Robin McLaurin Williams
(born July 21, 1951) [1] is an American actor and comedian.
Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy
, and later stand up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting
. He has also won three Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and three Grammy Awards.
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ROBIN WILLIAMS TICKETS
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Early life
Williams was born in
Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Laura McLaurin (
née Smith, 1922–2001), was a former model from
Jackson, Mississippi. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams (September 10, 1906–October 18, 1987) was a senior executive at Lincoln-Mercury Motorship in charge of the Midwest area. Williams was raised in the
Episcopal Church, though his mother practiced
Christian Science.
[2] [3] He grew up in
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan where he was a student at the
Detroit Country Day School,
[4] and
Marin County, California where he attended the public
Redwood High School. He has two half-brothers: McLaurin, and Todd who died August 14, 2007.
[5]
Williams has described himself as a quiet child whose first imitation was of his grandmother to his mother. He did not overcome his shyness until he became involved with his high school drama department.
[6]
Television career
In 1973, Williams was one of only 20 students accepted into the freshman class at
Juilliard. Williams, along with
Christopher Reeve, were the only students accepted by
John Houseman into the Advanced Program at the school that year.
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 quickly, whereas Reeve was more meticulous about it. Williams and Reeve developed a close friendship, and they remained good friends for the rest of Reeve's life. Williams visited Reeve after the horseback riding accident that paralyzed him from the neck down and cheered him up by pretending to be 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.
[7]
After appearing in the cast of the short-lived
The Richard Pryor Show
on
NBC, Williams was cast by
Garry Marshall as the alien Mork in the hit TV series "
Happy Days".
[8]
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. Although playing the same character as in his appearance in Happy Days, the show was set in the present day, in Boulder, Colorado instead of late '50s in
Milwaukee. Mork was an extremely popular character, featured on posters, coloring books, lunchboxes, and other merchandise.
Starting in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, 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). Also in 1986, Williams reached an even wider audience to exhibit his style at the 58th Academy Awards show; noting the Hollywood writers strike that year he commented that the Hollywood writer... "is the only man in the world that can blow smoke up his own a--." As a result, Williams has never hosted the AA's again.
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 13th on
Comedy Central's list "100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time" in 2004.
[9]
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;
[10] Matt Frewer took his place as a time-traveling
con man, Professor Berlingoff Rasmussen.
Williams also appeared on an episode of the American version 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?"
[11]
Cinema career
The majority of Williams' acting career has been in film, although he has given some performances on stage as well (notably as
Estragon in a production of
Waiting for Godot
with
Steve Martin). His performance in
Good Morning, Vietnam
(1987) got Williams nominated for an
Academy Award. Many of his roles have been comedies tinged with
pathos, for example
The Birdcage
and
Mrs. Doubtfire
.
His role as the
Genie in the
animated film Aladdin
was instrumental in establishing the importance of star power in
voice actor casting. Williams also used his voice talents in
Fern Gully
, as the holographic Dr. Know in the 2001 feature
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
, 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, which got him two subsequent Academy Award nominations: First for playing an English teacher in
Dead Poets Society
(1989), and later for playing a troubled homeless man in
The Fisher King
(1991);
that same year, he played an adult
Peter Pan in the movie
Hook
. Other acclaimed dramatic films include
Awakenings
(1990) and
What Dreams May Come
(1998). In the 2002 dramatic thriller
Insomnia
, Williams portrays a writer/killer on the run from a sleep-deprived Los Angeles policeman (played by
Al Pacino) in rural Alaska. And also in 2002, in the psychological thriller
One Hour Photo
, Williams played an emotionally disturbed photo development technician who becomes obsessed with a family for whom he has developed pictures for a long time.
In 1998, 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. In 2006 Williams starred in
The Night Listener
, a thriller about a radio show host who realizes he has developed a friendship with a child who may or may not exist.
He is known for his
improvisational skills and
impersonations. His performances frequently involve impromptu humor designed and delivered in rapid-fire succession while on stage. According to the
Aladdin
DVD commentary, most of his
dialogue as the Genie was improvised and conversely to all previous animation features, the animation had to be post-produced to synch with Williams' pre-recorded voice-over.
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.
At one point, he was in the running to play the
Riddler in
Batman Forever
until director
Tim Burton dropped the project. Earlier, Williams had been a strong contender to play the
Joker in
Batman
. He had expressed interest in assuming the role in
The Dark Knight
, the sequel to 2005's
Batman Begins
,
[12] although the part of the Joker was played by
Heath Ledger, who posthumously went on to win the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
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.
Disputes with Disney
In gratitude for his success with the Disney/Touchstone film
Good Morning, Vietnam
, Robin Williams voiced the Genie for
SAG scale pay ($75,000), on condition that his name or image not be used for marketing, and his (supporting) character not take more than 25% of space on advertising artwork, since
Toys
was scheduled for release one month after
Aladdin
's debut. The studio went back on the deal on both counts, especially in poster art by having the Genie in 25% of the image, but having other major and supporting characters portrayed considerably smaller. Disney's Hyperion book,
Aladdin: The Making Of An Animated Film
, listed both of Williams' characters "The Peddler" and "The Genie" ahead of main characters, but was forced to refer to him only as "the actor signed to play the Genie".
[13]
Williams and Disney had a bitter falling-out, and as a result
Dan Castellaneta voiced the Genie in
The Return of Jafar
, the
Aladdin
animated television series, and had recorded his voice for
Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
When Jeffrey Katzenberg was fired from Disney and replaced by former
20th Century Fox production head
Joe Roth (whose last act for Fox was greenlighting Williams' film
Mrs. Doubtfire
), Roth arranged for a public apology to Williams by Disney. Williams agreed to perform in Hollywood Pictures'
Jack
, directed by
Francis Ford Coppola, and even agreed to voice the Genie again for the
King Of Thieves
sequel (for considerably more than scale), replacing all of Castellaneta's dialogue.
[14]
When Williams re-teamed with
Doubtfire
director Chris Columbus for 1999's
Bicentennial Man
, Disney asked that the budget be cut by approximately $20 million, and when the film was released on Christmas Day, it flopped at the box office. Williams blamed Disney's marketing and the loss of content the film had suffered due to the budget cuts. As a result, Williams was again on bad terms with Disney, and Castellaneta was once again recruited to replace him as Genie in the
Kingdom Hearts
video game series and the
House of Mouse
TV series. The DVD release for
Aladdin
has no involvement whatsoever from Williams in the bonus materials, although some of his original recording sessions can be seen.
Robin Williams has made peace with the Walt Disney Company and in 2009 agreed to be inducted into the Disney hall of fame, designated as a
Disney Legend.
[15]
Stand-Up career
Robin Williams has done a number of stand-up comedy tours since the early 1970s. Some of his most notable tours include An Evening With Robin Williams (1982), Robin Williams: At The Met (1986) and Robin Williams LIVE on Broadway (2002). The latter broke many long held records for a comedy show. In some cases, tickets were sold out within thirty minutes of going on sale.
In August 2008, Williams announced a brand new 26-city tour titled "Weapons of Self Destruction". After a six year break from his record breaking tour, Robin decided the time was right to perform again due to the material that could be generated by a presidential election. He was quoted as saying that this was his last chance to make cracks at the expense of the current Bush Administration.
[16]
Personal life
Robin Williams' first marriage was to Valerie Velardi on June 4, 1978, with whom he has one child, Zachary Pym (Zak) (born April 11, 1983). During Williams' first marriage, he was involved in an extramarital relationship with Michelle Tish Carter, a cocktail waitress whom he met in 1984. She sued him in 1986, claiming he gave her
herpes without notifying her. The case was settled out of court.
[17]
On April 30, 1989, he married Marsha Garces, his son's nanny who was already several months pregnant with his child. They have two children,
Zelda Rae (born July 31, 1989) and Cody Alan (born November 25, 1991). However, in March 2008, Garces filed for divorce from Williams, citing irreconcilable differences.
[18]
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had an addiction to
cocaine; he has since quit. Williams was a close friend and frequent partier alongside
John Belushi. He 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."
[19]
On August 9, 2006, Williams checked himself into a substance abuse rehabilitation center, later admitting that he was an alcoholic.
[20] His publicist delivered the announcement:
"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." [21]
On August 20, 2007, Williams' elder brother, Robert Todd Williams, died of complications from heart surgery performed a month earlier.
[22]
Williams is a member of the
Episcopal Church. He has described his denomination as "Catholic Lite—same rituals, half the guilt."
[23]
Health
Williams was hospitalized in March 2009 due to heart problems. Williams postponed his one-man tour in order to undergo surgery to replace his
aortic valve.
[24] [25] The surgery was successfully completed on March 13, 2009 at the
Cleveland Clinic.
[26] [27]
Other interests
thumb
Williams is an avid enthusiast of games, enjoying pen-and-paper
role-playing games and online
video games, recently playing
Warcraft 3
,
Day of Defeat
,
Half-Life
,
[28] and the
first-person shooter Battlefield 2
as a
sniper.
[29] On January 6, 2006, he performed live at
Consumer Electronics Show during
Google's keynote.
[30] 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."
[31] He also complimented the game's versatility, comparing it to
Populous
and
Black & White
.
Robin Williams has gone on record as a fan of the
anime series
Neon Genesis Evangelion
, and incorporated a scene referencing it in
One Hour Photo
where he purchases a model kit from it as a gift.
A fan of professional road cycling, he was a regular on the US Postal and Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team bus and hotels during the years
Lance Armstrong dominated the
Tour de France.
[32] He owns over 50 bicycles.
[33]
He also enjoys
rugby union and is a big fan of former
All Black,
Jonah Lomu.
[34]
Williams is a supporter of eco-friendly vehicles. He currently drives a
Toyota Prius,
[35] but is on the waiting list to be an early adopter of the
Aptera 2-series electric vehicle.
[36]
Charity work
Williams and his former 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. In December 1999, he sang in French on the BBC-inspired music video of international celebrities doing a cover of the Rolling Stones's "It's Only Rock & Roll" for the charity Children's Promise.
[37]
Williams has performed for four years with the
USO for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq.
[more information requested]
Filmography
Year
| Film
| 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
|
|
Club Paradise
| Jack Moniker
|
|
The Best of Times
| Jack Dundee
|
|
1987
| Good Morning, Vietnam
| Adrian Cronauer
| Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
|
1988
| The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
| King of the Moon
| Credited as Ray D. Tutto
|
Portrait of a White Marriage
| Air Conditioning Salesman
|
|
1989
| Dead Poets Society
| John Keating
| Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
|
Back to Neverland
| Peter Pan
|
|
1990
| Awakenings
| Dr. Malcolm Sayer
| Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
|
Cadillac Man
| Joey O'Brien
|
|
1991
| Hook
| Peter Banning / Peter Pan
|
|
The Fisher King
| Parry
| Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
|
Dead Again
| Doctor Cozy Carlisle
|
|
1992
| Toys
| Leslie Zevo
|
|
Aladdin
| Genie/Merchant
| Voice
|
The Timekeeper
| The Timekeeper
|
|
FernGully: The Last Rainforest
| Batty Koda
|
|
Shakes the Clown
| Mime Class Instructor
|
|
I'm from Hollywood
|
|
|
1993
| Mrs. Doubtfire
| Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Doubtfire
| Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
|
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
|
|
Nine Months
| Dr. Kosevich
|
|
1996
| Hamlet
| Osric
|
|
The Secret Agent
| The Professor
|
|
Jack
| Jack Powell
|
|
The Birdcage
| Armand Goldman
| Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
|
1997
| Good Will Hunting
| Sean Maguire
| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
|
Flubber
| Professor Philip Brainard
|
|
Deconstructing Harry
| Mel/Harry's Character
|
|
Fathers' Day
| Dale Putley
|
|
1998
| Patch Adams
| Hunter "Patch" Adams
| Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
|
Junket Whore
|
|
|
What Dreams May Come
| Chris Nielsen
|
|
1999
| Bicentennial Man
| Andrew Martin
|
|
Jakob the Liar
| Jakob Heym/Narrator
|
|
Get Bruce
|
|
|
2000
| Model Behavior
| Faremain
|
|
2001
| A.I. Artificial Intelligence
| Dr. Know
|
|
2002
| The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch
|
|
|
Insomnia
| Walter Finch
|
|
Death to Smoochy
| 'Rainbow' Randolph Smiley
|
|
One Hour Photo
| Sy Parrish
|
|
2004
| Noel
| Charlie Boyd/The Priest
|
|
House of D
| Pappass
|
|
The Final Cut
| Alan W. Hakman
|
|
2005
| In Search of Ted Demme
|
|
|
The Big White
| Paul Barnell
|
|
Robots
| Fender
|
|
The Aristocrats
| Himself
|
|
2006
| Man of the Year
| Tom Dobbs
|
|
Night at the Museum
| Theodore Roosevelt
|
|
Happy Feet
| Ramon/Lovelace
| (voice)
|
Everyone's Hero
| Napoleon Cross
| (voice)
|
RV
| Bob Munro
|
|
The Night Listener
| Gabriel Noone
|
|
2007
| License to Wed
| Reverend Frank
|
|
August Rush
| Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace
| ''
|
2009
| Shrink
| Holden
|
|
World's Greatest Dad
| Lance Clayton
|
|
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
| Theodore Roosevelt
|
|
Old Dogs
| Lead
| awaiting release
|
2010
| Wedding Banned
[38]
| John Fischer
|
|
Discography
Williams sings a version of "
Come Together" with
Bobby McFerrin on
In My Life
, a
Beatles tribute album produced by George Martin. He also sings "A Mi Manera (My Way)", on the
Happy Feet
soundtrack. For the 1993 soundtrack of
Mrs. Doubtfire
, and the film, he sings a rendition of a fragment of
Gioacchino Rossini's "
Largo al factotum" from
The Barber of Seville
.
Williams appeared in the music video of Bobby McFerrin's hit song "
Don't Worry, Be Happy".
[39]
- Reality...What a Concept
(1979)
- Throbbing Python of Love
(1983)
- A Night at the Met
(1986)
- Pecos Bill
(1988)
- Live 2002
(2002)
DVDs and videos
- An Evening with Robin Williams
(1982, VHS)
- Robin Williams: Live at the Met
(1986, VHS)
- Robin Williams: Live on Broadway
(2002)
- Robin Williams: Raul's House 2
(2009)
Television guest appearances
- As "Robert Ellison" on the Homicide: Life on the Street
episode "Bop Gun" (1994)
- As "Thomas" on Friends
(1997)
- Whose Line is it Anyway?
(2000)
- "That's Fucking Historical" episode of Mind of Mencia
(2006)
- Real Time With Bill Maher
(2006)
- CNN's Anderson Cooper 360
It Helps To Laugh (2006)
- TV Land's Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg
(2007)
- CBS's Late Show with David Letterman
(2007)
- BBC's Men Who Do Comedy
(2007)
- CBS's Late Show with David Letterman
(2008) (First show after start of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike)
- ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live
2008 (Segment titled "I'm Fuckin' Ben Affleck")
- "The Russian Idol" on American Idol's 2008 "Idol Gives Back" special
- As Merritt Rook on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2008)
- BBC's The Graham Norton Show
(2008)
- ITV's Prince of Wales 60th Birthday party We are most amused
(2008)
- CBS's Late Show with David Letterman
(2009) (First appearance after his heart surgery)
- NBC's The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
(2009)
References
- Marriage 101 with Robin Williams
- Bobbin' Robin
- Robin Williams on License to Wed
- Detroit Country Day: Frequently Asked Questions
- R. Todd Williams, 69; winery founder, comic's brother
- Robin Williams: 'The Night Listener'
- Still Me
- YouTube - Happy Days - Richie Meets Mork
- Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time
- Biography for Robin Williams
- Episode 9
- Robin Williams, Joker?
- DISNEY'S GOT A BRAND-NEW BAGHDAD
- Be Careful What You Wish For
- 2009 Disney Legends Award Recipients to Be Honored During D23 Expo in Anaheim
- robinwilliams.com
- THE SEXES; Pillow Talk
- Robin Williams' wife files for divorce after nearly 19 years
- Robin Williams
- http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2515796
- Robin Williams Enters Rehab for Alcohol
- http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5247lm-us-williams/
- A "License" to Laugh
- Robin Williams in South Florida hospital
- Jones, Kenneth."Robin Williams' Spring Broadway Bow Postponed Due to Heart Surgery",playbill.com, March 5, 2009
- Title Unavailable
- Title Unavailable
- Interview at Pro-HL.com
- Mork & Me
- Engadget.com
- Robin Williams plays Spore
- Tour de Lance: 100 percent pure
- http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-10161.html
- http://www.ticketsnow.com/Robin-Williams-Tickets.html
- http://www.granvilleonline.ca/gr/features/2008/11/12/toyota-prius-hybrid-2009
- http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=10&article_id=7651
- Stones cover enters festive race
- World Entertainment News Network. "Williams rekindles failed marriage on film," ''San Francisco Chronicle'', August 28, 2009. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
- Bobby McFerrin Homepage