scottish actor Billy Connolly and late actor Robin Williams had been friends since meeting on a Canadian talk show about 30 years ago, and now Connolly is opening up about his last conversation with his longtime friend.
In an interview with the Mirror, Connolly said he gave Williams advice on how to deal with the lack of facial expression caused by Parkinson's disease. Connolly, who also has Parkinson's disease, said the "Mrs. Doubtfire" actor thanked him for his advice because it seemed to be working.
"He phoned me a week later, just days before it happened, and he said 'it's brilliant it's working,'" Connolly recalled. "During the call he kept telling me he loved me. I said 'I know.' But he kept repeating it saying 'do you really know I love you?' I was thinking what the f*** is he on about.? After his death I thought 'oh my God he was saying goodbye.'"
Williams was found dead at the age of 65 in his Marin County, California home on Aug. 11, and a coroner ruled his death as "a suicide due to asphyxia." A representative for the late actor stated that Williams had "been battling severe depression."
Treasured pic~turkeys serving up heaping helpings of laughter @TheComedyStore @UniStudios @robinwilliams @howiemandel pic.twitter.com/Jtq7PevNJA
— Charlie (@charolyn_) September 23, 2014
During the interview, Connolly revealed that he and his family were on vacation in Malta when they received news of Williams' suicide. On the day of Williams' death, Connolly said his phone rang, but he did not answer it.
"My phone went in the middle of the night and I just left it," he explained. "The phone was on the other side of the bedroom and I thought f*** that, it's four in the morning. When I got up it was a Californian number. But he didn't have my Maltese number... so it couldn't have been him. It couldn't have."
Connolly and his family are still struggling with Williams' death and are having trouble coming to terms with reality.
"It broke my heart when he died. My family and my children were all crying [because] they all loved him. He is a stunning guy... You notice I don't speak about him in the past tense? It's still not sunk in, I keep expecting him to walk in."
