An excerpt from the book Untouchable - A Biography of Robert De Niro by Andy Dougan
Thunder's Mouth Press, 1996 - hardcover, 1st edition
from pages 156 & 157
De Niro was one of those who did not like Cathy Smith. He thought she was a low-life and he seemed to resent the hold she had over his friend Belushi. When he arrived at On the Rox shortly after midnight on 5 March, Belushi called him over. De Niro had been trying to get hold of him earlier in the evening and had left a number of messages. Possibly because Smith was there, De Niro did not stay for long. Belushi, however, was keen to talk further about the heroin script, perhaps fearing that he might be losing ground in the argument with Insana and the studio. He asked De Niro to visit him in his bungalow after the club had closed for the night and the actor agreed. Also at On the Rox later that night was another acquaintance of Belushi, comedian Robin Williams. A superb improviser, Williams was at this stage undoubtedly America's finest stand-up comedian. He was also a household name after becoming an overnight sensation in the smash-hit television series Mork and Mindy. He had been performing at the nearby Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard and headed for On the Rox when he had finished his set. Messages had been left at the club telling Williams that both Belushi and De Niro, an old friend, had been looking for him and had gone back to Chateau Marmont.
To this day Williams, who first met Belushi in New York some years previously, believes that there was an attempt to set him up that night, and possibly De Niro along with him. 'I was only in Belushi's room for five or ten minutes then I split,' he told Rolling Stone magazine in 1988. 'I saw him and split. He didn't want me there really, he obviously had other things he was doing.
'I do think I was set up in some way to go over there. A guy at the Roxy told me that John wanted me to stop by his bungalow. But when I went by he wasn't looking for me. He wasn't even there. When he arrived he said "What are you doing here?" He offered me a line of cocaine, I took it and then I drove home. If I had known what was going on, I would have stayed and tried to help. It wasn't like he was shooting up in front of me.'
The following afternoon, on the set of Mork and Mindy, Williams was stunned to be told by co-star Pam Dawber that his friend was dead.
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