Comedian and actor Robin Williams died in 2014. Picture: Jason Kempin/Getty Images
He was the beloved actor who captivated audiences with his quick-witted improvisation and impeccable comedic timing.
Whether playing a nanny in disguise, a genie or Peter Pan, Robin Williams brought a unique blend of energy, humour and heart to every role he took on.
The comedian’s tragic death in 2014 at age 63 saw him leave behind an estate worth $US50 million ($A75 million), which included a collection of properties.
Here is a closer look at the homes the Oscar winner left behind and who inherited his estate.
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Robin Williams in the film Mrs Doubtfire.
Real Estate
California
At the time of his death, Williams lived in a six-bedroom estate in California.
Situated in the wealthy enclave of Tiburon, the house featured stunning views of the San Francisco Bay, pool, spa, and stone patio overlooking the water — and a spacious eat-in kitchen.
The Good Will Hunting star purchased the mansion in 2008 for $US4.05 million ($A6.06 million). It was the home where he took his own life.
After his death it was revealed the funnyman was battling a degenerative condition, Lewy Body Dementia.
Following his tragic passing, the property was transferred to a trust tied to his widow, Susan.
She sold the residence in 2020 for $US5.35 million ($A8.01 million). It had been listed a year earlier for $US7.25 million ($A10.8 million).
At the time of his death, Williams lived in a six-bedroom estate in California. Picture: Supplied
The Good Will Hunting star purchased the mansion in 2008 for $US4.05 million. Picture: Supplied
Napa Valley
In 2003, Williams built a five-bedroom mansion in the Napa Valley.
Named Villa Sorriso, which means “Villa of Smile” in Italian, the sprawling estate featured 10 bathrooms, a separate caretaker’s house with four extra bedrooms, space for nine horses in the connecting stables, more than 100 olive trees, and a 7.4ha vineyard.
There is also a tennis court, library, theatre, wine cellar, infinity edge pool and hiking and riding trails.
Robin Williams. Picture: Jason Kempin/Getty Images
A year before his death, the Mrs Doubtfire star was desperately trying to sell the property.
“There are bills to pay. My life has downsized, in a good way. I’m selling the ranch up in Napa. I just can’t afford it anymore,” he told Parade magazine in 2013.
The dwelling finally sold in 2016 for $US18.1 million ($A27.1 million).
In 2003, Williams built a five-bedroom mansion in the Napa Valley. Picture: Supplied
The stunning view overlooking Robin Williams’ vineyard. Picture: Supplied
San Francisco
In 1991, Williams and his then-wife Marsha snapped up a palatial mansion in San Francisco’s Sea Cliff neighbourhood for $US3.2 million ($A5.1 million).
The couple renovated the home adding a movie theatre, hidden bar and secret tunnel that connected their children’s bedrooms.
When the pair divorced in 2010, Marsha kept the property. She listed the home in October 2023 in a bid to downsize. Her children had flown the nest and she was ready to move to a smaller abode, she explained.
“It’s a beautiful, happy house,” she told Mansion Global at the time.
“We had many, many fantastic years of fun and play and joy there.”
Marsha put the estate on the market in 2023 for $US25 million ($A40 million). It sold a year later for $US18.1 million ($A27.1 million).
Williams and his then-wife Marsha. Picture: Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images
In 1991, Williams and his then-wife Marsha snapped up a palatial mansion in San Francisco’s Sea Cliff neighbourhood for $US3.2 million. Picture: Open Homes/TopTenRealEstateDeals
The home sold in 2024 for $US18.1 million. Picture: Open Homes/TopTenRealEstateDeals
Who inherited Robin Williams’ estate?
According to People, Williams left his estate to a trust for his three children Zak, Zelda and Cody.
The Hook actor’s will also stipulated his wife, Susan, be provided for under the terms of their prenup agreement.
In February 2015, Williams’ children and wife went to court in a fight over the late comedian’s estate, Page Six reports.
Williams with sons Cody and Zack, wife Marsha and daughter Zelda in 2004. Picture: Evan Agostini/Getty Images
Susan accused the Aladdin star’s children of taking items without her permission and asked the court to exclude the contents of the Tiburon home that she shared with Williams from the jewellery, memorabilia and other items Williams said the children should have.
The children countersued that Susan is “adding insult to a terrible injury” by trying to change the trust agreement and rob them of the late actor’s clothing and other personal items.
Eight months later, Williams’ widow and his children reached a settlement.
Terms of the out-of-court settlement were not disclosed. Susan remained in the Tiburon home she shared with Williams and received living expenses to maintain the home for the rest of her life.
She also received a watch the actor often wore, a bike bought on their honeymoon, and their wedding gifts.
Williams with wife Susan in 2012. Picture: Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Fall from grace
Longtime friend Billy Crystal described seeing Williams on stage: “It was electric, and we all just sat there and went, ‘Oh, my god, what is this?’ It was like trying to catch a comet with a baseball glove.”
Williams landed the guest role of Mork from Ork on the hit show Happy Days in February 1978.
The character was so indelible it led to a spin-off show, Mork & Mindy, which, by the following spring in 1979, reached 60 million viewers. Robin Williams was now a household name.
Williams landed the guest role of Mork from Ork on the hit show Happy Days in February 1978. Picture: ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images
Despite rampant drug and alcohol addiction (he famously said cocaine was “God’s way of telling you you’re making too much money”), Williams easily found big-screen stardom.
He earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of the verbose Vietnam radio host in 1987’s Good Morning, Vietnam.
Other critically acclaimed roles followed including 1989’s Dead Poets Society, 1991’s The Fisher King, and 1997’s Good Will Hunting, which landed him an Oscar for his portrayal of a caring therapist to Matt Damon’s angsty genius.
Williams also piggybacked from one money-maker to the next as the face of comedy.
He voiced the singing Genie in Disney’s 1992 film Aladdin, played a cross-dressing nanny in 1993’s Mrs Doubtfire, and a man trapped in a board game in 1995’s Jumanji.
The 1997 film Good Will Hunting landed Williams an Oscar. Picture: Supplied
Robin Williams could evidently do no wrong. But a series of commercial and critical flops followed — from the maudlin (1998’s Patch Adams) to the dark (2002’s Death to Smoochy) to the plain unwatchable (2009’s Old Dogs).
Meanwhile, his long-running issues with drugs and alcohol resurfaced, and after his family staged an intervention, he checked himself into a rehab facility in 2006.
In recovery, he met his third wife, Susan, whom he wed in 2011.
He married first wife, Valerie Velardi, in 1978, and the two had a son, Zachary.
They divorced in 1988, and the next year, he wed his son’s nanny, Marsha Garces. The two were married for 19 years and had daughter Zelda and son Cody.
He was a “stimulus junkie,” whose anxieties came from his work.
“The line of work he was in bred anxiety and self-centred concerns. He would always say, ‘You’re only as good as your last performance’,” Susan said the 2018 biography Robin.
The magical 1990s success eluded him as he jumped from one low-budget project to the next until CBS announced his return to the small screen in The Crazy Ones, which premiered in September 2013.
He played Simon Roberts, an ageing ad-agency founder who must cede control of his business to his daughter.
But the magic wasn’t there.
“Williams seems exhausted,” one review read. “So is this show.”
Parts of this story first appeared in Page Six and the New York Post and were republished with permission.
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