Williams died at 63 in 2014. Eric Idle remembers longtime friend Robin Williams as ‘the most fun’ guest at his home Williams died at 63 in 2014. By Raechal Shewfelt :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/RaechalShewfeltauthorphotoc49d3a3b6aa442f588f2bbc0de804e09.jpg) Raechal Shewfelt Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at . She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American Journalism Review and The Shreveport Times. EW's editorial guidelines September 11, 2026 2:37 p.m.

Williams died at 63 in 2014.

Eric Idle remembers longtime friend Robin Williams as ‘the most fun’ guest at his home

Williams died at 63 in 2014.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

EW's editorial guidelines

September 11, 2026 2:37 p.m. ET

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Eric Idle and Robin Williams in 2004. Credit:

KMazur/WireImage

- Eric Idle explained that Robin Williams was “the most fun” of his celebrity guests at his home in Provence, France.

- The men met around 1980, when he and Shelley Duvall watched him perform on a London stage.

- The *Mrs. Doubtfire* star died in 2014.

Eric Idle was always up for hosting Robin Williams at his home in Provence, France.

“Robin was the most fun,” the *Monty Python and the Holy Grail* icon tells PEOPLE while discussing his new book *Idle in Provence: A Brief History of Thyme*. “He came three times, I think. He came really early on with his first wife, Valerie, and his second wife, Marsha.”

Idle’s other guests included luminaries just as famous as the *Mork & Mindy* star, people such as rock star David Bowie, Beatles member George Harrison, musician Paul Simon, actor Harrison Ford, and director Penny Marshall. So it’s saying something to name Williams as the most entertaining.

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Williams, who died at age 63 in 2014, was married to first wife Valerie from 1978 to 1988. He married Marsha Garces in 1989, but they divorced in 2010. In 2011, he married his final wife, Susan Schneider.

Idle said he and Williams became friends after he and actress Shelley Duvall saw him perform in London in 1980, the same year that she portrayed Olive Oyl opposite Williams in *Popeye*. At the time, Williams’ career was taking off, thanks to the hit sitcom on which he played an alien named Mork.

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The actors worked together on more than one occasion, including on the 1988 Terry Gilliam comedy *The Adventures of Baron Munchausen*.

In October 2022, Idle explained to *The Guardian* that Williams had been his closest friend in comedy.

“He was just a great mate. I loved him,” the U.K.-born comedian said. “We’d go on holidays together. I never expected to out-survive him. I couldn’t believe it when I heard he’d died.”

Robin Williams and Eric Idle.

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Williams died by suicide, and he was later found to have had the undiagnosed brain disorder of Lewy body dementia.

Idle says that, looking back, he should have known something was wrong with his friend when Williams declined to be part of the live Monty Python show in production.

“We were putting a celebrity on stage in a mask and then unmasking them,” Idle explained. “I asked if he’d come to the last night and do that for us. And he said: ‘I don’t want to be onstage.’ That should have been the clue for me — Robin not wanting to be onstage. Then shortly afterwards we heard the tragic news.”

*Idle in Provence: A Brief History of Thyme* is available in bookstores.

*If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at **988lifeline.org** 24/7.*

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Published: September 11, 2026 at 10:01PM on Source: RED MAG

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