(ABC News) — Robin Williams died in an apparent suicide by hanging, according to Lt. Keith Boyd, chief deputy coroner for Marin County Sheriff’s Office.
The 63-year-old actor also had “superficial cuts” on his wrist and a closed pocket knife was found near his body.
The actor’s publicist, Mara Buxbaum, told ABC News that the actor had been battling “severe depression of late.”
Lt. Boyd added that Williams had also been seeking treatment for depression.
Williams had long battled demons. In the early 1980s, he confronted his alcoholism and cocaine abuse by going cold turkey.
“The one thing that cleaned me up from that was having a kid,” he told Nightline in 2011. “That’s immediate. I didn’t have any rehabs or groups. I just kind of took my mother’s advice of vitamins and exercise. You realize, OK, now you have this responsibility, and [I] dealt with it.”
In 2006, after he began drinking again, Williams went to rehab. He made another visit this past July, though a source told ABC News at the time that he had not relapsed.
“After working back-to-back projects, Robin is simply taking the opportunity to fine-tune and focus on his continued commitment, of which he remains extremely proud,” his publicist said.
