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Robin McLaurin Williams (born July 21, 1951) is a multi-award-winning
American actor and comedian who was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Marin County, California. His father, Robert
Fitzgerald Williams, of English, Welsh, and Irish descent, was a senior
executive at Ford in charge of the Midwest area, and his mother Laurie was a
New Orleans-born former model of French descent.
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He first achieved notice for his stand-up routines 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, he was cast by Garry Marshall as the alien Mork in a
guest star part in Happy Days that was so popular it led to his own
television series, Mork and Mindy, which ran from 1978 to 1982. The majority
of his acting career has been for cinema, although he has made some
memorable performances on stage as well (notably as Estragon in a production
of Waiting for Godot).
His first starring roles in Popeye and in The World According to Garp were
both flops, but with Good Morning Vietnam Williams established a screen
identity. Many of his roles have been comedies tinged with pathos (e.g. 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
actor talents in the 2005 animated feature Robots.
He has also starred in dramatic films such as Dead Poets Society (1989),
Awakenings (1990) and What Dreams May Come (1998). 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 stereotyped in
films such as Patch Adams (1998) and Bicentennial Man. This apparently
prompted him to take radically unconventional roles beginning with the dark
comedy Death to Smoochy, followed by One Hour Photo, Insomnia, and The Final
Cut.
He is known for his wild improv skills and impersonations. He is a talented
mimic and can jump in and out of characters at an extremely fast pace. His
comic style is a major influence on late night talk show host/comedian Conan
O'Brien. Williams states that he began doing impersonations as a child
mimicking the Southern accent of his aunt.
Williams has been accused, on multiple occasions, of stealing comic
material. Probably the most famous of these is a bit he did on the Late Show
with David Letterman about telephone head implants. This bit had not only
been a well-known routine done by Ray Romano for years, but the reason that
this was the most public incident involving allegations of plagiarism is
that Romano had done the same bit on The Late Show only days before
Williams' appearance.
Williams' first marriage was to Valerie Velardi on June 4, 1978, with whom
he had one child, Zachary. That marriage ended in 1988. He married for a
second time on April 30, 1989, to Marsha Garces and they have two children
together.
Robin Williams and his wife Marsha Garces Williams founded the Windfall
Foundation, a philanthropic organization to raise money for many different
charities. Robin 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.
Watching his frantic mannerisms and immediate changes in personality, some
have speculated that Williams is affected by bipolar disorder, but this has
never been confirmed. A more likely explanation for his remarkable
creativity and intense impulsive humor may be the reason that he is often
referred to as "the poster child for ADD," though this statement is often
said with a sarcastic edge.
In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top
50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was
portrayed by Chris Diamantopoulos in the made for television 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. |
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