Zak Williams, the eldest son of late legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams, has welcomed his first baby with fiancee Olivia June and honored his father by naming the child after his dad, People reported.
The baby boy was born on May 22, weighing 8 lbs and measuring 20 1/2 inches.
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Williams and his first wife, Valeria Verlardi, welcomed Zak into the world in 1983.
In 1988, his parents divorced after 10 years of marriage.
Zak also has a half sister, Zelda Williams, born in 1989, and a half brother named Cody born in 1991.
Zak has been a mental health advocate since his dad took his own life back in 2014.
According to his wife, Susan Schneider Williams, who married in 2011, at the time of Robin’s untimely death at age 63, he had been struggling with his health.
“[Parkinson’s disease] is actually an accurate diagnosis,” she revealed in a 2016 interview on CBS This Morning . “The patholoy was that he had diffuse Lewy body disease, which is what took him.”
She added, “I can tell you in his autopsy, the coroner’s report was clear t hat he had Lewy body throughout all of his brain and brain stem — nearly every region.”
Schneider Williams also said that the progressive disease led to mounting fears and anxiety for her husband.
“It got difficult for him to even – even interacting with people became very difficult,” she said. “He would question things afterwards or during … in the realms of, ‘Did I do OK?’ Things that focused around insecurity and fear.”
In a biography about his dad, Zak opens up about his regret over the time leading up to his father’s death.
“I’m kicking myself or not visiting him during that time,” Zak wrote in the book titled Robin , writtten by Dave Itzkoff. “Becuase I think that was a very lonely period for him. In retrospect, I feel like I should have been there, spending time with him. Because someone who needs support was not getting the support he needed.”
Zak recently appeared in a photo series depicting those affected by mental illness and suicide.
Seattle-based photographer Mariangela Abeo is behind the Instagram account Faces of Fortitude, which featured Zak in three posts. The photos were accompanied caption detailing his father’s battle with mental illness as he encouraged others to share their stories and find healing in this.
“Be yourself, share your pain,” he said. “His pain is the same. Remmber who you are, and why you’re there.”
Now, in an exclusive interview with People, Zak and his wife, Olivia, have revealed the news of their son.
McLaurin Clement Williams, who will be dubbed “Mickey” for short, gets his unique first name from his grandfather Robin, whose middle name was McLaurin.
“I miss him all the time,” Zak said of his father in a 2014 interview with People . Speaking on behalf of himself and his siblings, he added, “There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t think about our dad.”
Zelda Williams shared photos of baby Mickey to her Instagram.
“I’m an auntie!” she captioned the pictures. “He’s a squishably cute pterodactyl cooing tiny wonder and I love him so much already.”
Baby Mickey was born almost exactly five years after Robin’s death.
Last year, as the fourth anniversary loomed and Robin’s would-be 67th birthday approached, Zelda shared a sweet post on Instagram as tribute to her late father.
“Everyone who has dealt with loss knows the pain of certain anniversaries, moments full of memory that come round like clockwork and usurp all others, no matter how hard you may try to prepare for or avoid them.”
She added, “Thank you for loving him. Thank you for supporting him and his life’s work. Thank you for missing him. I do too.”
