i want you to hit me as hard as you can robin williams is a perennial favorite to young and old
inside and outside of the movie and comedy industries he was an uncaged cartoon on the
stand-up stage a frenzied force on this silver screen a ceaseless champion for philanthropic
efforts on the anniversary of his tragic unforeseen suicide we remember robin williams
robin mclaurin williams was born on july 21 1951 in chicago he grew up just outside of the city
spending a lot of time alone and playing with toy soldiers his family eventually settled in
california where he completed high school in 1969 still carrying some of the weight of being bullied
as a child his comedic tendencies helped quote bridge the gap between rejection and acceptance
being named by his peers as the funniest student and also voted as class president
although his peers did also name him least likely to succeed it was during this time he developed
an affinity for performing in 1973 williams enrolled in the prestigious juilliard school
here he met christopher reeve who he would eventually be roommates with
the soon-to-be superman likened his energy to an untied balloon linking to a style that williams
would later call hyper comedy but williams wasn't exclusive to comedy as he performed
in some dramatic works by playwright tennessee williams still it was comedy most embedded in him
performing mime routines at nearby central park and studying his key influences jonathan winters
richard pryor and peter sellers who williams particularly admired for his multiple roles
in dr strangelove robin williams left juilliard before graduation in 1976
williams moved to san francisco to truly hone his stand-up comedy and also experiment as with many
of his peers with drugs taking a particular liking to cocaine his biggest break up to that point came
soon after performing at mitzi shores the comedy store he would continue developing
his craft even landing a spot on idol richard pryor's short-lived variety show
if there's one kind of character ill-fitting for the world of happy days
it's an alien but creator gary marshall wanting to capitalize on the star wars era space craze
needed just that the role of mork from orc immediately went to williams after sitting on his
head in a chair during the audition the character was an instant hit and later that year mork and
mindy premiered in its debut season williams earned both a golden globe win and his first
emmy nod he wouldn't receive another for acting until a guest spot on homicide life on the streets
in 1994 he also got to share the screen with one of his idols comedy great jonathan winters
while also developing a lifelong friendship with co-star pam dauber
the four years of mork and mindy's run was a pivotal period for williams with great
successes upsetting failures and staunch artistic principles playing out in front of wide audiences
regarding the latter low tier studio dauntless productions re-released williams so-called first
movie can i do it till i need glasses with more of his footage giving the comedian top billing
despite still only appearing in two segments williams sued for false and misleading advertising
eventually winning out and proving he cared deeply for how he would be represented in the media
in 1979 williams won the grammy for best comedy album for his debut reality what a concept
edging out some of the biggest names in the field including steve
martin and richard pryor he would go on to win three more times after first seeing him
on the stand-up circuit david letterman who frequently had williams on as a guest
related a sentiment surely shared by many at the time after seeing him perform quote
they're going to have to put an end to show business because what can happen after this
there too were busts in 1980 williams landed his first lead role in robert altman's popeye
with the star playing the titular spinach chugging sailor alongside shelley duvall's olive oil
although a financial success the movie is considered a botched flop
one contribution to this was that williams took the character's trademark finicky mumbling to
an extreme being forced to re-record all of his dialogue since it all sounded according
to williams like a quote killer whale farting in a wind tunnel williams was much more restrained
in the john irving adaptation the world according to garp garnering far more praise than with popeye
a series of other efforts like moscow on the hudson and club paradise came after seeing both
tepid and panning reviews in 1986 williams co-hosted the hbo special comic relief usa
with friends billy crystal and whoopi goldberg the benefit established to combat and raise funds for
homelessness in america marked a key moment in williams ongoing contributions to philanthropy
through his life williams collaborated with dozens of causes including the live strong foundation the
christopher and dana reeve foundation and st jude children's hospital nacho mentioned
his numerous uso tours where he entertained troops all over the world such acts would
be on full display in his motion picture breakout 1987's good morning vietnam in which he portrayed
the real life adrian cronauer although he took many liberties with the more straight razor dj
the performance is quintessential robin williams with his on-air rifts being fully improvised
something he perfected even back on morgan mindy in which some scripts left out lines reportedly
reading instead quote robin does something here unquote director barry levinson likened
his natural abilities with the microphone to watching fred astaire dance for this turn
williams earned his first academy award nomination but williams wouldn't be shoehorned
into playing the manic clown in addition to reining in his ad-libbing tendencies
for an off-broadway production of waiting for godot alongside steve martin williams
next major role was that of a carpe diem promoting professor in 1989's dead poet society for his deep
inspiring emotional performance williams earned his second oscar nomination
williams continued balancing his career with both comedies and dramas
the most revealing embodiment was in steven spielberg's hook which while a critical disaster
allowed williams to charmingly display the very adult first child balance his career had been
that same year he earned his third academy award nomination for best actor
playing a mentally unsound homeless man and terry gilliam's the fisher king
serving as something of a tribute to the cause of his comic relief contributions
it was his most beautiful performance to date with gilliam reflecting
quote the thing with robin is he has the ability to go from manic to mad to tender to vulnerable
interestingly considering his voice is such a distinct part of his entire essence
williams hadn't done any voiceover work in his movie career that changed in 1992 with both
fern gully the last rainforest and what would become one of his signature roles
genie in disney's aladdin williams was convinced to take the role after seeing animation set to his
own stand-up routines and like his mork and mindy audition soon turned the whole process on its head
in a highly unprecedented approach williams recorded all of his voice work before the
animation was complete forcing the disney animators to develop scenes around his
improvisation sessions and his 50 plus characters therein in another instance of williams standing
up for art over commerce he refused to be a shill for marketing toys and merchandise
insisting disney not use him to sell tie-ins or his character on more than a quarter of
the promotional materials in good faith he would take less than one-tenth of his going-rate salary
disney blatantly disregarded this forcing a multi-year rift between the actor and the studio
coupled with some of the most exquisite voice work in animation history and even an
oscar-nominated song the show-stopping friend like me williams as genie marked a major transition of
using celebrities as voice talent today you won't find a major hollywood animated film without a
marquee name attached the early 90s saw williams teaming with major directors like penny marshall
for awakenings kenneth brauna for dead again and again barry levinson for toys
in 1993 he took the title role in mrs doubtfire for chris columbus while he wasn't changing the
face literally of cross-dressing comedies he was phoning up friend steven spielberg
during production of schindler's list doing routines to help console and cheer up the
director as he made his most personal and devastating picture this wasn't abnormal
as williams was a constant supporter of his pals and collaborators he would land ethan hawke who he
worked with on dead poets society his first agent and also tried to help mrs doubtfire co-star lisa
jacob get back in good graces with her high school after she had to skip classes to be in the movie
a string of titles both box office champs like 1995's jumanji
and 1996's the bird cage and critical duds like 96's jack and 97's father's day followed
in 1997 williams played grieving giving seasoned therapists sean mcguire and the matt damon
ben affleck penned goodwill hunting the performance one with emotional fervor
textured character and heartfelt monologues was the most heralded of his career
for it williams won his first and only academy award for best supporting actor
williams like so many hit a oscar slump starring in patch adams jacob the liar
bicentennial man and richard matheson adaptation what dreams may come one lesson
however that williams took with him from the film was quote that every moment in life is precious
that the gifts of your relationships with others don't miss it 2002 was a banner year for williams
who began digging deep into both the demented side of the human psyche
and a more demented side of dark humor starring as an alcoholic kid show host and death to smoochie a
crime-riding serial killer in insomnia and a creepy family stalker in one hour photo
it was around this time while filming in alaska for the big white that williams got back into
alcohol williams had a history with abusive substances while he heavily used cocaine what
he called quote god's way of telling you you've made too much money in the 70s he quit immediately
in 1982 upon the overdose death of john belushi who williams spent part of that fateful day with
this was when he turned not just to focusing on his career but one of his many hobbies cycling
which he called quote mobile meditation another notable hobby williams took to was video games
even naming his only daughter zelda after his affinity for the legend of zelda
williams continued to perform lending his talents to commercially successful movies like happy feet
and the night of the museum series the third of which would be released posthumously
his final movie released before his death would be the angriest man in brooklyn
out the same month his television series the crazy ones aired its last episode on august 11
robin williams hanged himself in his home he had been facing bouts of severe depression
towards the end of his life partly as a result of suffering from lewy body disease a build up
of a kind of protein in the brain effects of this form of dementia include insomnia
hallucinations anxiety and depression his widow and third wife susan schneider
recalled him being acutely aware of his condition and deterioration quote i just
want to reboot my brain he said robin williams ashes were scattered in the san francisco bay
tributes poured in his daughter zelda wrote quote the entire world is forever a little darker
less colorful and less full of laughter in his absence
steven spielberg called him a quote lightning storm of comic genius while fellow filmmaker
chris columbus called it a quote magical and special privilege to have worked with him then
president barack obama issued a statement reading in part quote he arrived in our lives as an alien
but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit the academy of motion picture
arts and sciences tweeted an image of one of his most famous characters captioning it quote genie
you're free the makers of world of warcraft paid tribute to the video game lover
with a non-player genie character in addition to numerous other easter eggs fans too show their
love and appreciation for williams with notable tributes at various film locations like the boston
public garden bench from goodwill hunting and the mrs doubtfire home in san francisco
the year before his suicide williams shared advice on a reddit ama to a contributor going through
a difficult time quote reach out to friends they're out there and know that you are loved
robin williams was indeed loved he once said that quote characters could say and do things
that i was afraid to do myself but it wasn't just john keating urging us to seize the day
or jeannie telling us to take a magic carpet ride and it wasn't just mork that told us
it was okay to be alien or popeye that insisted that good always wins over band
and it wasn't just sean maguire who wanted us to love others more than we love ourselves
they were not just characters they were all robin williams
so
you