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Robin McLaurin Williams (born July 21, 1951[1]) is
an Academy Award-winning American actor and comedian. As an actor he has had
starring roles on television, stage, and film.
****
Birth name Robin McLaurin Williams
Born July 21, 1951 (age 55)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Height 5'8" (1.73 meters)
Spouse(s) Valerie Velardi (1978-1988)
Marsha Garces Williams (1989-)
Notable roles Adrian Cronauer in Good Morning,
Vietnam,
John Keating in Dead Poets Society,
Genie in Aladdin,
Mrs. Doubtfire in Mrs. Doubtfire,
Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting
Academy Awards
Best Supporting Actor
1997 Good Will Hunting
****
Biography
Early
life & education
Williams was born in Chicago. His father, Robert
Fitzgerald Williams (1901-87), who was of English, Welsh and Irish descent, was
a senior executive at Ford in charge of the Midwest area. His mother, Laurie, is
a New Orleans-born former model of French descent.[2] He was raised 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.
He has two half-brothers. 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[3]. In high school, he won a "Faisal" award for "Most Likely To Not
Succeed" (17 November 2006 The View interview).
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.[4]
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 studying at Claremont McKenna College (then called Claremont
Men's College) with the Strut and Fret theatre group in Claremont, California,
and at Juilliard Drama School (where he befriended and roomed with actor
Christopher Reeve). After appearing in the cast of the short lived 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 "nanoo nanoo" and the swear word "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: Nov. 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?"
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, 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 Bicentennial Man, the 2005 animated feature Robots, 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.[citation needed] This apparently prompted Williams to take radically
unconventional roles,[citation needed] 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 was in The Night Listener, a thriller which stars him as a
radio show host who realizes the friendship he has with a child 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.[citation
needed]
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.[5]
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 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 had one child, Zachary (born April 1983). The marriage
ended in 1988. On April 30 1989, he married Marsha Garces, Zachary's former
nanny. 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.[citation needed]
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 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." [6] Williams was a close friend and frequent partier alongside John
Belushi.[citation needed] 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. A grand jury will sober you up pretty quickly." (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?” 40 days later 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."[citation needed]
Other interests
Williams is a self-confessed gamer known to enjoy
online video games, recently playing Warcraft 3 and World Of Warcraft,
Half-Life[7] and the first-person shooter Battlefield 2 as a sniper.[8] 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.[citation needed] He named his daughter Zelda because his son, Zachary, is a
devoted fan of the Legend of Zelda video game series.[citation needed] 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.[citation
needed]
On January 6 2006 he performed live at Consumer
Electronics Show during Google keynote.[9]
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."[10] He also
complimented the game's versatility, comparing it to Populous and Black & White.
Williams is a prolific collector of sports
memorabilia.
Williams is also known to be a San Francisco Giants
fan and can occasionally be seen at AT&T Park during Giants home games.
Williams 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.[citation needed] Also, in the CGI film Robots
(movie), Williams' character carries a spear nearly identical to the Lance of
Longinus prominiently featured in EVA.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
Directly after 9/11, Williams was shown donating
blood numerous times to help victims of the attacks.[citation needed]
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.[citation
needed]
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
2007 License to Wed Father Frank Filming
August Rush Wizard Post-production
2006
Night at the Museum Theodore Roosevelt
Man of the Year Tom Dobbs
Happy Feet Ramon/Lovelace Voice
Everyone's Hero Napoleon Cross Voice; (Uncredited)
RV Bob Munroe
The Night Listener Gabriel Noone
2005 In Search of Ted Demme
The Big White Paul Barnell
Robots Fender Voice
The Aristocrats Documentary
2004 Noel Charlie Boyd/The Priest Uncredited
House of D Pappass
The Final Cut Alan W. Hakman
2002 The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch Cameo
Insomnia Walter Finch
Death to Smoochy 'Rainbow' Randolph Smiley
One Hour Photo Sy Parrish
2001 A.I.: Artificial Intelligence Dr. Know Voice
1999 Bicentennial Man Andrew Martin
Jakob the Liar Jakob Heym/Narrator Also executive
producer
Get Bruce Documentary
1998 Patch Adams Hunter "Patch" Adams
Junket Whore Documentary
What Dreams May Come Chris Nielsen
1997 Good Will Hunting Sean Maguire Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actor
Flubber Professor Philip Brainard
Deconstructing Harry
Father's Day Dale Putley
1996 Hamlet Osric
The Secret Agent The Professor
Jack Jack Powell
The Birdcage Armand Goldman
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
1994 In Search of Dr. Seuss Father
1993 Mrs. Doubtfire Daniel Hillard / Mrs. Doubtfire
Also producer
Being Human Hector
1992 Toys Leslie Zevo
Aladdin Genie Voice
From Time to Time
(or The Timekeeper) 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
1991 Hook Peter Pan
The Fisher King Parry
Dead Again Doctor Cozy Carlisle
1990 Awakenings Dr. Malcolm Sayer
Cadillac Man Joey O'Brien
1989 Dead Poets Society John Keating Williams
nominated for Actor Oscar. Film won Academy Award for Writing Original
Screenplay
1988 The Adventures of Baron Munchausen King of the
Moon Credited as Ray D. Tutto
Portrait of a White Marriage Cameo
1987 Good Morning, Vietnam Adrian Cronauer
1986 Seize the Day
Club Paradise Jack Moniker
The Best of Times
1984 Moscow on the Hudson
1983 The Survivors
1982 The World According to Garp T.S. Garp
1980 Popeye Popeye
1977 Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses?
Discography
Williams sings a version of "Come Together" with
Bobby McFerrin on In My Life, a Beatles tribute album produced by George Martin.
Williams also appeared in the music video of McFerrin's hit song "Don't Worry,
Be Happy".
Reality...What a Concept (1977)
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)
Television guest appearances
Himself on Real Time With Bill Maher (2006).
Himself on CNN's AC 360 It Helps To Laugh (2006).
George Martin: In My Life (1998) with Bobby
McFerrin
Himself on the American version of Whose Line is it
Anyway
Himself: Mind of Mencia
Man having lost his wife to his best friend:
Friends
Man who loses his wife in a robbery: Homicide: Life
on the Street (1994)
Preceded by
Jack Lemmon
57th Academy Awards "Oscars" host
58th Academy Awards (with Alan Alda and Jane Fonda)
Succeeded by
Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, and Paul Hogan
59th Academy Awards
Preceded by
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
for Jerry Maguire Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actor
1997
for Good Will Hunting Succeeded by
James Coburn
for Affliction
Notes
-
^ Sometimes a birthdate in 1952
is listed, but that is based on incorrect information from early in his
career, see RobinWilliams.net FAQ.
-
^ Dougan, Andy (1999). Robin
Williams. Thunder's Mouth Press, 6,7. ISBN 1-56025-213-8.
-
^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5602441
-
^ Reeve, Christopher. Still Me,
Random House, 1998. ISBN 0-679-45235-4 pp 167-172
-
^ Robin Williams, Joker? IGN.com.
June 26, 2006. Retrieved on October 24, 2006.
-
^ Robin Williams At the Met 1988
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196055/
-
^ http://www.pro-hl.com/robin_williams_interview.shtml
-
^ http://thearchies.blogspot.com/2005/12/mork-me.html
-
^ http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/06/live-coverage-of-the-google-keynote/
-
^ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1734727723734486891
****
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