Robin Williams

Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was an American actor and stand-up comedian. He first became famous on the television show Mork and Mindy. He starred in many movies.

On August 11, 2014, Williams was found dead in his home. His death was believed to have been a suicide by asphyxiation.

Early life
Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 21, 1951. His father Robert Fitzgerald Williams (September 10, 1906 – October 18, 1987) worked for Ford Motor Company. His mother Laura McLaurin (née Smith, September 24, 1922 – September 4, 2001) was a former model from New Orleans, Louisiana. His great-great-grandfather  on his mother's side was Mississippi senator and governor Anselm J. McLaurin. Williams' ancestors were English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, German, and French.The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi, 1908, Pg. 977; "He [Anselm J. McLaurin] was married at Trenton, Miss., February 22, 1870, to Laura Elvira Victoria Rauch, daughter of John Rauch and wife, Epsilon Rauch, of Trenton, Miss. Mrs. McLaurin's paternal ancestors immigrated to America from Germany; maternal from England and Germany."

When he was young, Williams lived in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and in Marin County, California. He studied at Redwood High School and at Claremont McKenna College. He studied to become an actor at the Julliard School in New York City and at the College of Marin.

Career
After his family moved to Marin County, Williams began his career doing stand-up comedy shows in the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1970s. His first performance took place at the Holy City Zoo, a comedy club in San Francisco, where he worked his way up from tending bar to getting on stage.

Williams became famous for his role as Mork in the television series Mork & Mindy (1978–1982). His idol Jonathan Winters also appeared in the show. Williams went on to a successful career in both stand-up comedy and movie acting.

He acted in the movies The World According to Garp, Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, The Fisher King, Good Will Hunting, Popeye, Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, The Birdcage, Night at the Museum, and Happy Feet.

Williams appeared in the music video for "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin. In 2013, Williams starred as President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Lee Daniels' The Butler.

Before his death, Williams starred in the short-lived comedy The Crazy Ones. It was cancelled shortly before his death.

Once Williams got angry with Disney for using his voice as the Genie in Aladdin to sell merchandise for the movie. Disney tried to apologize to Williams. The Disney company bought a Picasso painting for him.

Awards
Williams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times. He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Good Will Hunting. He received two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and five Grammy Awards.

Personal life
Williams married Valerie Velardi in 1978. They divorced in 1988. In 1989, Williams married Marsha Garces. She divorced him in 2008. Williams married Susan Schneider in 2011. Their marriage lasted until Williams' death in 2014. Williams had a son with Velardi. He had a daughter and son with Garces. His son, Zak Williams, is an actor, businessman, and filmmaker. His daughter, Zelda Williams, is an actress.

Williams lived in San Francisco and Paradise Cay in California. 

Health
Williams was an alcoholic. He was also addicted to cocaine. He had strong depression in the final years of his life. On March 13, 2009, he had surgery to fix an aortic valve.Jones, Kenneth."Robin Williams' Spring Broadway Bow Postponed Due to Heart Surgery", playbill.com, March 5, 2009 The surgery was successful.  One month before his death, Williams went to rehab for his alcoholism. Williams' widow stated that he had been diagnosed with early stage Parkinson's disease before his death, but the actor was "not yet ready to share publicly" this information. In November 2014, it was revealed that Williams had Lewy body dementia.

Death
On August 11, 2014 at about 11:45 am, Williams was found at his home by his personal assistant. About ten minutes later, a 911 call was made saying that Williams was not reacting or breathing. He was pronounced dead at 12:02 pm, shortly after emergency personnel arrived.
The Marin County Sheriff's department said the cause of death was probably asphyxia by hanging. Williams was also found with cuts on his wrist.

Williams was cremated. His ashes were scattered in the San Francisco Bay. On December 16, 2014, it was revealed that, as a result of his death, Williams was the fastest growing search term on Google in 2014.Robin Williams tops 2014 list of Google searches  Retrieved 18 December 2014

Movies
 Title Year Role Director(s) Notes Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses? 1977 Lawyer / Man with Tooth Ache  Popeye 1980 Popeye   1982 T.S. Garp   1983 Donald Quinelle  Moscow on the Hudson 1984 Vladimir Ivanov Paul Mazursky  1986 Jack Dundee  Club Paradise Jack Moniker  Seize the Day Tommy Wilhelm  Good Morning, Vietnam 1987    1988 King of the Moon  Credited as Ray D. Tutto Portrait of a White Marriage Air Conditioning Salesman  Uncredited cameo Dead Poets Society 1989   Cadillac Man 1990   Awakenings   Shakes the Clown 1991 Mime Class Instructor  Cameo Dead Again      Hook Peter Banning / Peter Pan  FernGully: The Last Rainforest 1992 Batty Koda (voice)   The Timekeeper (voice) Circle-Vision 360° film Aladdin Genie and Peddler (voices) John Musker Toys   Mrs. Doubtfire 1993 Daniel Hillard / Euphegenia Doubtfire  Also producer Being Human 1994 Hector  Nine Months 1995 Dr. Kosevich  To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt  Uncredited cameo Jumanji Alan Parrish   1996 Armand Goldman   Jack Jack Powell  Aladdin and the King of Thieves Genie (voice)  Direct-to-video  The Professor  Uncredited  Hamlet Osric  Fathers' Day 1997 Dale Putley  Deconstructing Harry Mel  Flubber Professor Philip Brainard  Good Will Hunting Sean Maguire  What Dreams May Come 1998 Chris Nielsen  Patch Adams    Jakob the Liar 1999 Jakob Heym  Also executive producer Bicentennial Man Andrew Martin  Get Bruce Himself  Documentary A.I. Artificial Intelligence 2001 Dr. Know (voice)  Cameo One Hour Photo 2002 Seymour "Sy" Parrish  Death to Smoochy "Rainbow" Randolph Smiley  Insomnia Walter Finch  The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me LunchHans HänkieEric IdleTV movie  2004 Alan W. Hakman  House of D Pappass  Noel Charlie Boyd / The Priest  Uncredited Robots 2005 Fender (voice)  The Big White Paul Barnell  The Aristocrats Himself Paul Provenza  Documentary The Night Listener 2006 Gabriel Noone RV Bob Munro  Everyone's Hero Napoleon Cross (voice) Daniel St. PierreColin Brady Uncredited Man of the Year Tom Dobbs  Happy Feet Ramon and Lovelace (voices)  Night at the Museum Theodore Roosevelt  License to Wed 2007 Reverend Frank  August Rush Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace  World's Greatest Dad 2009 Lance Clayton  Shrink                   Jack Holden  Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Theodore Roosevelt  Old Dogs Dan Rayburn  Happy Feet Two 2011 Ramon and Lovelace (voices)  The Big Wedding 2013 Father Monighan  The Butler Dwight D. Eisenhower   The Face of Love Roger  Boulevard 2014 Nolan Mack   Henry Altmann  A Merry Friggin' Christmas Mitch  Posthumous release Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt & The Garuda Artifact  Absolutely Anything 2015 Dennis the Dog (voice) 

Discography
1979: Reality...What a Concept!
1983: Throbbing Python of Love
1986: A Night at the Met
1987: Good Morning Vietnam Soundtrack
1988: Pecos Bill; narrated a children's book, with music by Ry Cooder
2003: Live 2002; recorded from a tour on Broadway, 2002
2010: Weapons of Self Destruction; filmed in Washington D.C. during Williams' national tour

References

Other websites





 "RWF" The Robin Williams Fansite!
 Robin Williams' Stand Up Comedy Acts a small video collection
 Robin Williams Interview  (License to Wed)
 Robin Williams interview for License to Wed at TheCinemaSource.com



Category:1944 births
Category:2006 deaths

Category:American movie actors
Category:American television actors
Category:American voice actors
Category:Actors from Chicago
Category:Actors from California
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Category:Comedians from Chicago
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Category:Movie producers from Chicago
Category:Movie producers from California
Category:Screenwriters from Chicago
Category:Screenwriters from California 
Category:Television personalities from California
Category:Television personalities from Chicago
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Category:Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners
Category:American Emmy Award winning actors
Category:Golden Globe Award winning actors
Category:American Grammy Award winners
Category:Saturn Award winners
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Category:Comedians who committed suicide
Category:Suicide in the 2010s
Category:Suicides by asphyxiation
Category:Suicides in California
Category:Writers who committed suicide

Category:People with Parkinson's disease
Category:People with dyslexia