Sally Field Tells Robin Williams Story That Will Break Your Heart

Sally Field is sharing a deeply personal story about the late Robin Williams.

Field remembered her fellow actor fondly in a Vanity Fair piece published online Monday, saying he was so “sensitive and intuitive” that he changed the filming order of 1993′s “Mrs. Doubtfire” for her sake.

“I never shared this story before,” Field said in the piece, an oral history of Williams’ life and career.

“I was in the camper outside of the courtroom where we were shooting the divorce scene. My father had a stroke a couple of years before, and was in a nursing facility. I got a phone call from the doctor saying my father had passed, a massive stroke.”

Field recalled making the heartbreaking decision to take her father off life support before returning to set and “trying with all my might to act.” Though Field said she didn’t cry, Williams seemed to know something was off — and took her aside to ask what it was.

When she told him, Williams said, “Oh my God, we need to get you out here right now.”

“And he made it happen—they shot around me the rest of the day,” Field told Vanity Fair. “I could go back to my house, call my brother, and make arrangements. It’s a side of Robin that people rarely knew: He was very sensitive and intuitive.”

Williams died by suicide in 2014 at age 63. An autopsy later found that he had a progressive brain disease called Lewy body dementia, which can affect sleep, movement and cognitive abilities.

Loved ones and fans were shocked by his death. Williams was still a working actor at the time, and — with a long career of heartfelt performances in films like “Good Will Hunting” and “Dead Poets Society” — was a treasured and seemingly healthy father figure.

“I feel stunned and so sad about Robin,” Field said at the time. “He always lit up when he was able to make people laugh, and he made them laugh his whole life long — tirelessly.”

She added: “He was one of a kind. There will not be another. Please God, let him now rest in peace.”

Read more at Vanity Fair.

Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.