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Robin Williams' daughter Zelda on life without dad, continuing his charity work

Six months after the death of legendary comedian Robin Williams, his daughter is doing her to best to make sure the laughter continues.
/ Source: TODAY

Six months after the death of legendary comedian Robin Williams, his daughter is doing her to best to make sure the laughter continues.

Speaking out publicly for the first time since her father’s suicide, Zelda Williams said she doesn’t dwell on what led to her father’s death, but instead focuses on honoring his spirit and the charity work he devoted himself to during life.

“You know, it’s taking it one step at a time. The world keeps spinning," she told NBC's Kate Snow in an exclusive interview.

Williams, 25, recognized the outpouring of support she and her two siblings have received, saying she understands “a lot of people feel his absence.” On Friday, she will present a “Noble Award” that honors her dad’s humanitarian work, specifically his devotion to the Challenged Athlete Foundation that help provide prosthetics to disabled athletes.

Williams said her father always enjoyed charity work, in part because he loved to take people under his wing: “He’s done charity as long as he had the wherewithal and the ability to do it. That was what his favorite thing other than comedy really was.”

More from Zelda:

  • On the love the world showed for her dad: People will remember her father for “the characters that he had so much fun being, and that's what's important, and I do think that's what a lot of people will hold on to and that's not going anywhere."
  • Williams said she doesn't question why her father committed suicide: “I don’t think there’s a point,” she said. “It’s not important to ask.”
  • Williams said she got a tattoo of a hummingbird on her right hand because the animal reminds her of her dad: “Hummingbirds are fun and flighty and strange. It's hard to keep them in one place and Dad was a bit like that. Keeping a conversation in one moment was impossible with him.”
  • On losing loved ones: “There’s no point questioning it and no point blaming anyone for it and there’s no point blaming yourself or the world or whatever the case may be because it happened and you have to continue to move and you have to continue to live and manage.”
  • On continuing to mourn her father: “It’s going to take a lot of work to allow myself to have the sort of fun, happy life that I had, but that's important. Anybody who has ever lost anyone works very hard to continue that memory in a positive way."

Williams said she doesn’t want to shape people’s memories of her father. “People should remember what they want to remember of him. Who am I to guide what their childhood memories are of watching his movies?” she said.

“That’s their memories, that's what's important. I have mine and they are mine and I love that.”