Robin Williams' classic 1980 Popeye film was rampant with cocaine use as wild way it arrived on set is revealed

Daily Mail​

23-05-2025

Cocaine fueled the set of Robin Williams ' hit 1980 film Popeye as tycoon Barry Diller revealed the wild way in which it arrived on set.
The 83-year-old mogul - who recently came out as gay 50 years after he began seeing Diane Von Furstenberg - was CEO of the film's studio Paramount Pictures for a decade.
He recently detailed what it was like on the wild film set in an interview with Anderson Cooper on 92Y via Page Six as he said: 'You couldn't escape it.'
Williams – who died by suicide in August 2014, aged 63 – starred in the film alongside The Shining star Shelly Duvall which was filmed in Malta. Duvall died aged 75 at her home in Blanco, Texas due to complications from her diabetes in July 2024.
Diller revealed the wild way in which the stimulant drug arrived on set as he said: 'Film cans would be sent back to LA daily for processing the film.
'And we found out the film cans were actually being used to ship cocaine back and forth to the set. Everyone was stoned.'
The American business man said that viewers may actually be able to see the effects of cocaine use when they watch the film.
'Think of… [vinyl LP] record speeds,' Diller explained that 33rpm is the standard speed for playing vinyl on a record player. 'This is a movie that runs at 78 rpm.'
Meanwhile, years ago friends of Williams recalled his scarily erratic behavior at the height of his cocaine addiction – revealing that that the late actor couldn't go on stage and preform without drugs.
Williams battled substance abuse issues as he was starting out his career in the late 1970s and early 1980s before being shocked into going sober following the death of his friend John Belushi from a fatal overdose in 1982.
Williams' life was put under the microscope in the second season of Vice TV's Dark Side of Comedy, which aired in October 2023, and his friends have shared jaw-dropping anecdotes from his battle with narcotics.
According to longtime friend and comic Allan Stephan, Williams wasn't able to take to the stage without snorting cocaine.
Recalling one particular conversation with the late actor, Stephan remembered: 'He said, "Know anyone with any blow? I have to go on and I can't go on without any blow."
'And I sat down and I said, "I'm going to help you". He said, "Do you have blow on you?" I said "No, are you out of your f*****g mind? You're Robin Williams." And after that, I don't think he would get high when he had it before.'
Friend Mike Binder, a fellow comic and filmmaker shared a similar story.
'One night we went to a place called Flippers Discotheque in Hollywood, and I had like a gram of coke,' he said.
Upon learning there was cocaine floating around, Mike recalled how Williams had said 'ooh let me take that' and 'do you mind if I hit that in the bathroom?'
'He came back and it was empty,' Mike said. 'It was like, woah. It was like 8:15pm at night. I was like, "Robin, you did the whole gram?" He was like, "It was an accident, I'm sorry."'
'With drugs, he was a monster,' Mike added.
Williams' drug and alcohol problems first arose while he was starring in Mork & Mindy.
Director Howard Storm detailed Williams' cocaine use in the biography Robin, by New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff, revealing that he would show up to set looking like 'a wreck'.
He wrote: 'He hadn't slept all night. He was snorting coke, and if you snort coke, in order to come down you drink booze. He was out all night and screwing everybody in town.'
Speaking in Vice TV's new documentary series, friends Allan Stephan (left) and Mike Binder (right) detailed their experiences with Williams and his addiction
However, Williams stopped doing cocaine following the death of Saturday Night Live comedian Belushi, who overdosed on a lethal combination of heroin and cocaine, in March 5, 1992.
The night before Belushi's death, Williams had been partying with the star at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.
'The Belushi tragedy was frightening,' he told People in 1988.
'His death scared a whole group of showbusiness people. It caused a big exodus from drugs. And for me, there was the baby coming. I knew I couldn't be a father and live that sort of life.'
Williams spent the next two decades sober, before relapsing with alcohol in 2005.
He sought treatment for his addiction in rehab in 2006, before later returning, one month before his death in August 2014.
Williams did not have any illegal drugs or alcohol in his system when he committed suicide, the coroner's report confirmed in November 2014.
It was also revealed at the time that the actor had been struggling with a recent diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, as well as anxiety, paranoia, and depression.
The legendary comic battled paranoia, according to the coroner's report, and the night before he died, he placed several wristwatches in a sock and gave them to someone because he was worried about their safe keeping.
'On August 11, 2014 the Marin County Sheriff's Office Investigations and Coroner Divisions began investigations into the death of Robin McLaurin Williams who had been pronounced deceased at 12:02 pm at 95 St. Thomas Way in unincorporated Tiburon, California,' the report read.
'The investigations into Mr. Williams' death have concluded with the Coroner Division issuing the following findings: Cause of Death: Asphyxia due to Hanging, Manner of Death: Suicide.
'Toxicological evaluation revealed the absence of alcohol or illicit drug. Prescription medications were detected in therapeutic concentrations.'
The report says the last outgoing call from Robin's phone was at 7.08 PM the night before he died. He had called his wife Susan, and it lasted 38 seconds.
In 2021, Williams' son Zak opened up about his father's battle with drink and drugs, explaining that he himself began experiencing similar issues with his mental health, which prompted him to turn to various illegal substances.
'I had obsessive compulsive disorder - having to count out certain actions before I went to bed at night, obsessing over things. I didn't sleep very much as a kid,' he said in Prince Harry and Oprah's Apple TV+ documentary on mental health.
'I had really bad insomnia, a lot of energy and a racing mind and I inherited that to some degree.'
Explaining how that lead to drug abuse, he continued: 'As an adolescent I found using alcohol and drugs helped me calm my mind.
'It became a very normal experience to rely on them and things like that to manage the racing mind.
'I started to realize elements of myself that were like [my dad]. My anxiety, my bouts of depression, OCD, drugs, drinking like him.
'When I wasn't self-medicating, things felt completely overwhelming for me. And it just became part of my identity to get through the day.'