Breaking News - Robin Williams dead in apparent suicide 

Four-time Academy Award nominee won Oscar in 1997

The Associated Press Posted: Aug 11, 2014 7:00 PM ET Last Updated: Aug 11, 2014 7:49 PM ET

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Oscar-winner Robin Williams, whose free-form comedy and adept impressions dazzled audiences for decades, has died in an apparent suicide. He was 63.

The Marin County Sheriff\'s Office says Williams was pronounced dead at his home in California on Monday. The sheriff\'s office says a preliminary investigation shows the cause of death to be a suicide due to asphyxia.

w, Williams shot to fame in the late \'70s as the alien in the

. But he won his Academy Award in a serious role — as the therapist in 1997\'s

Actor Robin Williams, shown in a 2011 photo, recently starred in the CBS comedy The Crazy Ones. (Fred Prouser/Reuters)

His performing style was at its purest in his standup act, as he impersonated a Russian immigrant or parodied anyone from John Wayne to Keith Richards.

Along with Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg, he helped found the American edition of

, a series of concerts and television specials that helped raise money to address homelessness.

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