Heartfelt tributes to Robin Williams continue to pour in from his friends and former costars. The common thread in all of them is that he was not only an amazing talent but also — as his Mrs. Doubtfire costar Lisa Jakub wrote in a moving blog post after his death — an "incredibly kind human being."
Jakub, who played Williams' eldest daughter in the 1993 comedy, took to her website following his death on Aug. 11 to memorialize the late comedic actor. In her post, she recalled how he'd once stood up for her when she was kicked out of her high school for going on location to film their movie.
"I explained what had happened, and the next day, he handed me a letter that he wrote to my school," she shared. "He explained that I was just trying to continue my education while pursuing my career. He wrote embarrassingly kind things about my character and my work, and requested that they reconsider and allow me to return to my classes."
In the end, Jakub was not invited back. But that's not really the point. "Robin stood up for me. He was in my corner," she wrote. "I was only 14, but I had already seen that I was in an industry that was full of back-stabbing. And it was entirely clear that Robin had my back."
The two lost touch sometime after Mrs. Doubtfire, but Jakub never forgot his kind gesture. "Even though I had not spoken with Robin in a very long time, I always assumed there would be some future opportunity to tell him that his letter changed my life," she blogged. "It taught me that you stand up for the things that matter. And even if your attempts fail, you tried. You told the truth. You took care of your friends. You fought back."
Jakub's post went on to note some of the sobering statistics about depression, something with which she herself has struggled. "It's real and it's not shameful and there is help available," she wrote. "None of us are alone."
She ended with a call to action, urging readers to reach out to the people who changed their lives before it's too late. "Tell them they made you feel loved and supported," she shared. "That they made you feel like you belonged somewhere and that you were not a freak. Tell them all of that. Tell them today."
Read Jakub's blog in full on her website, and see the letter Williams wrote to her school here.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
