Robin Williams Quit 'Howard the Duck' After 3 Days: Report

Robin Williams was the first pick to voice Howard the Duck in the 1986 sci-fi comedy but he quit the film within the first week, it has emerged.

Chip Zien, who ended up taking the role at the last minute, made the revelation during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Monday.

"What I was told was by the third day, Robin said, 'I can't do this. It is insane. I can't get the rhythm of this. I am being confined. I am being handcuffed in order to match the flapping duck's bill,'" Zien said. "So, on Memorial Day 1985, I got a call from my agent who said, 'You have to get right to the airport! Robin Williams just quit and you're now Howard the Duck. You need to get there tonight. There is a ticket waiting for you at the counter.' I was incredibly excited."

During the interview, Zien also recalled the moment he was invited to audition for the George Lucas film that was based on the Marvel Comics character, "Howard the Duck."

At the time, he was starring in a production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s "Merrily We Roll Along" when one night after a performance a Universal Pictures casting director visited him in his dressing room and suggested he audition for the role in the film.

"She asked me if I considered auditioning because I sound a little bit like a duck," Zien said. "I was kind of offended. I was miffed. And I told my agent. He said, 'Oh, my God! Someone came to you about Howard the Duck? Chip, it’s huge! This is a great thing! I am going to call right away.' And then I became aware that everyone in the world was auditioning for it, from big names to people like me."

Despite all the hype, the film, which reportedly cost the studio more than $45 million, tanked. It received bad reviews, earned less than $40 million at the box office, and won four Razzie Awards, including for Worst Picture, Yahoo! Entertainment noted. Shortly after its release, Frank Price, who was president of Universal Pictures at the time, resigned. Zien said it was not a surprise.

"I had a friend who was a Hollywood screenwriter, and he had a meeting with Frank at Universal to talk about a project," he shared. "So he was in Frank’s office and the massive billboard for Howard the Duck was still outside his window. And my friend said he saw Frank walk to the window, look at the billboard and shudder. And Frank said, ‘That movie is going to get me fired.’ And it did."

Given the film's poor performance, walking away from "Howard the Duck" may very well have saved Williams' career. The following year he starred in his breakout film "Good Morning, Vietnam," which earned him an Oscar nomination. What ensued was a decades-long career in film and comedy. However, it came to an abrupt end when he died by suicide at age 63 in August 2014.

The actor was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in May 2014, but the symptoms never quite added up. The "Patch Adams" star experienced severe anxiety and paranoia. Eventually, he and his wife, Susan Schneider, made the decision to go to a neurocognitive testing facility, but a week before he was meant to go, Williams killed himself. Many said his suicide was due to depression, but Schneider said there was more to it.

"I think he didn't want to go. I think he thought: 'I'm going to get locked up and never come out,'" she said.

Only after his death did Schneider learn that her husband had been suffering from Lewy body dementia.

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