Robin Williams
( 1951 - 2014)Added Date: August 06, 2022
Born: July 21, 1951
Died: August 11, 2014
Country: United States
Robin Williams, was an extraordinarily gifted comedian who evolved into a memorable, Oscar winning actor, creating performances with wild inventiveness and a kind of manic energy, died by suicide, at the age of 63.
It was clear that Mr. Williams was one of the most explosively, exhaustingly, prodigiously verbal comedians who ever lived. The only thing faster than his mouth was his mind, which was capable of breathtaking leaps of free-associative absurdity.
While the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings, it was hoped that the focus would not be on his death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.
The privileged son of a Detroit auto executive who grew up chubby and lonesome, playing by himself with 2,000 toy soldiers in an empty room of a suburban mansion, Mr. Williams, as a boy, hardly fit the stereotype of someone who would grow to become a brainy comedian, or a goofy one, but he was both.
Onstage he was known for ricochet riffs on politics, social issues and cultural matters both high and low; tales of drug and alcohol abuse, lewd commentaries on relations between the sexes; and lightning-like improvisations on anything an audience member might toss at him.
His gigs were always rife with frenetic, spot-on impersonations that included Hollywood stars, presidents, princes, prime ministers, popes and anonymous citizens of the world. His irreverence was legendary and uncurtailable. And yet he never seemed to offend.
His acting career took off when he first uttered the greeting “Nanoo, nanoo” as Mork from Ork, an alien who befriends a wholesome young Colorado woman, on the sitcom “Mork and Mindy”. By the spring of 1979, 60 million viewers were tuning in to “Mork and Mindy” each week to watch Mr. Williams drink water through his finger, stand on his head when told to sit down, and speak gibberish words like “shazbot” and “nimnul”.
He went on to earn Academy Award nominations for his roles in films like “Good Morning, Vietnam,” in which he played a loquacious radio D.J.; “Dead Poets Society,” playing a mentor to students in need of inspiration. He went on to win an Oscar in 1998 for “Good Will Hunting,” playing a therapist. One of his most memorable and heartwarming roles was "Mrs Doubtfire."
Gone too soon but forever among the stars.
0