List of Robin Williams performances

The American actor and comedian Robin Williams (1951–2014) starred in films, television and video games throughout a career that spanned nearly four decades. Known for his fast-paced, improvisational style and for playing a wide variety of characters,^[1][2] he was described by Screen Actors Guild president Ken Howard as "a performer of limitless versatility, equally adept at comedy and drama, whether scripted or improv".^[3] He is often regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time.^[4][5]

Williams in 2011

Williams's career began in 1977 with minor roles in the film Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses? and the television shows The Richard Pryor Show and Laugh-In.^[6] The guest role of an alien named Mork in a 1978 episode of the sitcom Happy Days earned him positive reviews, and led to the spin-off Mork & Mindy, focusing on his character's experiences on Earth. Running for four seasons, the show was Williams's breakthrough and earned him his first Golden Globe Award and a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.^[7][8][9] By the early 1980s, Williams wanted to do mainstream acting, and made his film debut in a lead role in the musical comedy Popeye (1980), a critical failure that earned thrice its budget.^[10] Williams then took on more serious parts in the comedy-dramas The World According to Garp (1982) and Moscow on the Hudson (1984).^[11][12] He won two consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for the television specials Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin (1987) and ABC Presents A Royal Gala (1988).^[9] He received his first of three Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for playing disc jockey Adrian Cronauer in the war comedy Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), in which he improvised some of his scenes.^[13][14]

Further critical acclaim followed with Williams's lead roles in Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990) and The Fisher King (1991).^[15] He also found greater commercial success in the 1990s. Many of his films during this period grossed more than $100 million, including the fantasy Hook (1991), the animated musical Aladdin (1992), the comedy-drama Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), the adventure Jumanji (1995) and the comedy The Birdcage (1996).^[16] Aladdin, in which he improvised 52 characters,^[17] was the highest-grossing film of the year.^[18] Mrs. Doubtfire, which he also produced, won him a third Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy; he had previously won for Good Morning, Vietnam and The Fisher King.^[8] While hailed "the funniest person alive" by Entertainment Weekly in 1997,^[19] Williams wanted to do more serious work as an actor around this time.^[16] Such opportunities arose with the roles of a therapist in the psychological drama Good Will Hunting (1997) and a man in heaven who attempts to save his wife from hell in the fantasy drama What Dreams May Come (1998).^[16][20] The former won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[21]

In the 2000s, Williams continued to do voice roles, including in A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Robots (2005) and Happy Feet (2006, and its 2011 sequel). Pursuing more diverse parts, he took on the darker roles of an emotionally disturbed photo developer in One Hour Photo (2002), a writer who is involved in the murder of a teenage girl in Insomnia (2002) and a radio host who is caught up with a troubled fan in The Night Listener (2006).^[22][23] He returned to comedy in 2006 with the family adventure RV, the satire Man of the Year and the fantasy Night at the Museum. The latter was the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year and spawned two sequels in 2009 and 2014.^[24] He began touring for the one-man stand-up comedy show Weapons of Self Destruction (2008), focusing on "social and political absurdities",^[25] and starred in the Disney film Old Dogs (2009). In the 2010s, he starred in the sitcom The Crazy Ones (2013–2014), played supporting roles in the 2013 features The Big Wedding and The Butler, and had three films released posthumously, including the sequel Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.

Film

Table featuring feature films with Robin Williams

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1977	Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses?	Lawyer / Man with Tooth Ache	Film debut	[26][27]
1980	Popeye	Popeye		[28]
1982	The World According to Garp	T.S. Garp		[29]
1983	The Survivors	Donald Quinelle		[30]
1984	Moscow on the Hudson	Vladimir Ivanov		[31]
1986	The Best of Times	Jack Dundee		[32]
	Club Paradise	Jack Moniker		[33]
	Seize the Day	Tommy Wilhelm		[34]
1987	Good Morning, Vietnam	Adrian Cronauer		[35]
1988	The Adventures of Baron Munchausen	King of the Moon	Credited as Ray D. Tutto	[36]
	Portrait of a White Marriage	Air Conditioning Salesman	Uncredited cameo	[37]
1989	Dead Poets Society	John Keating		[38]
1990	Cadillac Man	Joey O'Brien		[39]
	Awakenings	Dr. Malcolm Sayer		[40]
1991	Shakes the Clown	Mime Jerry, Class Instructor	Cameo appearance; Credited as Marty Fromage	[41]
	Dead Again	Doctor Cozy Carlisle		[42]
	The Fisher King	Henry "Parry" Sagan		[43]
	Hook	Peter Banning / Peter Pan		[44]
1992	FernGully: The Last Rainforest	Batty Koda	Voice role	[45]
	Aladdin	Genie, Peddler		[46]
	Toys	Leslie Zevo		[47]
1993	Mrs. Doubtfire	Daniel Hillard / Euphegenia Doubtfire	Also producer	[48][49]
1994	Being Human	Hector		[50]
1995	Nine Months	Dr. Kosevich		[51]
	To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar	John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt	Uncredited cameo	[52]
	Jumanji	Alan Parrish		[53]
1996	The Birdcage	Armand Goldman		[54]
	Jack	Jack Powell		[55]
	Aladdin and the King of Thieves	Genie	Voice role; Direct-to-video	[56]
	The Secret Agent	The Professor	Uncredited	[57]
	Hamlet	Osric		[58]
1997	Fathers' Day	Dale Putley		[59]
	Deconstructing Harry	Mel		[60]
	Flubber	Professor Philip Brainard		[61]
	Good Will Hunting	Sean Maguire		[62]
1998	What Dreams May Come	Chris Nielsen		[63]
	Patch Adams	Patch Adams		[64]
1999	Jakob the Liar	Jakob Heym	Also executive producer	[65]
	Bicentennial Man	Andrew Martin		[66]
	Get Bruce	Himself	Documentary	[67]
2001	A.I. Artificial Intelligence	Dr. Know	Voice role; Cameo appearance	[68]
2002	One Hour Photo	Seymour "Sy" Parrish		[69]
	Death to Smoochy	"Rainbow" Randolph Smiley		[70]
	Insomnia	Walter Finch		[71]
2004	The Final Cut	Alan W. Hakman		[72]
	House of D	Pappass		[73]
	Noel	Charlie Boyd / The Priest	Uncredited	[74]
2005	Robots	Fender Pinwheeler	Voice role	[75]
	The Big White	Paul Barnell		[76]
	The Aristocrats	Himself	Documentary	[77]
2006	The Night Listener	Gabriel Noone		[78]
	RV	Bob Munro		[79]
	Everyone's Hero	Napoleon Cross	Voice role; Uncredited	[80]
	Man of the Year	Tom Dobbs		[81]
	Happy Feet	Ramon, Lovelace	Voice role	[82]
	Night at the Museum	Theodore Roosevelt		[83]
2007	License to Wed	Reverend Frank		[84]
	August Rush	Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace		[85]
2009	World's Greatest Dad	Lance Clayton		[86]
	Shrink	Jack Holden		[87]
	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	Theodore Roosevelt / Theodore Roosevelt Bust (voice)		[88]
	Old Dogs	Dan Rayburn		[89]
2011	Happy Feet Two	Ramon, Lovelace	Voice role	[90]
2013	The Big Wedding	Father Monighan		[91]
	The Butler	Dwight D. Eisenhower		[92]
	The Face of Love	Roger		[93]
2014	Boulevard	Nolan Mack		[94]
	The Angriest Man in Brooklyn	Henry Altmann		[95]
	A Merry Friggin' Christmas	Mitch Mitchler	Released posthumously	[96]
	Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb	Theodore Roosevelt, Garuda (voice)		[97]
2015	Absolutely Anything	Dennis the Dog	Voice role; Released posthumously	[98]
2023	Once Upon a Studio	Genie	Voice role; Unused archive recordings; Released posthumously	[99]

Television

Table featuring television programs with Robin Williams

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1977	Sorority '62	Henry	Television pilot	[100][101]
	The Richard Pryor Show	Various characters	2 episodes	[102]
	Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In	Regular performer		[103]
	Eight Is Enough	Band Member	Episode: "The Return of Auntie V"	[100]
1978	America 2-Night	Jason Shine	2 episodes	[104]
1978–1979	Happy Days	Mork	2 episodes	[105]
1978–1982	Mork & Mindy			[106]
1979	Out of the Blue		Episode: "Random's Arrival"	[107]
1982	E.T. and Friends: Magical Movie Visitors	Himself (host)	Television special	[108]
	Faerie Tale Theatre	Frog/Prince Robin	Episode: "Tale of the Frog Prince"	[109]
	SCTV Network	Various characters	Episode: "Jane Eyrehead"	[110]
1982–1983	Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour	Mork (voice)		[111][112]
1984	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	Episode: "Robin Williams/Adam Ant"	[113]
	Pryor's Place	Gaby	Episode: "Sax Education"	[114]
1986	58th Academy Awards	Himself (co-host)	Television special	[115]
	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	Episode: "Robin Williams/Paul Simon"	[116]
1987	Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin	Various characters	Television special	[117]
	Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam	Baby-san (voice)	Documentary	[118]
1988	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	Episode: "Robin Williams/James Taylor"	[119]
1990	The Earth Day Special	Everyman	Television special	[120]
1990–2012	Sesame Street	Himself		[121]
1991	A Wish for Wings That Work	The Kiwi (voice)	Television special; Credited as Sudy Nim	[122]
1992, 1994	The Larry Sanders Show	Himself	2 episodes	[123][124]
1994	Homicide: Life on the Street	Robert Ellison	Episode: "Bop Gun"	[125]
	In Search of Dr. Seuss	The Father	Television film	[126]
1997	Friends	Tomas	Uncredited; Episode: "The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion"	[122]
1999	L.A. Doctors	Hugo Kinsley	Episode: "Just Duet"	[127]
2000	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Himself	1 episode	[128]
2002	The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch	Hans Hänkie	Television film	[129]
2003	Freedom: A History of Us	Josiah Quincy; Ulysses S. Grant; Missouri farmer; Wilbur Wright; Orville Wright	4 episodes	[130]
	Life with Bonnie	Kevin Powalski	Episode: "Psychic"	[131]
2008	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Merritt Rook	Episode: "Authority"	[132]
2009	SpongeBob SquarePants	Himself	Episode: "SpongeBob's Truth or Square"	[123]
2010	Saturday Night Live		Episode: "Robert De Niro/Diddy – Dirty Money"	[133]
2012	Wilfred	Dr. Eddy / Himself	Episode: "Progress"	[134]
2012	Louie	Himself	Episode: "Barney/Never"	[135]
2013–2014	The Crazy Ones	Simon Roberts		[136]

Theater

Table featuring theatre roles with Robin Williams

Year(s)	Title	Role	Venue	Ref(s)
1988	Waiting for Godot	Estragon	Lincoln Center Theatre, New York	[137]
2011	Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo	Tiger	Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway	[138]

Music videos

Table featuring music video roles of Robin Williams

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1988	Don't Worry, Be Happy	Himself	Music video; Bobby McFerrin

Video games

Table featuring video game roles of Robin Williams

Year	Title	Role	Ref(s)
1997	Disney's Math Quest with Aladdin	Genie (voice)	[139]

Video recordings

Table featuring video recordings with Robin Williams

Year	Title	Ref(s)
1978	Off the Wall / Live at the Roxy	[140]
1983	An Evening with Robin Williams	[141]
1986	Robin Williams: An Evening at the Met	[142]
2002	Robin Williams: Live on Broadway	[143]
2009	Weapons of Self Destruction	[144]

Theme Parks

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Back to Never Land	Robin	Video shown in The Magic of Disney Animation in Hollywood Studios [145]
1992	The Timekeeper	Timekeeper	English voice of Audio-Animatronic in Magic Kingdom

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Robin Williams