Williams’s third chance

Robin Williams is trying to start over, said Dotson Rader in Parade. The manic actor and comedian admits he’s lost most of his money, damaged his once high-flying career, and blew up two marriages with prolonged episodes of substance abuse. He was deep into cocaine when his first son was born, 30 years ago, but managed to quit on his own. “I didn’t want to be coked out, going, ‘Here’s a little switch—Daddy’s going to throw up on you!’ I wanted to be a participating parent.” But 20 years later, with his film career stalling, Williams surrendered to temptation. “One day I walked into a store and saw a little bottle of Jack Daniel’s. That voice—I call it ‘the lower power’—goes, ‘Hey, just a taste. Just one.’ It escalated so quickly. Within a week, I was buying so many bottles I sounded like a wind chime walking down the street.” His family forced him into rehab in 2006. Today he’s sober, married for the third time, and starting his first TV series in 30 years to help pay the bills. “Divorce is expensive,” he says. He’s also selling his big ranch in Napa Valley. “Do I need that lifestyle? No. My life has downsized.”

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