Williams was an alcoholic. He was also addicted to cocaine. He had strong depression in the final years of his life. On March 13, 2009, he had surgery to fix an aortic valve. The surgery was successful. One month before his death, Williams went to rehab for his alcoholism. Williams' widow stated that he had been diagnosed with early stage Parkinson's disease before his death, but the actor was "not yet ready to share publicly" this information. In November 2014, it was revealed that Williams had Lewy body dementia.