Williams and his wife of 19 years, Marsha, on 11/12/07 before she filed for divorce
Robin Williams has been living apart from his wife for two years, claims the latest issue of the National Enquirer, and he has had a 27 year-old girlfriend for the past few months. It was his cheating that was said to eventually drive his wife to file for divorce after 19 years of marriage.

Williams met modern artist Charlotte Filbert about six months ago through friends and owns some of her paintings. Filbert lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, and comes from a well-to-do family.

Robin is said to have given his new girlfriend a $10,000 a month limit to rent an apartment in Manhattan:

Robin Williams was cheating with a knockout blond half his age before his wife Marsha hit him with divorce papers, ending their 19-year marriage, The Enquirer has learned exclusively.

The other woman is Charlotte Filbert, a 27-year-old artist from tony Greenwich, Connecticut, and she’s the secret behind the comic’s bust up, sources reveal.

Williams, 56, met Charlotte last year through a pal - and the… actor owns several of her paintings, according to her agent…

“Charlotte wants to move from Greenwich to Manhatta, and Robin gave her a $10,000 a month limit for a rental apartment,” said the source.

When approached by an Enquirer reporter, Charlotte did not deny her affair with Robin, saying “I can’t comment on any of this stuff.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, April 14, 2008]

The Enquirer says that Robin wooed Charlotte through dinners and walks on the beach with her dog, and lots and lots of listening to his jokes. I don’t think I could stand to be with a guy that doesn’t have an off switch like Robin, but there have to be women who find that funny and refreshing.

Maybe Williams’ marriage had run its course and if he was already living apart from his wife for two years they may have been preparing for divorce for some time. It’s still got to come as a slap in the face to find that your maybe-estranged husband has a girlfriend who is almost 30 years younger than he is.

Inset image of Charlotte Filbert is from her website. She’s a talented artist. You can see a larger photo of Filbert in the new National Enquirer with Jennifer Aniston’s adoption on the cover. One of her paintings called “Swim” is below.

Robin Williams’ wife of nearly 19 years, Marsha Garces, filed a petition for divorce in San Francisco on Friday, citing irreconcilable differences. Garces is Williams’ second wife. They met when she was working as a nanny for William’s son, Zachary, now 24, from his first marriage. Williams and Garces married soon after his divorce from his first wife was finalized. They have two children together, a daughter Zelda, 18, and a son Cody, 16.

Williams was in rehab in August, 2006 being treated for alcoholism. His publicist said he was acting proactively after he fell off the wagon following 20 years of sobriety. Williams’ older brother died in August of last year after heart surgery, and that must have been very difficult time for him and his family.

Garces founded a production company and non profit organization with her husband and is active with charity work.

It must be entertaining but annoying to be married to Robin Williams. He’s funny as hell, but whenever I’ve seen him interviewed he’s like a rabbit on crack. He bounces jokes around and does so many rapid-fire impressions that you’re left feeling exhausted after a few minutes trying to mentally follow him. He does seem like a very decent and kind man, though, and that’s too bad that his marriage didn’t work out.

Williams and his estranged wife are shown at an event for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation on 11/12/07, thanks to PRPhotos. Williams is an old friend of Christopher Reeve from when they were at Juilliard together. He is said to be caring for Reeve’s son, Will, 15, who was orphaned when his mother died in the Spring of 2006. I think that Williams’ three children are shown in the photo.

David Letterman, Craig Ferguson, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert will return to their respective talk shows this week. Letterman’s company has struck an agreement with the Writers Guild of America that allows him to use writers for “The Late Show.” Craig Ferguson’s “Late Late Show” is controlled by Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants, and also has the advantage of falling under the interim agreement and being able to use writers. Leno and the rest of the late night hosts will have to make due with whatever they can muster that doesn’t violate the WGA contract. That is expected to entail longer celebrity interviews and more off the cuff audience interaction. “On the street” segments are also anticipated.

The first celebrity guest booked on Letterman’s show is Robin Williams. Both Letterman and Ferguson have an added edge over their talkshow host competitors in that guests don’t have to cross picket lines to appear. Williams is one guest who certainly wouldn’t need a scripted Q&A to appear, however. He is particularly gifted in off the cuff absurdity which can sometimes be hard to follow.

Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart are expected to be scrambling to come up with material that’s not prepared. They rely on scripted segments for their shows and will be hard pressed to ad lib. Under the WGA contract they can’t even use ideas that are prepared ahead of time by writers. These two strike me as cleverer than most, so we’ll have to see how they deal with the situation. It will also be interesting to see if Letterman and O’Brien have shaved their “strike beards,” or if they’ll grace us with their unshaven faces at least for one night.

As for how the writer’s strike continues to affect television, I read an interesting article that compared the 1988 strike to the current strike and said that there’s evidence that television lost 10% of its viewership almost permanently after the five month strike from March to August. This current strike could result in a nearly 30% drop in television viewers and could go a long way toward strengthening the audience for online content and web-based shows. And we may have to make due with more open-ended interviews with lesser-known celebrities on the talk shows. Maybe that’s an added benefit to refusing to cross picket lines - celebrities don’t have to worry about sounding stupid if they can’t rehearse their answers ahead of time.

Here’s a link to a wikipedia article that has an updated list of how many episodes are available for specific shows.

Thanks to the NY Times and The Wall St. Journal for the details for this story.

Letterman is shown on 10/20/05 with a horse, but I swear to you this picture is captioned “Madonna Visits The Late Show with David Letterman” by the photo agency, PRPhotos.

Robin Williams has been out of rehab for three months, and is trying to get back in his wife’s good graces. She hasn’t allowed him to move back into their mansion, but he can take her out on dates. He seems to be working hard to try to prove that he’s serious about staying sober and being there for his family:

The Enquirer has learned the Oscar-winning actor’s wife Marsha has not alllowed him to move back into their northern California home, but has permitted him to “date” her again!

“Robin wants more than anything to move back home and live with his family, but his wife is still taking it slowly,” says the source. “He’s telling pals that he’s slowly attempting to rebuild their relationship.”

But it’s a difficult situation because the 55 year-old actor is leiving in Los Angeles, while Marsha is at the couple’s Napa Valley residence with their two teenaged children.

“They see each other when his schedule permits,” said the source, “but it’s been lonely and difficult for him.”

[From National Enquirer print edition, January 22, 2007]

Robin Williams poked fun at his stay in rehab in his typical ADD style at the People’s Choice Awards, where he won the award for “Funny Male Star.” He brought his 17 year-old daughter, Zelda, to the event.

Robin’s wife Marsha was the nanny of his first child, Zachary, 23, with his ex wife Valerie Velardi. Marsha and Robin have daughter Zelda and son Cody, 14. Thanks to JustJared for Robin’s family background.

That’s sweet that he’s trying to work for his wife’s trust and affection, and hopefully it will work out for them.

A red-headed Robin Williams and Muhammad Ali joked around yesterday at Celebrity Fight Night 12 at the Marriot Desert Resort in Phoenix, AZ. Reba McEntire hosted the event, which featured live celebrity performances with proceeds to benefit the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center.

Muhammad Ali is doing well, and reports that he was gravely ill last fall were exaggerated:

Ali was recently honored at the November, 2005 grand opening of the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, KY.

Pictures [via]