Robin Williams’ first wife opens up about the actor’s infidelity
Robin Williams’ first wife Valerie Velardi has revealed she knew and allowed the late comedian’s infidelity during their marriage.
In a new HBO documentary about Williams’ life and work Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind, Velardi, who was married to Williams from 1978 to 1988, said: “He loved women. Absolutely loved women. And I got it.”
She added: “I understood and I wanted him to have that, but I also wanted him to come home.”
Velardi said she first met Williams at a bar in San Francisco in 1976 when he was not yet famous. He asked her for a ride home that night.
“He was speaking French and I was teasing him and we had a kiss and I just knew I was going to see him again,” she said.
“He was always looking for a connection or another character or an accent.
“He was shameless. He would just do it.”
The couple had one son together, Zachary ‘Zack’ Pym, before their marriage ended in 1988.
Velardi said their marriage fell through because they simply became less involved and drifted apart.
“So we gave each other up,” Velardi said.
Williams committed suicide in August 2014, aged 63.