Ray Combs

I may have spoke about him in the past. But his career hit closer to home than Robin Williams did.
Ray Combs was a comedian from my hometown. He'd frequently make references to Cincinnati as a host on "Family Feud." As a teenager whose Grandmother LOVED this show, I watched with her. Every time he mentioned the town, I'd get stoked. One of our guys made it to national television. It was definitely a thing to be proud of.

Johnny Carson endorsed him. Got some advice from David Letterman. This was at a time when just having Carson mention your name, you were a star. Looking at the guy, he was all smiles.

On June 1, 1996, he was admitted to a psychiatric ward in Glendale, California. The next morning they found him dead, having hung himself with a noose fashioned from his bedsheets.

I think about him every once in a while. He had fame and fortune. And was derailed from bits and pieces of his life that slowly became chiseled into his mind as failure. To me, a guy like that couldn't bounce back. Through the smile and laughter and entertainment of others, it seems he just didn't have peace with himself. I suppose you could blame the effects of success being too quick, but something deeper and darker lurked, as I imagine Robin Williams suffered with constantly. Just not to the public. This is probably the most loneliest. When you can't openly tell people what awful things are going on in your life, as you get judged by millions. If you look at both their histories (Williams' notoriety aside) they share very similar