EARLY LIFE
Robin Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 21, 1951.
His father Robert Williams worked for Ford Motor Company. His mother Laura McLaurin (née Smith) was a former model from New Orleans, Louisiana.
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| Photo of Robin Williams, as printed on the March 12, 1979, cover of Time magazine, |
Robin Williams was one of just 20 students accepted into Julliard School in New York City in 1973. While his comedic genius was immediately obvious, he wasn't taken seriously until his portrayal of a wheelchair-bound old man in the Tennessee Williams play The Night of the Iguana during a third-year acting class.
He dropped out during his junior year in 1976 at the recommendation of his professor because his professor told Williams, "there was nothing more Juilliard could teach him."
Christopher Reeve was Williams' roommate and best friend at Juilliard. William Hurt and Mandy Patinkin were also classmates.
When Williams was first starting out, he performed as a mime outside New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art to make money. A photographer took pictures of a street mime in Central Park in 1974, and 35 years later discovered it was Robin Williams before he was famous.
CAREER
After his family moved to Marin County, California, 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).
Three cameras were standard in multi cam television filming prior to the 1970s; then Garry Marshall needed a fourth camera to solely follow Robin Williams during Mork & Mindy filming, since Williams was so unpredictable with his physical comedy.
Williams went on to a successful career in both stand-up comedy and movie acting.
Williams appeared in the music video for "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin. He also had a cameo in "You Make Me Feel..." by Cobra Starship,
Williams said his favorite celebrity to impersonate was Jack Nicholson.
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| Williams December 2011 By Eva Rinaldi |
To cope while filming Schindlers' List, Steven Spielberg would call Robin Williams for 15 minutes every day to hear him do stand up over the phone.
When Robin Williams appeared on Inside the Actors Studio in 2001, an audience member developed a hernia from laughing too hard, and had to be taken away in an ambulance.
MOVIES
Most of the radio broadcasts that Robin Williams delivered in the 1989 movie Good Morning Vietnam were improvised by him.
Robin Williams provided 14 hours of improvised lines for his first animated voice work in 1991's Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. Originally given an 8-minute part, after impressing the director, Williams' screen time was tripled.
In 1992, in Disney's Aladdin, Williams ad-libbed so many of his lines as the Genie that the film reportedly could not be nominated for the best screenplay Oscar.
Robin Williams only made $75,000 for voicing the Genie in Aladdin. After grossing over $200 million, Disney sent him a Picasso painting.
The hit movie 1993 Mrs. Doubtfire was originally written as a movie spin off for the TV show Home Improvement. It's star Tim Allen turned down the role of two characters and the idea was scrapped, re-written and handed over to Robin Williams.
During the filming of Mrs. Doubtfire, Robin Williams improvised so much that there were PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 edits of the film.
It took four-and-a-half hours to apply Robin Williams' makeup for the role of Mrs. Doubtfire.
Williams received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as psychologist Sean Maguire in 1997's Good Will Hunting.
He was married three times. Williams wed Valerie Velardi in 1978. They divorced ten years later. In 1989, Williams married film producer Marsha Garces. She divorced him in 2008. Williams married graphic designer Susan Schneider in 2011. Their marriage lasted until Williams' death in 2014.
His daughter Zelda Rae Williams (b July 31, 1989) became an actress. Williams also had two sons named Zachary and Cody.
Williams was an enthusiast of video games. His daughter Zelda was named after the title character from The Legend of Zelda, a family favorite video game series.
Robin Williams' favorite television shows were Doctor Who and Star Trek.
Williams was an alcoholic and was also addicted to cocaine. One month before his death, Williams went to rehab for his alcoholism. At the time he was suffering from severe depression.
On August 11, 2014, Robin Williams committed suicide at his home in Paradise Cay, California. He was 63-years-old.
The day after Robin Williams' suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline fielded the greatest number of calls in its history.
Suicides nationwide increased by 10 percent after Robin Williams’ death; researchers found a convincing parallel between the increase and sensationalized coverage/headlines of his passing that violated CDC guidelines, focusing on the method of death.
Robin Williams had been asked to appear for the final night of Monty Python Live a month before he committed suicide. He declined citing 'severe depression'. The DVD of the night was dedicated to Williams upon release.
Robin Williams' ashes were scattered over San Francisco Bay.
Robin Williams' will prevents Disney from using his name, taped performances or voice recordings being used for 25 years after his death.
After Robin Williams' passing, Disney wanted to make a new Aladdin movie featuring Williams' unused Genie outtakes from the previous films. However, this was forbidden by the clause in Williams' will forbidding using his voice recordings, until 2039, after which they will be able to create Aladdin 2 using the film legend's real voice.
Three months after Robin Williams' death, they discovered that he had a rare brain disease called Lewy body dementia that was one of the worst cases ever seen.
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.
During the filming of Mrs. Doubtfire, Robin Williams improvised so much that there were PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 edits of the film.
It took four-and-a-half hours to apply Robin Williams' makeup for the role of Mrs. Doubtfire.
Williams received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as psychologist Sean Maguire in 1997's Good Will Hunting.
PERSONAL LIFE
He was married three times. Williams wed Valerie Velardi in 1978. They divorced ten years later. In 1989, Williams married film producer Marsha Garces. She divorced him in 2008. Williams married graphic designer Susan Schneider in 2011. Their marriage lasted until Williams' death in 2014.
His daughter Zelda Rae Williams (b July 31, 1989) became an actress. Williams also had two sons named Zachary and Cody.
Williams was an enthusiast of video games. His daughter Zelda was named after the title character from The Legend of Zelda, a family favorite video game series.
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| Zelda Williams 2011. By PopCultureGeek.com - |
Robin Williams' favorite television shows were Doctor Who and Star Trek.
Williams was an alcoholic and was also addicted to cocaine. One month before his death, Williams went to rehab for his alcoholism. At the time he was suffering from severe depression.
DEATH
On August 11, 2014, Robin Williams committed suicide at his home in Paradise Cay, California. He was 63-years-old.
The day after Robin Williams' suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline fielded the greatest number of calls in its history.
Suicides nationwide increased by 10 percent after Robin Williams’ death; researchers found a convincing parallel between the increase and sensationalized coverage/headlines of his passing that violated CDC guidelines, focusing on the method of death.
Robin Williams had been asked to appear for the final night of Monty Python Live a month before he committed suicide. He declined citing 'severe depression'. The DVD of the night was dedicated to Williams upon release.
Robin Williams' ashes were scattered over San Francisco Bay.
Robin Williams' will prevents Disney from using his name, taped performances or voice recordings being used for 25 years after his death.
After Robin Williams' passing, Disney wanted to make a new Aladdin movie featuring Williams' unused Genie outtakes from the previous films. However, this was forbidden by the clause in Williams' will forbidding using his voice recordings, until 2039, after which they will be able to create Aladdin 2 using the film legend's real voice.
Three months after Robin Williams' death, they discovered that he had a rare brain disease called Lewy body dementia that was one of the worst cases ever seen.
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.
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