By: Heather Coons
1951-2014
On
Monday, August 11, comedy legend Robin Williams was found dead at his home in
Tiburon, Calif. His tragic passing sent shock waves across America. From the
national news to social media sites, millions expressed their outpouring of grief
and mourned the loss of the beloved Hollywood icon.
But
Williams was so much more than a great actor, director, screenwriter and
stand-up comedian. He was a philanthropist and a humanitarian, the likes of which
the world rarely sees. And it is to that kind and gentle man behind the smile
that Fever dedicates this tribute:
Robin
McLaurin Williams was born on July 21, 1951, in Chicago, Ill. His mother, Laura
McLaurin, was a model. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford Motor
Company executive. There were two half-siblings also in the family, but as
Williams stated in numerous interviews, his was still a lonely childhood. His
parents were both extremely busy, so much of Williams’ early years were spent
with a hired maid. Williams admitted that it was his solitary beginning that
caused him to develop a talent for voices: it was how he would entertain
himself.
During
Williams’ elementary school days he discovered his love for stand-up comedy. To
compensate for his Attention Deficit Hyper-Activity Disorder, and his lack of
friends (thanks to, in Williams’ words, being shy and “chubby”), Williams took
on the role of the class clown. Through laughter, he made friends.
After
graduating from Redwood High School in Larkspur, Calif. (where he was
voted "Most Humorous" and "Least Likely to Succeed"),
Williams followed in the steps of his great-great-grandfather, Mississippi
Governor and Senator Anselm J. McLaurin. He enrolled at Claremont Men's College where he
studied political science. He also played on the soccer team. But a politician
he was not, so Williams enrolled at the Marin College in California to study
serious acting.
Williams
left the Marin to take a part-time job as a mime. The money he earned went
towards paying tuition at one of the most prestigious performing arts schools
in the country: the Juilliard. It was there that Williams began studying
theatre under John Houseman. It was also there that Williams first met his
long-time friend, fellow actor Christopher Reeves.
Houseman
told Williams that he was wasting his talent studying theatre and should
instead focus on his true gift of stand-up comedy. So Williams followed his
mentor’s advice and headed for Hollywood.
Williams’
first real break in the business came after a performance in L.A.’s Comedy
Store when he was offered a regular spot on George Schlatter’s “Laugh-In.” That
gig led to an appearance on “Happy Days” where Williams was cast as the crazy
space alien, Mork from Ork. The character was so positively received by
audiences that it led to a spin-off series. For four years, Williams was the
star of his own hit sit-com, “Mork and Mindy” (1978 – 1982). The kooky
character earned Williams his first Emmy nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy
Series.
Williams’
talent naturally led him from sit-coms to the Big Screen, and over the next
five decades, he starred in over two dozen films. In the 1987 movie, “Good
Morning Vietnam,” Williams
earned a Golden Globe and a Best Actor nomination for his role as Adrian
Cronauer, an irreverent war-time DJ. In 2000, the film landed on the American
Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest comedies of all time.
Williams
earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of John Keating in the
critically acclaimed 1989 film “Dead Poets Society.” In 1991's “The Fisher
King,” Williams won a Golden Globe for his performance as Parry. Williams voiced
the Genie in Disney's classic Oscar-winning animated feature “Aladdin,” which
earned the actor another award at the Golden Globes in 1993. In “Mrs.
Doubtfire,” Williams played an out-of-work voice actor and divorced father,
who, in order to be closer to his children, takes on the persona of a Scottish
nanny, Euphegenia Doubtfire. For that performance, he again won a Golden Globe.
In
1996, Williams accepted the controversial role of gay cabaret-owner, Armand, in
“The Bird Cage.” In an interview regarding his decision to join the cast,
Williams stated,
“If I can use my
celebrity status to draw people into a movie theater to see me perform as an
admirable gay man and thereby make them a little more positive about gay
people, why wouldn’t I do it? I get to be an activist… I’m making points to get
into heaven!”
For
his amazing performance in “The Bird Cage,” Williams received the Screen Actors
Guild Award. In 1997, he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
for the film “Good Will Hunting.” And
the awards’ list goes on and on.
All
throughout Williams’ long and illustrious film career, he continued to perform
stand-up comedy with improvisational routines that broke all rules. He could
give a comedic account of a nuclear accident in the style of Shakespeare then
quickly flip the subject to social inequality while impersonating a president.
Williams
also used his status with the press as a platform to speak out against social
prejudice, all the while maintaining his unique sense of humor. On the subject
of gay marriage, he told the paparazzi in 2011 that he had rescued a gay pug
from a local animal shelter. “He has a boyfriend and they are planning to adopt
a Siamese kitten together. We’re very modern.”
Using
his stand-up comedy routines and his celebrity status to speak out wasn’t the
only way Williams contributed to society. He donated to 28 different charities
and backed more than 23 social causes, covering the spectrum from health care
and human rights, to education, environmentalism and the arts. He toured the
Middle East five times to help raise moral amongst the troops, and he
participated in a charity telethon for the victims of 9/11. Williams sponsored
children’s hospitals and brought patients Christmas presents. Alongside Billy
Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg, he helped found Comic Relief, which is a
non-profit organization that aids America’s homeless.
Williams
also helped organize the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which is
committed to finding treatments and cures for paralysis caused by spinal cord
injury as well as neurological disorders. After his close friend had been
paralyzed in a tragic horse-riding accident, Williams arrived in Reeve’s
hospital room. Instead of bringing flowers, he was dressed in scrubs and a
surgical mask. Williams pretended to be a proctologist, making Reeve laugh for
the first time since his injury.
When
Williams wasn’t busy with his film career, stand-up performances, or charity work,
he liked a good rugby match and was a manic video gamer. He enjoyed Call of
Duty, Warcraft 3, Half-Life and Battlefield, and often joked about the amount
of time he spent playing Online. In between scene shots, Williams would often
be found furiously battling with his hand-held. In fact, he was so obsessed
that two of his three children were named after favorite characters in video
games (Zelda and Cody). In an interview, Williams explained his fascination
with the controller,
“I remember
playing sometimes until all of a sudden I would be like ‘What time is it? Oh,
it’s like three o’clock in the morning… It’s like cyber cocaine.”
With
such a hilarious outlook on life, it is no surprise that Williams reached
stardom with his comedy relief. But it is for his generosity that his family
wishes for Williams to be remembered. In a press release, Williams’ oldest
child, Zack, stated that his world went gray.
“… I lost my
father and best friend… I will carry his heart with me every day… I would ask
those that loved him to remember him by being as gentle, kind, and generous as
he would be. Seek to bring joy to the world as he sought.”
Williams’
daughter, Zelda, added to the press release.
“To those he
touched who are sending kind words, know that one of his favorite things in the
world was to make you all laugh… After all, he loved to laugh too… Dad was, is
and always will be one of the kindest, most generous, gentlest souls I’ve ever
known, and while there are few things I know for certain right now, one of them
is that not just my world, but the entire world is forever a little darker,
less colorful and less full of laughter in his absence.”
Billy
Crystal, Williams’ long-time friend, simply Tweeted, “I have no words.”
President
Obama summed it up best in his eloquent speech honoring America’s, beloved, and
now lost, icon.
"Robin
Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a
bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He
arrived in our lives as an alien - but he ended up touching every element of
the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable
talent freely and generously to those who needed it most - from our troops
stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets. The Obama family
offers our condolences to Robin's family, his friends, and everyone who found
their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams."
We,
too, here at Fever would like to
extend our deepest condolences to the Williams family. And to all of Williams’
fans, let his memory forever live on through your kind deeds. Cherish the
laughter that he brought to the world and send out a little of your own because:
You're
only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it. --- Robin Williams
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