A biography of Robin Williams ( A site written in May 2007 )
Robin McLaurin Williams (born July 21, 1951 or 1952) is an Academy Award-winning American actor and comedian. He has had starring roles on television, stage, and film.
Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams (1906-87) was a senior executive at Ford in charge of the Midwest area. His mother, Laura McLaurin Smith (1922-2001), was a former model from Jackson, Mississippi. Williams was raised in the Episcopal church and grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Marin County, California. While in California, Robin attended Redwood High School in Larkspur and grew up in the San Francisco suburb of Tiburon. In Michigan, he attended Detroit Country Day School, an exclusive college-preparatory school which boasts other famous alumni, including Steve Ballmer from Microsoft and Courtney Vance from Law and Order: Criminal Intent. In an interview with Michael Parkinson, Williams stated that when he saw Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb he was immediately inspired to become an actor.
He has two half-siblings: Laura, on his mother's side, and Todd on his father's side. 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. In high school, he won an award for "Most Likely To Not Succeed".
Every year, two thousand students audition for twenty places in the freshman class at Juilliard. Only two or three are accepted into the Advanced Program. Williams and Christopher Reeve were the only students accepted by John Houseman into the Advanced Program in 1973. Reeve and Williams had several classes together in which they were the only two students. In their dialects class, Williams had no trouble mastering all dialects naturally, whereas Reeve was more meticulous about it. Williams' manic comedy did not impress all of his teachers, but his dramatic performances impressed everyone. Williams and Reeve developed a close friendship, and 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 cheered him up by arriving as an eccentric Russian doctor (similar to his role in Nine Months). Williams claimed that he was there to perform a colonoscopy. Reeve stated that he laughed for the first time since the accident and knew that life was going to be okay.
Apparently Robin was bullied badly as a child, and was shy, not that he had to do this, but later he grew into his potential and became reagrded often as the funniest man alive.
Early stand-up/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 appearing in the cast of the
short lived The Richard Pryor Show on NBC, 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 "Nanu, Nanu!" and the expletive "shazbot", were widely known.
Starting in the late 70s and throughout the '80s, Williams began to reach a wider audience with his standup comedy, including three HBO comedy specials, Off The Wall (1978), 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). He was voted as 13th on Comedy Central's list 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
After some encouragement from his friend Whoopi Goldberg, he was set to make a guest appearance in the 1991 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.
Williams also appeared on an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Season 3, Episode 9: November 16, 2000). During a game of "Scenes from a Hat," the scene "What Robin Williams is thinking right now" was drawn, and Williams stated "I have a career. What the hell am I doing here?"
Although Williams has had a successful stand-up career, there have been accusations of him stealing material, and some comedians have refused to perform in front of him due to fears of plagiarism.
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 and 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 A.I, the 2005 animated feature Robots, the 2006 Academy Award winning Happy Feet, and an uncredited vocal performance in 2006's Everyone's Hero. Furthermore, 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.
Williams has 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 include 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. In 2006 Williams starred in The Night Listener, a thriller about a radio show host who realizes he's developed a friendship with a child who may or may not exist.
He is known for his wild improvisational skills and impersonations. Because his quick-wit performances frequently involve ingenious humor designed and delivered in rapid-fire succession completely while on stage, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest impromptu comedians of all time. According to the Aladdin DVD commentary, most of his dialogue as the Genie was improvised. He is a talented mimic and can jump in and out of characters and various accents at an extremely fast pace. Williams states that he began doing impersonations as a child, mimicking his aunt's southern accent.
In 2006, he starred in five movies including Man of the Year and was the Surprise Guest at the 2006 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. 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 Cory, a budding comedian, and gave the family's shelter a recreational vehicle used in the movie R.V..
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. He had expressed interest in assuming the role in the sequel to 2005's Batman Begins.
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 as a struggling comedian and becoming an overnight star when he landed the role in Mork & Mindy.
On Inside the Actor's Studio, Al Pacino said that Williams was his idol.
Personal life
Williams' first marriage was
to Valerie Velardi on June 4, 1978, with whom he has one child, Zachary (born
April 1983). The marriage ended in 1988. On April 30, 1989, he married Marsha
Garces. They have two children, Zelda Ray (born July 31, 1989) and Cody Alan (born
November 25, 1991). Williams currently resides in a large house in the upper-income
Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco. Incidentally, Williams is good friends
with film director Chris Columbus who is also a San Francisco resident. He also
has a summer house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Williams has starred in Columbus'
films Mrs. Doubtfire, Nine Months and Bicentennial Man.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had a serious addiction to cocaine; he has 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. The grand jury helped too". (Inside the Actors Studio, Episode 94, Season 7).
On June 29, 2006 Robin appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. During the appearance he lampooned Rush Limbaugh for his addiction to prescription pain medication by asking "Where was he (Rush) staying in the Caribbean? Club Medicated?" On August 9, 2006, Williams 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."
Other interests
Williams is a self-confessed
gamer known to enjoy online video games, recently playing Warcraft 3 and World
Of Warcraft, Half-Life and the first-person shooter Battlefield 2 as a sniper.
In addition, he also plays 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.
He named his daughter Zelda because his son, Zachary, is a devoted fan of the
Legend of Zelda video game series. Williams was even in talks to do a voice for
the game Half-Life 2, because he is a big fan of the series. However, scheduling
conflicts prevented this.
On January 6, 2006 he performed live at Consumer Electronics Show during Google's keynote. 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." He also complimented the game's versatility, comparing it to Populous and Black & White.
Williams is a prolific collector of sports memorabilia. He is known to be a San Francisco Giants fan and can occasionally be seen at AT&T Park during games.
Williams enjoys rugby union and is a fan of the New Zealand All Blacks he is also a keen follower of the National Rugby League in Australia and lists his favourite team as the North Queensland Cowboys saying his favourite players are Matt Bowen, Steve Southern and Luke O'Donnell, he also follows The Queensland Maroons in the State of Origin.
He is 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, Williams' character carries a spear nearly identical to the Lance of Longinus prominiently featured in EVA.
Williams also maintains an interest in weaponry, with a collection consisting of several antique swords and knives.
Charity work
Williams
and his wife, Marsha, founded the Windfall Foundation, a philanthropic organization
to raise money for many different charities. Williams devotes much of his energy
doing work for charities, including the Comic Relief fund-raising efforts. He
is also a cycling fan, known to own hundreds of bicycles and to attend the Tour
de France. Through his interest in cycling, he has been a friend and supporter
of Lance Armstrong and his foundation, performing at events for the foundation.
Directly after 9/11, Williams was shown donating blood numerous times to help victims of the attacks.
Williams has 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. As recently as January 24-25 2007, he performed two live stand-up comedy shows in Boston, MA. Donations from the events were split between the USO Operation Care Package and the Greater Boston Food Bank
In 2006, he helped fund and also wrote the foreword to the book "Home Wasn't Built in a Day" with the nonprofit writing center 826 Valencia. The book was written by public school students from Galileo Academy of Science and Technology in San Francisco.
Filmography
Year
Film Role Notes
1977 Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses?
1980 Popeye Popeye
Film Debut
1982 The World According to Garp T.S. Garp
1983 The Survivors
Donald Quinelle
1984 Moscow on the Hudson Vladimir Ivanov
1986 Seize the
Day Tommy Wilhelm
Club Paradise Jack Moniker
The Best of Times Jack Dundee
1987 Good Morning, Vietnam Adrian Cronauer Nominated for an Academy Award.
1988 The Adventures of Baron Munchausen King of the Moon Credited as Ray D.
Tutto
Portrait of a White Marriage Air Conditioning Salesman Cameo
1989
Dead Poets Society John Keating Williams nominated for Actor Oscar. Film won Academy
Award for Writing Original Screenplay
Back to Neverland Vacationer/Lost Boy
Co-Starred with Walter Cronkite in this now defunked video that used to play at
the Disney-MGM Studios's Animation Courtyard theatre.
1990 Awakenings Dr.
Malcolm Sayer
Cadillac Man Joey O'Brien
1991 Hook Peter Pan
The Fisher
King Parry
Dead Again Doctor Cozy Carlisle
1992 Toys Leslie Zevo
Aladdin
Genie Voice, Won a Special Golden Globe for his performance.
The Timekeeper
(or
From Time to Time or LeVisionarium) The Timekeeper Voice; short subject; this
is a former Circle-Vision 360° film at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris
and Tokyo Disneyland.
FernGully: The Last Rainforest Batty Koda Voice
Shakes
the Clown Mime Class Instructor
I'm From Hollywood Documentary
1993 Mrs.
Doubtfire Daniel Hillard / Mrs. Doubtfire Also producer
Being Human Hector
1994 In Search of Dr. Seuss Father
1995 Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Genie Voice
Jumanji Alan Parrish
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie
Newmar John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt Cameo (uncredited)
Nine Months Dr.
Kosevich
1996 Hamlet Osric
The Secret Agent The Professor
Jack Jack
Powell
The Birdcage Armand Goldman
1997 Good Will Hunting Sean Maguire
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Flubber Professor Philip Brainard
Deconstructing Harry Mel/Harry's Character
Fathers' Day Dale Putley
1998
Patch Adams Hunter "Patch" Adams
Junket Whore Documentary
What
Dreams May Come Chris Nielsen
1999 Bicentennial Man Andrew Martin
Jakob
the Liar Jakob Heym/Narrator Also executive producer
Get Bruce Documentary
2001 A.I.: Artificial Intelligence Dr. Know Voice
2002 The Rutles 2: Can't
Buy Me Lunch Cameo
Insomnia Walter Finch
Death to Smoochy 'Rainbow' Randolph
Smiley
One Hour Photo Sy Parrish
2004 Noel Charlie Boyd/The Priest Uncredited
House of D Pappass
The Final Cut Alan W. Hakman
2005 In Search of
Ted Demme
The Big White Paul Barnell
Robots Fender Voice
The Aristocrats
Documentary
2006
Night at the Museum Teddy Roosevelt
Man of the Year
Tom Dobbs
Happy Feet Ramon/Lovelace Voice
Everyone's Hero Napoleon Cross
Voice; (Uncredited)
RV Bob Munro
The Night Listener Gabriel Noone
2007
License to Wed Father Frank Post-production
August Rush Wizard Post-production
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