Robin Williams sadly passed away last August, at 63, after committing suicide in his California home.
But in a heart-breaking development, a recent video of actor Shelley Duvall claiming Robin Williams is still alive seems to suggest Duvall herself has also suffered ill mental health since enjoying Hollywood success.
The interview features in a trailer for the The Dr. Phil Show, titled From Hollywood Star to Near Isolation: Helping The Shining’s Shelley Duvall.
The 67-year-old actress looks somewhat distressed and dishevelled as she tells Dr. Phil that she believes her Popeye (1980) co-star Robin Williams to be alive.
Duvall explains:
I loved Robin Williams. I don’t think he’s dead.
When Phil proceeded to enquire about her claim, she said that Williams is ‘Shape-shifting’.
In the teaser, Duvall also states she is being threatened by the Sheriff of Nottingham, before admitting: “I’m sick, I need help.”
Duvall is an award-winning actress, producer and writer best known for her emphatic and animated portrayal of Jack Nicholson’s wife in cult 1980 horror The Shining.
Since her success – she last appeared in Manna From Heaven in 2002 – Duvall has become incredibly reclusive and she reports long-standing mental health issues.
Understandably, many of her fans have expressed outrage at CBS exploiting her vulnerability and televising it for all to see.
Dr. Phil – who has been dubbed a ‘piece of shit’ – released the trailer which is awfully reminiscent of a sick Victorian Freak Show, and thankfully, commentators have come to Duvall’s defence.
We didn’t feel comfortable including the clip, but if you do want to watch it you can find it on the Entertainment Tonight YouTube channel.
Hopefully the calls to boycott the show will come to fruition and this legendary actress won’t be subjected to televised humiliation.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.