Sally Field received the tragic news while on the set of the 1993 comedy
Field opened up about the memory in an interview with Vanity Fair which welcomed more than 20 of Williams’ costars, collaborators, and friends to share their thoughts about him to mark 10 years since his untimely death.
She admitted the story was one she had ‘never shared before’, but opened up to demonstrate just how ‘sensitive and intuitive’ Williams was.
Field explained: “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.
“He asked if I wanted them to put him on the resuscitator. I said “No, he did not want that. Just let him go. And please lean down and say, ‘Sally says goodbye’.”
Field played Williams’ ex-wife in Mrs. Doubtfire. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Field recalled being ‘beside [herself]’, but she still tried to put on a brave face.
“I came on the set trying with all my might to act,” she said. “I wasn’t crying. “Robin came over, pulled me out of the set, and asked, ‘Are you okay?’.”
Field initially tried to insist she was okay, prompting Williams to tell her he ‘just thought [he’d] ask’.
She then revealed the truth, to which Williams said: “Oh my God, we need to get you out [of] here right now.”
“And he made it happen—they shot around me the rest of the day,” Field said.
“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.”
Robin Williams was 63 when he died. (20th Century Studios)
Williams’ sensitive side was further demonstrated by Mara Wilson, who played his youngest child in Mrs. Doubtfire.
Wilson lost her mother in 1996, and a short time later, she encountered Williams at a table read for the movie of What Dreams May Come.
She recalled: “He came up to me and very gently asked how I was, and how my family was, but didn’t bring up anything that could have been painful. He was just very sweet.”
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact The Compassionate Friends on (877) 969-0010.
