Robin Williams

Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was an American actor and stand-up comedian.^[5] He first became famous on the television show Mork and Mindy. He starred in many movies.

Robin Williams
Williams in 1978
Born	Robin McLaurin Williams (1951-07-21)July 21, 1951 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	August 11, 2014(2014-08-11) (aged 63) Paradise Cay, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Asphyxiation due to suicide by hanging
Resting place	Cremated; ashes scattered in San Francisco Bay
Alma mater	Juilliard School
Occupations	Actor comedian
Years active	1976–2014
Spouses	Valerie Velardi ​ ​ (m. 1978; div. 1988)​ Marsha Garces ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 2010)​ Susan Schneider ​ ​ (m. 2011; "his death" is deprecated; use "died" instead. 2014)​
Children	3; including Zelda Williams
Comedy career
Medium	Stand-up film television
Genres	Observational comedy improvisational comedy character comedy self-deprecation surreal humor
Influences	Jonathan Winters,[1][2] Warner Bros. Cartoons,[3] Dudley Moore,[4] Peter Sellers,[4] Peter Cook[4]
Website	robinwilliams.com

On August 11, 2014, Williams was found dead in his home.^[6] His death was believed to have been a suicide by asphyxiation.^[7]

Early life

Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 21, 1951. His father Robert Fitzgerald Williams (September 10, 1906 – October 18, 1987) worked for Ford Motor Company. His mother Laura McLaurin (née Smith, September 24, 1922 – September 4, 2001) was a former model from New Orleans, Louisiana.^[8] His great-great-grandfather on his mother's side was Mississippi senator and governor Anselm J. McLaurin.^[9] Williams' ancestors were English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, German, and French.^[10][11][12]

When he was young, Williams lived in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and in Marin County, California. He studied at Redwood High School and at Claremont McKenna College. He studied to become an actor at the Julliard School in New York City and at the College of Marin.

Career

After his family moved to Marin County, 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). His idol Jonathan Winters also appeared in the show. Williams went on to a successful career in both stand-up comedy and movie acting.

He acted in the movies The World According to Garp, Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, The Fisher King, Good Will Hunting, Popeye, Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, The Birdcage, Night at the Museum, and Happy Feet.

Williams appeared in the music video for "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin. In 2013, Williams starred as President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Lee Daniels' The Butler.

Before his death, Williams starred in the short-lived comedy The Crazy Ones. It was cancelled shortly before his death.

Once Williams got angry with Disney for using his voice as the Genie in Aladdin to sell merchandise for the movie. Disney tried to apologize to Williams. The Disney company bought a Picasso painting for him.^[13]

Awards

Williams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times. He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Good Will Hunting. He received two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and five Grammy Awards.^[14][15]

Personal life

Williams married Valerie Velardi in 1978. They divorced in 1988. In 1989, Williams married Marsha Garces. She divorced him in 2008. Williams married Susan Schneider in 2011. Their marriage lasted until Williams' death in 2014. Williams had a son with Velardi. He had a daughter and son with Garces. His son, Zak Williams, is an actor, businessman, and filmmaker. His daughter, Zelda Williams, is an actress.

Williams lived in San Francisco and Paradise Cay in California.

Health

Williams was an alcoholic. He was also addicted to cocaine.^[16] He had strong depression in the final years of his life.^[7] On March 13, 2009, he had surgery to fix an aortic valve.^[17] The surgery was successful.^[18][19] One month before his death, Williams went to rehab for his alcoholism.^[20] Williams' widow stated that he had been diagnosed with early stage Parkinson's disease before his death, but the actor was "not yet ready to share publicly" this information.^[21] In November 2014, it was revealed that Williams had Lewy body dementia.^[22]

Death

On August 11, 2014 at about 11:45 am, Williams was found at his home by his personal assistant.^[7] About ten minutes later, a 911 call was made saying that Williams was not reacting or breathing.^[23] He was pronounced dead at 12:02 pm, shortly after emergency personnel arrived.^[24][25] The Marin County Sheriff's department said the cause of death was probably asphyxia by hanging.^[7] Williams was also found with cuts on his wrist.^[26]

Williams was cremated. His ashes were scattered in the San Francisco Bay.^[27] 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.^[28]

Movies

Title	Year	Role	Director(s)	Notes
Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses?	1977	Lawyer / Man with Tooth Ache	I. Robert Levy
Popeye	1980	Popeye	Robert Altman
The World According to Garp	1982	T.S. Garp	George Roy Hill
The Survivors	1983	Donald Quinelle	Michael Ritchie
Moscow on the Hudson	1984	Vladimir Ivanov	Paul Mazursky
The Best of Times	1986	Jack Dundee	Roger Spottiswoode
Club Paradise		Jack Moniker	Harold Ramis
Seize the Day		Tommy Wilhelm	Fielder Cook
Good Morning, Vietnam	1987	Adrian Cronauer	Barry Levinson
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen	1988	King of the Moon	Terry Gilliam	Credited as Ray D. Tutto
Portrait of a White Marriage		Air Conditioning Salesman	Harry Shearer	Uncredited cameo
Dead Poets Society	1989	John Keating	Peter Weir
Cadillac Man	1990	Joey O'Brien	Roger Donaldson
Awakenings		Dr. Malcolm Sayer	Penny Marshall
Shakes the Clown	1991	Mime Class Instructor	Bobcat Goldthwait	Cameo
Dead Again		Doctor Cozy Carlisle	Kenneth Branagh
The Fisher King		Henry "Parry" Sagan	Terry Gilliam
Hook		Peter Banning / Peter Pan	Steven Spielberg
FernGully: The Last Rainforest	1992	Batty Koda (voice)	Bill Kroyer
The Timekeeper		The Timekeeper (voice)		Circle-Vision 360° film
Aladdin		Genie and Peddler (voices)	Ron Clements John Musker
Toys		Leslie Zevo	Barry Levinson
Mrs. Doubtfire	1993	Daniel Hillard / Euphegenia Doubtfire	Chris Columbus	Also producer
Being Human	1994	Hector	Bill Forsyth
Nine Months	1995	Dr. Kosevich	Chris Columbus
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar		John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt	Beeban Kidron	Uncredited cameo
Jumanji		Alan Parrish	Joe Johnston
The Birdcage	1996	Armand Goldman	Mike Nichols
Jack		Jack Powell	Francis Ford Coppola
Aladdin and the King of Thieves		Genie (voice)	Tad Stones	Direct-to-video
The Secret Agent		The Professor	Christopher Hampton	Uncredited
Hamlet		Osric	Kenneth Branagh
Fathers' Day	1997	Dale Putley	Ivan Reitman
Deconstructing Harry		Mel	Woody Allen
Flubber		Professor Philip Brainard	Les Mayfield
Good Will Hunting		Sean Maguire	Gus Van Sant
What Dreams May Come	1998	Chris Nielsen	Vincent Ward
Patch Adams		Patch Adams	Tom Shadyac
Jakob the Liar	1999	Jakob Heym	Peter Kassovitz	Also executive producer
Bicentennial Man		Andrew Martin	Chris Columbus
Get Bruce		Himself	Andrew J. Kuehn	Documentary
A.I. Artificial Intelligence	2001	Dr. Know (voice)	Steven Spielberg	Cameo
One Hour Photo	2002	Seymour "Sy" Parrish	Mark Romanek
Death to Smoochy		"Rainbow" Randolph Smiley	Danny DeVito
Insomnia		Walter Finch	Christopher Nolan
The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch		Hans Hänkie	Eric Idle	TV movie
The Final Cut	2004	Alan W. Hakman	Omar Naim
House of D		Pappass	David Duchovny
Noel		Charlie Boyd / The Priest	Chazz Palminteri	Uncredited
Robots	2005	Fender (voice)	Chris Wedge
The Big White		Paul Barnell	Mark Mylod
The Aristocrats		Himself	Penn Jillette Paul Provenza	Documentary
The Night Listener	2006	Gabriel Noone	Patrick Stettner
RV		Bob Munro	Barry Sonnenfeld
Everyone's Hero		Napoleon Cross (voice)	Christopher Reeve Daniel St. Pierre Colin Brady	Uncredited
Man of the Year		Tom Dobbs	Barry Levinson
Happy Feet		Ramon and Lovelace (voices)	George Miller
Night at the Museum		Theodore Roosevelt	Shawn Levy
License to Wed	2007	Reverend Frank	Ken Kwapis
August Rush		Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace	Kirsten Sheridan
World's Greatest Dad	2009	Lance Clayton	Bobcat Goldthwait
Shrink		Jack Holden	Jonas Pate
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian		Theodore Roosevelt	Shawn Levy
Old Dogs		Dan Rayburn	Walt Becker
Happy Feet Two	2011	Ramon and Lovelace (voices)	George Miller
The Big Wedding	2013	Father Monighan	Justin Zackham
The Butler		Dwight D. Eisenhower	Lee Daniels
The Face of Love		Roger	Arie Posin
Boulevard	2014	Nolan Mack	Dito Montiel
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn		Henry Altmann	Phil Alden Robinson
A Merry Friggin' Christmas		Mitch	Tristram Shapeero	Posthumous release
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb		Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt & The Garuda Artifact	Shawn Levy
Absolutely Anything	2015	Dennis the Dog (voice)	Terry Jones

Discography

• 1979: Reality...What a Concept!
• 1983: Throbbing Python of Love
• 1986: A Night at the Met
• 1987: Good Morning Vietnam Soundtrack
• 1988: Pecos Bill; narrated a children's book, with music by Ry Cooder
• 2003: Live 2002; recorded from a tour on Broadway, 2002
• 2010: Weapons of Self Destruction; filmed in Washington D.C. during Williams' national tour^[29]

References

1. "Rolling Stone Interview" (PDF). 2008. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
2. "Jonathan Winters, who influenced Jim Carrey and Robin Williams, among others, dead at 87". National Post. April 12, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
3. Williams, Robin (November 14, 2006). "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (Interview). Interviewed by Conan O'Brien. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
4. Williams, Robin. "Robin Williams, Parkinson interview 2002" (Interview). Interviewed by Michael Parkinson. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
5. "Robin Williams Biography". IMDb.
6. "Actor Robin Williams found dead in apparent suicide: sheriff". Yahoo! News. August 11, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
7. Levs, Josh; Duke, Alan. "Officials: Robin Williams apparently hanged himself with a belt". CNN. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
8. "If Robin Williams' comedies are inspired by his life no wonder he's been in therapy". Sunday Herald. 1999-03-14. Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
9. Rubenstein, Steve (2001-09-08). "Laurie Williams – comedian's mother – SFGate". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
10. "People News". monstersandcritics.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
11. "Full text of "Anselm J. McLaurin (late a senator from Mississippi)"". 1911. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
12. The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi, 1908, Pg. 977; "He [Anselm J. McLaurin] was married at Trenton, Miss., February 22, 1870, to Laura Elvira Victoria Rauch, daughter of John Rauch and wife, Epsilon Rauch, of Trenton, Miss. Mrs. McLaurin's paternal ancestors immigrated to America from Germany; maternal from England and Germany."
13. "8 Facts You Might Not Have Known About Robin Williams". Time.com. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
14. Thomas, Mike (February 24, 2002). "A nose for laughs". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
15. McMullen, Marion (October 5, 2002). "Article: Weekend TV: Star profile. (Features)". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
16. Aitkenhead, Decca (September 20, 2010). "Robin Williams: 'I was shameful, did stuff that caused disgust – that's hard to recover from'". The Guardian. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
17. Jones, Kenneth."Robin Williams' Spring Broadway Bow Postponed Due to Heart Surgery", playbill.com, March 5, 2009
18. "Robin Williams's Heart Surgery Called a Success".^{[permanent dead link]}
19. "Robin Williams' heart surgery goes 'extremely well'". CNN. March 23, 2009. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
20. "Robin Williams in Rehab to Maintain Sobriety". TMZ. July 1, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
21. "Robin Williams 'had Parkinson's'". BBC. August 14, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
22. "Report: Williams had Lewy body dementia". MSN.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
23. "Investigation into Death of Actor Robin Williams" (PDF). Huffington Post. August 11, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
24. Itzkoff, Dave; Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (August 11, 2014). "Robin Williams, Oscar-Winning Comedian, Dies at 63". New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
25. "Robin Williams Dies of Suspected Suicide". The Hollywood Reporter. August 11, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
26. "Robin Williams Autopsy Report Update: Coroner Confirms Belt Around Actor's Neck, Wrist Cut". Inquisitr.com. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
27. Dillon, Nancy (August 20, 2014). "Robin Williams' ashes scattered in San Francisco Bay". New York Daily News.com. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
28. Robin Williams tops 2014 list of Google searches Archived 2014-12-19 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 18 December 2014
29. "Robin Williams Discography". Discogs.com. 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2015-08-19.

Other websites

• Robin Williams on IMDb
• Robin Williams at the TCM Movie Database
• Robin Williams at the Internet Broadway Database
• Robin Williams at TV.com
• "RWF" The Robin Williams Fansite!
• Robin Williams' Stand Up Comedy Acts a small video collection
• Robin Williams Interview Archived 2009-02-19 at the Wayback Machine (License to Wed)
• Robin Williams interview for License to Wed at TheCinemaSource.com