Divorce, Money Problems Fueled Robin Williams's Return to TV

Former wild man Robin Williams is returning to the small screen on September 26 in "The Crazy Ones," with Sarah Michelle Gellar. He recently sat down with Parade to talk frankly about why he wanted to return to TV, his stint rehab, and more.

Williams hasn't regularly appeared on a television show since he won us over as Mork from Ork in "Mork & Mindy." In addition to the appeal of a program created by TV vet David E. Kelley, he told Parade that part of the show's appeal was "having a steady job," adding, "I have two [other] choices: go on the road doing stand-up, or do small, independent movies working almost for scale [minimum union pay]. The movies are good, but a lot of times they don't even have distribution. 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."

Another thing he can't afford? One more divorce. When asked if he'd lost all his money to his exes, Williams admitted that his failed marriages have taken a sizable chunk out of his bank account. "Well, not all. Lost enough," he told the magazine. "Divorce is expensive. I used to joke they were going to call it 'all the money,' but they changed it to 'alimony.' It's ripping your heart out through your wallet. Are things good with my exes? Yes. But do I need that lifestyle? No."

Williams also discussed relapsing on alcohol and his family's intervention in 2006. In an outtake from the interview, he discussed attending Alcoholics Anonymous, saying, "I felt so good about the first AA meeting I attended that I went out and drank the next day." He was persuaded to come back after a friend encouraged him, saying, "Hey, we don't shoot our wounded. Come back."

Read the rest of this interview in "Parade" when it hits stands this weekend.

Long Lives, Poor Health — Can We Have One Without the Other?

For most of human history, old people were rare. A lucky few might make it to 60 or 70, but most people died before their hair turned white and their faces sagged. It wasn’t until the 20th century that the average lifespan reached 50.
Today, we live what our ancestors would have considered two lives. At forty, we are still looking forward and planning for decades of productive life.
But those extra years come at a cost. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that our ‘second lives’ are burdened with chronic illnesses including depression, back pain, diabetes, and asthma.
“It turns out we’re living longer but we will spend more years with chronic disabilities,” said Christopher Murray, MD, of the University of Washington, who co-authored the study.
Dr. Murray and his team examined the major causes of poor health and premature death in the United States over the past 20 years.
Much of our poor health is the result of bad choices with diet at the top of the list, leading to 680,000 premature deaths, according to the study.