Robin Williams

Robin McLaurin Williams (born July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was a notable Academy Award-winning American actor and comedian. As an actor he has had several starring roles on television, stage, and film.
==Biography==
=== Early life ===
Williams was born in 1951 in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Marin County, California. While in California, Robin attended Redwood High School in Larkspur and grew up in the suburb of Tiburon. In Michigan, he attended Detroit Country Day School, which boasts other famous alumni, including Steve Ballmer from Microsoft and Courtney Vance from Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Robin's father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, of English, Welsh and Irish descent, was a senior executive at Ford in charge of the Midwest area. Robin's mother Laurie was a New Orleans-born former model of French descent. He has two half-brothers. He described himself as a quiet child whose first imitation was of his grandmother to his mom. He did not overcome his shyness until he became involved with his high school drama department.
==Early stand-up and TV career==
Williams first achieved notice for his stand-up routines performing for tips and working clubs like the Purple Onion in San Francisco. After studying at Claremont McKenna College (then called Claremont Men's College) with the Strut and Fret theatre group in Claremont, California, and at Juilliard Drama School (where he befriended and roomed with actor Christopher Reeve), he was cast by Garry Marshall as the alien Mork in a guest role in the TV series Happy Days.
As Mork, Williams improvised much of his dialogue and devised plenty of rapid-fire verbal and physical comedy, speaking in a high, nasal voice. Mork's appearance was so popular with viewers that it led to a spin-off hit television sitcom, Mork and Mindy, which ran from 1978 to 1982. Williams became an overnight sensation, and Mork was featured on posters, coloring books, lunchboxes, and other merchandise. His nonsensical catchphrases, including the greeting "nanoo nanoo" and the swear word "shazbat", were widely known.
In the '80s, Williams began to reach a wider audience with his standup comedy, including two Home Box Office (HBO) comedy specials, An Evening with Robin Williams (1982) and Robin Williams: Live at the Met (1986). His standup work has been a consistent thread through his career, as is seen by the success of his one-man show (and subsequent DVD) Robin Williams Live on Broadway (2002).
==Cinema fame==
The majority of Williams' acting career has been in film, although he has given some memorable performances on stage as well (notably as Estragon in a production of Waiting for Godot). His first starring roles, Popeye (1980) and The World According to Garp (1982), were both considered flops, but with Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) Williams was nominated for an Academy Award and established a screen identity. Many of his roles have been comedies tinged with pathos (for example, The Birdcage, Mrs. Doubtfire).
In particular, his role as the Genie in the animated film Aladdin was instrumental in establishing the importance of star power in voice actor casting. Later, Williams once again used his voice talents in Bicentennial Man, the 2005 animated feature Robots, and an uncredited vocal performance in 2006's Everyone's Hero.
Williams had also starred in dramatic films, earning himself two subsequent Academy Award nominations: first for playing an unorthodox and inspiring English teacher in Dead Poets Society (1989), and later for playing a troubled homeless man in The Fisher King (1991). Other acclaimed dramatic films included Awakenings (1990), What Dreams May Come (1998), and Jakob the Liar (1999).
In 1997, he won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his role as a psychologist in Good Will Hunting. However, by the early 2000s, he was thought by some to be typecast in films such as Patch Adams (1998) and Bicentennial Man (1999) that critics complained were excessively maudlin. This apparently prompted Williams to take radically unconventional roles, beginning with the dark comedy as a lowlife kiddie show host in Death to Smoochy, followed by One Hour Photo in a watershed performance as an obsessed film developer, Insomnia as a sociopathic writer, and The Final Cut, which is more in tune with Williams as a protagonist.
He was known for his wild improve skills and impersonations. Because his quick-wit performances frequently involved ingenious humor designed and delivered in rapid-fire succession completely while on stage, he was widely regarded as one of the greatest impromptu comedians of all time. He was a talented mimic and could jump in and out of characters and various accents at an extremely fast pace. Williams stated that he began doing impersonations as a child, mimicking his aunt's southern accent.
His most recent role was in the movie The Night Listener, a screen adaption of the popular mystery novel, in which he plays a radio show host who must figure out the story behind a mysterious fourteen-year-old caller.
== Personal life ==
Williams' first marriage was to Valerie Velardi on June 4, 1978, with whom he had one child, Zachary (born 1983). The marriage ended in 1988. On April 30, 1989, he married Marsha Garces. They have two children, Zelda Ray (born 1989) and Cody Alan (born 1992).
He was portrayed by Chris Diamantopoulos in the made-for-TV biopic Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Mork & Mindy (2005), documenting the actor's arrival in Hollywood a struggling comedian and becoming an overnight star when he landed the role in Mork & Mindy.
In the 2006 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, he was the Surprise Guest.
On August 9, 2006, it was reported that Williams recently entered himself into a rehabilitation center for alcoholism. His publicist has confirmed, saying "After 20 years of sobriety, Robin Williams found himself drinking again and has decided to take proactive measures to deal with this for his own well-being and the well-being of his family. He asks that you respect his and his family's privacy during this time. He looks forward to returning to work this fall to support his upcoming film releases."
Williams resided in a large house in the upper-class Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco.
==Computer games==
Williams was a self-confessed gamer known to enjoy online video games, recently playing Warcraft 3, Half-Life[3] and the first-person shooter Battlefield 2 as a sniper.[4] In addition, he also played the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000. In an interview for a video game magazine, he stated that Nintendo contacted him once and told him because of his love of video games, if there ever is a live action Pokémon movie made, he would be their first, last and only choice to play Professor Oak.Template:Fact He also named his daughter Zelda because his son is a devoted fan of the Legend of Zelda video game series.Template:Fact Williams was even in talks to do a voice for the game Half-Life 2, because he was a big fan of the series. However, scheduling conflicts prevented this.Template:Fact
On January 6, 2006, he performed live at Consumer Electronics Show during the Google keynote.[5]
In the 2006 E3, on the invitation of Will Wright, he demonstrated the creature editor of Spore while simultaneously commenting on the creature's look: "This will actually make a platypus look good."[6] He also complimented the game's versatility, comparing it to Populous and Black & White. 
Charity work
Robin and Marsha founded the Windfall Foundation, a philanthropic organization to raise money for many different charities. Williams devoted much of his energy doing work for charities, including the Comic Relief fund-raising efforts. He was also a cycling fan, known to own hundreds of bicycles and to attend the Tour de France. Through his interest in cycling, he was a friend and supporter of Lance Armstrong and his foundation, performing at events for the foundation.
==Death==
On August 11, 2014, Williams committed suicide in his Paradise Cay, California, home. His body was cremated at Montes Chapel of the Hills in San Anselmo and his ashes were scattered over San Francisco Bay the day after his death.
The final autopsy report, released in November 2014, concluded that he "died of 'asphyxia due to hanging'" (as suspected by the Marin County sheriff's office on August 12). Williams was also found with superficial wounds to his hands and arms, most likely caused by a pocketknife lying nearby. Neither alcohol nor illegal drugs were involved, and prescription drugs present in his body were at "therapeutic" levels. The report also noted that Williams had been suffering "a recent increase in paranoia". An examination of his brain tissue suggested Williams suffered from "diffuse Lewy body dementia".[148] Describing the disease as "the terrorist inside my husband's brain", his wife Susan Schneider said, "however you look at it—the presence of Lewy bodies took his life," referring to his previous diagnosis of Parkinson's.
The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) clarified the distinction between the term used in the autopsy report, diffuse Lewy body dementia—which is more commonly called diffuse Lewy body disease and refers to the underlying disease process—and the umbrella term, Lewy body dementia—which encompasses both Parkinson's disease dementia (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). According to LBDA spokesperson Dennis Dickson, "The report confirms he experienced depression, anxiety and paranoia, which may occur in either Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies ... In early PD, Lewy bodies are generally limited in distribution, but in DLB, the Lewy bodies are spread widely throughout the brain, as was the case with Robin Williams."
==Trivia==
* Robin Williams had performed in the USO for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq for three years. Just days after the start of the Iraq War, Williams performed for American troops stationed in Afghanistan.
* He was roommates with the late Superman star Christopher Reeve. They remained good friends for the remainder of Reeve's life. Williams visited Reeve after the horseback riding accident that paralyzed him from the neck down and tried to cheer him up by arriving dressed as a clown doctor. Reeve stated that Robin was the first thing to make him laugh after the accident.
* An episode of Mork and Mindy was made to highlight Superman: The Movie. Mork's son Mearth (Jonathan Winters) began idolizing Christopher Reeve's Superman character, after his parents took him to see the movie. The episode deals with Mork overcoming jealousy of Superman.
* He was a Democrat.
* After some encouragement from his friend Whoopi Goldberg, he was set to make a guest appearance in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "A Matter of Time", but he had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict; Matt Frewer took his place as time-traveling con man, Professor Berlingoff Rasmussen.
* During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had a serious addiction to cocaine; he had since kicked the habit. One quote attributed to him: "Cocaine is God's way of telling you that you are making too much money." Williams was a close friend and frequent partier alongside John Belushi. Williams says the death of his friend and the birth of his son prompted him to quit drugs: "Was it a wake-up call? Oh yeah, on a huge level. A grand jury will sober you up pretty quickly."
* For a time he dated adult film actress Christy Canyon.
* At high school, he won a "Faisal" award for "Most Likely To Not Succeed".
* He appeared on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that aired on January 30, 2006. Via a live video link to the De'Aeth family whose house and animal rescue shelter were being made over, he encouraged their son Cody, a budding comedian, and gave the family's shelter a recreational vehicle used in the movie R.V.
* According to the Aladdin DVD commentary, most of his dialogue as the Genie was improvised.
* Williams spoke French. However, he did not do his own French dubbing in movies as Jodie Foster sometimes has done.
* He was a fan of the Tour de France cycle race and good friend of 7-time Yellow Jersey winner Lance Armstrong.
* He was the voice of The Timekeeper, a former attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort about a time-traveling robot who encounters Jules Verne and brings him to the future.
* He once appeared on an episode of Whose Line is it Anyway? (Season 3, Episode 9: Nov. 16, 2000). During a game of "Scenes from a Hat," the scene "What Robin Williams is thinking right now" was pulled, and Williams stated "I have a career. What the hell am I doing?"
* Shown donating blood numerous times directly after 9/11 to help victims of the attacks.
* At one point, he was in the running to play the Riddler in Batman Forever until director Tim Burton dropped the project. Williams had earlier been a prime candidate to play the Joker in Batman (film). He had expressed interest in assuming the role in the sequel to 2005's Batman Begins.
* He was good friends with film director Chris Columbus who is also a San Francisco resident. Williams has starred in Columbus' films Mrs. Doubtfire and Bicentennial Man.
* Was a fan of the Japanese anime Neon Genesis Evangelion (EVA). In fact, the toy used in One Hour Photo was from Robin's personal collection. Also, in the CGI film Robots (movie), William's character carries a spear nearly identical to the Lance of Longinus prominiently featured in EVA.
* He was good friends with "fellow Whovian" Steve Martin. Sometimes when both their schedules are not too heavy, they got together to watch DVDs of Doctor Who.
* Was a fan of rugby union, in particular the All Blacks and is a close friend of Jonah Lomu.
* In 2005, he successfully sued Michael Clayton, a former cast member of the Legends in Concert stage show at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas, and his agent Michael Pool for misrepresenting Clayton as the real Robin Williams to a Star Tribune newspaper reporter and a fire department in Missouri. A permanent injunction was issued against Clayton preventing him from ever performing as Robin Williams.
* Williams sang a version of "Come Together" with Bobby McFerrin on In My Life, a Beatles tribute album produced by George Martin. Williams also appeared in the music video of McFerrin's hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy".
==Filmography==
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1977	Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses? 	Himself 	
1980	Popeye 	Popeye 	
1982	The World According to Garp 	T.S. Garp 	
1983	The Survivors 	Donald Quinelle 	
1984	Moscow on the Hudson 	Vladimir Ivanov 	Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1986	Seize the Day 	Tommy Wilhelm 	
1986	Club Paradise 	Jack Moniker 	
1986	The Best of Times 	Jack Dundee 	
1987	Good Morning, Vietnam 	Adrian Cronauer 	
1988	The Adventures of Baron Munchausen 	King of the Moon 	
1988	Portrait of a White Marriage 	Air conditioning salesman 	Uncredited
1988	Rabbit Ears: Pecos Bill 	Narrator 	Voice only
1989	Dead Poets Society 	John Keating 	Nominated – Academy Award for Best ActorNominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1989	I'm from Hollywood 	Himself 	
1990	Cadillac Man 	Joey O'Brien 	
1990	Awakenings 	Dr. Malcolm Sayer 	Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNational Board of Review Award for Best Actor (tied with Robert De Niro for Awakenings)
1990	Back to Neverland 	Himself 	
1991	Dead Again 	Doctor Cozy Carlisle 	
1991	The Fisher King 	Parry 	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated – Academy Award for Best ActorNominated – Saturn Award for Best Actor
1991	Hook 	Peter Banning 	
1991	The Seventh Brother 	Dr Albert E. Owl 	
1991	Rabbit Ears: The Fool and the Flying Ship 	Narrator 	Voice only
1992	Toys 	Leslie Zevo 	Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actor
1992	Aladdin 	Genie / Merchant 	Voice onlySaturn Award for Best Supporting ActorSpecial Golden Globe AwardMTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
1992	The Timekeeper 	The Timekeeper 	
1992	FernGully: The Last Rainforest 	Batty Koda 	Voice only
1992	Shakes the Clown 	Mime class instructor 	
1993	Mrs. Doubtfire 	Daniel Hillard / Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or ComedyAmerican Comedy Award for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance
1993	Being Human 	Hector 	
1994	In Search of Dr. Seuss 	Father 	
1995	Jumanji 	Alan Parrish 	Nominated – Saturn Award for Best ActorNominated – Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actor
1995	To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar	John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt 	
1995	Nine Months 	Dr. Kosevich 	Nominated – American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
1996	Aladdin and the King of Thieves 	Genie 	Voice only
1996	Hamlet 	Osric 	
1996	The Secret Agent 	The Professor 	
1996	Jack 	Jack Powell 	Nominated – Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actor
1996	The Birdcage 	Armand Goldman 	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (shared with Nathan Lane)
1997	Good Will Hunting 	Sean Maguire 	Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureNominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated – Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1997	Flubber 	Professor Philip Brainard 	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor/Actress – FamilyNominated – Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actor
1997	Deconstructing Harry 	Mel 	
1997	Fathers' Day 	Dale Putley 	
1998	Patch Adams 	Hunter "Patch" Adams 	Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated – American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1998	Junket Whore 	Himself 	
1998	What Dreams May Come 	Chris Nielsen 	
1999	Bicentennial Man 	Andrew Martin 	Nominated – Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor – ComedyNominated – Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actor
1999	Jakob the Liar 	Jakob Heym / Narrator 	
1999	Get Bruce 	Himself 	
2000	Model Behavior 	Faremain 	
2001	A.I. Artificial Intelligence 	Dr. Know 	Voice only
2002	The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch 	Hans Hänkie 	
2002	Insomnia 	Walter Finch 	Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2002	Death to Smoochy 	"Rainbow" Randolph Smiley 	
2002	One Hour Photo 	Seymour "Sy" Parrish 	Saturn Award for Best ActorNominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
2004	Noel 	Charlie Boyd 	
2004	House of D 	Pappass 	
2004	The Final Cut 	Alan W. Hakman 	
2005	The Big White 	Paul Barnell 	
2005	Robots 	Fender 	Voice onlyNominated – Blimp Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Feature
2005	The Aristocrats 	Himself 	
2006	Man of the Year 	Tom Dobbs 	
2006	Night at the Museum 	Theodore Roosevelt 	
2006	Happy Feet 	Ramon / Lovelace 	Voice only
2006	Everyone's Hero 	Napoleon Cross 	Voice only
2006	RV 	Bob Munro 	
2006	The Night Listener 	Gabriel Noone 	
2007	License to Wed 	Reverend Frank 	
2007	August Rush 	Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace 	
2009	Shrink 	Holden 	
2009	World's Greatest Dad 	Lance Clayton 	
2009	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian 	Theodore Roosevelt 	
2009	Old Dogs 	Dan Rayburn 	
2011	Happy Feet Two 	Ramon / Lovelace 	Voice only
2011	Stage Left: A Story of Theater in the Bay Area 	Himself 	Documentary
2013	The Big Wedding 	Father Monighan 	
2013	The Butler 	Dwight D. Eisenhower 	Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2013	The Face of Love 	Roger 	
2014	Boulevard 	Nolan Mack 	
2014	The Angriest Man in Brooklyn 	Henry Altmann 	
2014	Merry Friggin' Christmas 	Mitch 	Posthumous
2014	Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb 	Theodore Roosevelt 	Posthumous
2015	Absolutely Anything 	Dennis the Dog 	VoicePosthumous
==References==
* "Road Trip with Robin"
* "Robin Williams mimic ends 'fraud'" (BBC News)
* "Robin Williams' impersonator stopped" (AskMen.com)
* "Robin Williams Enters Rehab", August 9, 2006 (Access Hollywood)
*Lovece, Frank, New York Newsday (April 27, 2006)
==External links==
*
*The Robin Williams Fansite
*Robin Williams at TriviaTribute.com
Category:Actors
Category:Comedic actors
Category:1951 Births
Category:Oscar nominated actors
Category:Oscar winning actors
Category:2014 deaths
Category:Deceased