Robin Williams

Robin McLaurin Williams was born at St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago, Illinois,{{cite news|date=August 11, 2014|title=Chicago Native Robin Williams Recalled 'Good Times' Growing Up Here|url=http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/08/11/chicago-native-robin-williams-dead-at-63/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812024934/http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/08/11/chicago-native-robin-williams-dead-at-63/|archive-date=August 12, 2014|access-date=August 18, 2014|work=CBS Chicago}} on July 21, 1951.{{cite web |title=Robin Williams |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robin-Williams |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=June 12, 2024 |language=en |archive-date=June 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627032141/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robin-Williams |url-status=live }}{{efn|Sources conflict: Some sources, including The Robin Williams Scrapbook as well as two print biographies, The Life and Humor of Robin Williams: A Biography and Robin Williams: A Biography, give his birth year as 1952. However, in an interview published on July 4, 2007, Williams refers to himself as being "55"{{cite news|last=Monk|first=Katherine|date=July 4, 2007|title=Marriage 101 with Robin Williams|website=Canada.com|url=http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/lifestyle/news/lifestyle/story.html?id=8b777192-8e77-464d-b8da-0cb90be40901&k=1045|access-date=February 8, 2008|archive-date=November 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107142414/http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/lifestyle/news/lifestyle/story.html?id=8b777192-8e77-464d-b8da-0cb90be40901&k=1045|url-status=live}} He also verifies his date of birth as July 21, 1951, for a fansite interview in 2008.Stuurman, Linda. [May 25, 2008] July 12, 2008. [http://www.robin-williams.net/interviews/RWF/rwfinterview.php RWF talks with Robin Williams: Proost!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724041809/http://www.robin-williams.net/interviews/RWF/rwfinterview.php |date=July 24, 2011 }}." The Robin Williams Fansite.}} His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams (1906–1987), was a senior executive in Ford's Lincoln-Mercury Division.{{cite news|last1=Kornbluth|first1=Jesse|title=Robin Williams' Change Of Life: Fighting For His Family In His New Film, 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' And In Real Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=axsAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34|access-date=August 20, 2014|work=New York|publisher=K-III Magazine Corporation|date=November 22, 1993|pages=34–41|archive-date=April 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407102951/http://books.google.com/books?id=axsAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last1=Shipman |first1=Robert Shipman |title=Robin Williams had family ties to state |url=https://www.reporter-times.com/story/news/2014/08/14/robin-williams-had-family-ties-to-state/47140789/ |access-date=October 10, 2024 |work=Reporter-Times |agency=Evansville Courier & Press |date=August 14, 2014}} His mother, Laurie McLaurin (1922–2001), was a former model from Jackson, Mississippi, whose great-grandfather was Mississippi senator and governor Anselm J. McLaurin.{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Laurie-Williams-comedian-s-mother-2880676.php |title=Laurie Williams – comedian's mother|publisher=SFGate |date=September 8, 2001 |access-date=November 25, 2011 |first=Steve |last=Rubenstein|archive-date = October 9, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141009141842/http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Laurie-Williams-comedian-s-mother-2880676.php|url-status=live}} Williams had two older half-brothers: a paternal half-brother, Robert (also known as Todd),{{cite web|last=McLellan|first=Dennis|date=August 18, 2007|title=R. Todd Williams, 69; winery founder, comic's brother|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-18-me-williams18-story.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006142235/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/18/local/me-williams18|archive-date=October 6, 2014|access-date=February 10, 2008|work=Los Angeles Times}} and a maternal half-brother, McLaurin.{{cite news|last1=Donahue|first1=Michael|title=Robin Williams' Half-brother Is An All-out Fan|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/12/25/robin-williams-half-brother-is-an-all-out-fan/|access-date=October 20, 2014|work=Chicago Tribune|date=December 25, 1991|agency = Scripps Howard News Service|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140814053727/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-12-25/features/9104250678_1_robin-williams-peter-pan-todd-williams|archive-date = August 14, 2014|url-status=live}} While his mother was a practitioner of Christian Science, Williams was raised in his father's Episcopal faith.{{cite news | last = Gristwood | first = Sarah | author-link=Sarah Gristwood | title = Bobbin' Robin | url = http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/mg/art/film/9806/980618-robin.html | work=Mail & Guardian |date=June 18, 1998 |access-date=December 26, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061004023437/http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/mg/art/film/9806/980618-robin.html |archive-date = October 4, 2006 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web | last = Topel | first = Fred | title = Robin Williams on License to Wed | url = http://www.canmag.com/nw/8218-license-to-wed-robin-williams | publisher=CanMag | date=July 3, 2007 |access-date=December 26, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141006122410/http://www.canmag.com/nw/8218-license-to-wed-robin-williams|archive-date = October 6, 2014|url-status=usurped}} During a television interview on Inside the Actors Studio in 2001, Williams credited his mother as an important early influence on his humor, and he tried to make her laugh to gain attention.video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IDy5GlUuf8&t=12m23s "Robin Williams – Inside The Actors Studio"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622231424/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IDy5GlUuf8&t=12m23s |date=June 22, 2015 }}, June 10, 2001

Williams attended public elementary school at Gorton Elementary School in Lake Forest and later Deer Path Junior High School.{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-forest-lake-bluff/ct-robin-williams-childhood-memories-met-20140813-story.html |title=Robin Williams' childhood in Lake Forest remembered |first=Karen Ann |last=Cullotta |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=August 13, 2014 |page=7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813081506/http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-forest-lake-bluff/ct-robin-williams-childhood-memories-met-20140813-story.html |archive-date=August 13, 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=August 15, 2014 }} He described himself as a quiet child who did not overcome his shyness until becoming involved with his high school drama department,{{cite episode | title = Robin Williams: 'The Night Listener' | url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5602441 | medium = Radio | network = National Public Radio | airdate = August 3, 2006 | series = Fresh Air from WHYY | credits = Terry Gross (host) | access-date = April 4, 2018 | archive-date = December 16, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171216202735/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5602441 | url-status = live }} while friends recalled him as being very funny. In late 1963, when Williams was 12, his father was transferred to Detroit. The family lived in a 40-room farmhouse on {{convert|20|acre|ha|0}} in suburban Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where Williams attended the private all-boys Detroit Country Day School.{{cite book |last=Moore |first=Mary Ellen |title=Robin Williams |url=https://archive.org/details/robinwilliams00moor |url-access=registration |access-date=August 12, 2014 |year=1979 |publisher=Grosset & Dunlap |isbn=978-0-448-17128-9}} He excelled academically, served as class president, and was on the school's wrestling team, but was also bullied for his weight and would play at home by himself.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/08/11/how-robin-williams-joked-about-school/ |title=How high school changed Robin Williams' life |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 11, 2014 |first=Valerie |last=Strauss |access-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141028041216/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/08/11/how-robin-williams-joked-about-school/|archive-date = October 28, 2014|url-status=dead}}

With both parents working, Williams was partly raised by the family's maid, who was his main companion. When Williams was 16, his father took early retirement and the family moved to Tiburon, California.{{cite news|last1=Weber|first1=Bruce|title=Robin Williams, the Comic, Confronts Robin Williams, the Actor|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/28/movies/robin-williams-the-comic-confronts-robin-williams-the-actor.html|access-date=August 24, 2014|work=The New York Times|date=May 28, 1989|page=A1|archive-date=August 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826120130/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/28/movies/robin-williams-the-comic-confronts-robin-williams-the-actor.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Klemesrud|first=Judy |author-link=Judy Lee Klemesrud|title=Robin Williams Dons an Emigre's Guise|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/15/arts/robin-williiams-dons-an-emigre-s-guise.html|access-date=August 24, 2014|work=The New York Times|date=April 15, 1984|page=A21|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140826120805/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/15/arts/robin-williiams-dons-an-emigre-s-guise.html|archive-date = August 26, 2014|url-status=live}} Following their move, Williams attended Redwood High School in nearby Larkspur. Williams described the school as Gestalt, he went on to join the drama club becoming involved in theater, which first helped foster his interest in arts and entertainment. At the time of his graduation in 1969, he was voted "Most Likely Not to Succeed" and "Funniest" by his classmates.{{cite book |title=Paranoia & Power: Fear & Fame of Entertainment Icons |first=Gene N. |last=Landrum |publisher=Morgan James Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-60037-274-2 |pages=30–31}} After high school graduation, Williams enrolled at Claremont Men's College in Claremont, California, to study political science; he dropped out to pursue acting.{{cite web |last=Golum |first=Rob |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-11/actor-robin-williams-dead-in-apparent-suicide.html |title=Robin Williams, Oscar Winner, Dies After Hanging Himself |work=Bloomberg News |date=August 12, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141011002226/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-11/actor-robin-williams-dead-in-apparent-suicide.html|archive-date = October 11, 2014|url-status=live}} Williams studied theater for three years at the College of Marin, a community college in Kentfield, California. According to the College of Marin's drama professor, James Dunn, the depth of the young actor's talent became evident when Williams was cast in the musical Oliver! as Fagin. He often improvised during his time in the drama program, leaving cast members in hysterics.{{cite news |last=Hansen |first=Megan |title='We knew him as a neighbor': Marin remembers Robin Williams megan|url=http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_26319466/we-knew-him-neighbor-marin-remembers-robin-williams |access-date=August 13, 2014 |newspaper=Marin Independent Journal |date=August 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813072755/http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_26319466/we-knew-him-neighbor-marin-remembers-robin-williams |archive-date=August 13, 2014 |url-status=dead }} Dunn called his wife after one late rehearsal to tell her Williams "was going to be something special".

In 1973, Williams attained a full scholarship to the Juilliard School (Group 6, 1973–1976) in New York City. He was one of 20 students accepted into the freshman class, and Williams and Christopher Reeve were the only two accepted by John Houseman for the school's Advanced Program that year. Williams's classmates included William Hurt and Mandy Patinkin.{{cite book|first1=Laurence|last1=Maslon|author-link1=Laurence Maslon|first2=Michael|last2=Kantor|title=Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America|publisher=Twelve|location=New York City|date=2008|isbn=978-0-446-50531-4|pages=241–244}}{{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Reeve |author-link=Christopher Reeve |title=Still Me |url=https://archive.org/details/stillme00reev |url-access=registration | publisher=Random House |location=New York City|date=1998 |isbn=978-0-679-45235-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/stillme00reev/page/167 167–172]}} According to biographer Jean Dorsinville, Franklyn Seales and Williams were roommates at Juilliard.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nmO3r4GjmyoC&q=robin+williams+franklyn+seales&pg=PA164|last=Dorsinville|first=Jean M.|title=Franklyn V.E. Seales: Life of an Artist|date=2011|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-1-4620-3331-7|page=164|access-date=October 28, 2020|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112131226/https://books.google.com/books?id=nmO3r4GjmyoC&q=robin+williams+franklyn+seales&pg=PA164|url-status=live}} Reeve recalled his first impression of Williams when they were new students at Juilliard: "He wore tie-dyed shirts with tracksuit bottoms and talked a mile a minute. I'd never seen so much energy contained in one person. He was like an untied balloon that had been inflated and immediately released. I watched in awe as he virtually caromed off the walls of the classrooms and hallways. To say that he was 'on' would be a major understatement."

Williams and Reeve had a class in dialects taught by Edith Skinner, whom Reeve said was one of the world's leading voice and speech teachers. According to Reeve, Skinner was bewildered by Williams and his ability to instantly perform in many different accents.

Their primary acting teacher was Michael Kahn, who was "equally baffled by this human dynamo". Williams already had a reputation for being funny, but Kahn criticized his antics as simple stand-up comedy. In a later production, Williams silenced his critics with his well-received performance as an old man in Tennessee Williams's Night of the Iguana. Reeve wrote, "He simply was the old man. I was astonished by his work and very grateful that fate had thrown us together." The two remained close friends until Reeve's death in 2004. Their friendship was like "brothers from another mother", according to Williams's son Zak.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/robin-williams-son-remembers-his-dad-and-christopher-reeves-friendship|title=Robin Williams' son remembers his dad and Christopher Reeve's friendship|publisher=Fox News|date=November 23, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141123153048/http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/11/23/robin-williams-son-remembers-his-dad-and-christopher-reeve-friendship/ |archive-date=November 23, 2014 }}

During the summers of 1974 to 1976, Williams worked as a busboy at The Trident in Sausalito, California.{{cite web|url=http://www.thetridentrestaurant.com/?p=281|title=We'll Always Love You Robin!|date=August 13, 2015|website=Thetridentrestaurant.com|access-date=September 16, 2018|archive-date=September 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916235354/http://www.thetridentrestaurant.com/?p=281|url-status=live}} He left Juilliard{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/3104146/robin-williams-dead-marc-maron-podcast/ |title=Listen to Robin Williams Talk About His Struggles on an April 26, 2010 Podcast |date=August 12, 2014 |magazine=Time |access-date=August 22, 2014|last = Feeney|first = Nolan|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140922040220/http://time.com/3104146/robin-williams-dead-marc-maron-podcast|archive-date = September 22, 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/remembering_robin_williams |title=WTF with Marc Maron – Remembering Robin Williams |date=August 11, 2014 |work=WTF with Marc Maron |access-date=October 21, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140812183127/http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/remembering_robin_williams|archive-date = August 12, 2014|url-status=live}} during his junior year in 1976, following Houseman's suggestion that the school had nothing more they could teach him.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/18/nyregion/commencements-for-juilliard-ex-student-hams-it-up.html |title=For Juilliard, Ex-Student Hams It Up |date=May 18, 1991 |work=The New York Times |access-date=August 12, 2014|agency = Associated Press|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105042651/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/18/nyregion/commencements-for-juilliard-ex-student-hams-it-up.html|archive-date = November 5, 2012|url-access=subscription}} Gerald Freedman, another of his teachers at Juilliard, called Williams a "genius" and that the school's conservative and classical style of training did not suit him; to those who knew him, it came as no surprise that Williams left.{{cite news |url=http://charlotte.twcnews.com/content/news/710725/nc-comedian--robin-williams-was-my-hero--my-influence/ |title=NC Comedian: Robin Williams Was My Hero, My Influence |work=Time Warner Cable News |date=August 12, 2014|last = Blair|first = Caroline|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140819084944/http://charlotte.twcnews.com/content/news/710725/nc-comedian--robin-williams-was-my-hero--my-influence/|archive-date = August 19, 2014|url-status=live}}

File:Robin Williams 1978.jpg, 1978 ]]

Williams began performing stand-up comedy in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1976.{{Cite web|last1=Hartlaub|first1=Peter|first2=Leah |last2=Garchik |date=August 12, 2014|title=Robin Williams' heart never strayed far from San Francisco|url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Robin-Williams-heart-never-strayed-far-from-San-5682602.php|access-date=June 27, 2020|website=San Francisco Chronicle|language=en|archive-date=June 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628161700/https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Robin-Williams-heart-never-strayed-far-from-San-5682602.php|url-status=live}} His first performance took place at the Holy City Zoo, a San Francisco comedy club where he worked his way up from tending bar. During the 1960s, San Francisco had been a hub for rock music, the hippie movement, drugs, and a sexual revolution. By the late 1970s, Williams played a leading role in what critic Gerald Nachman described as the city's "comedy renaissance".{{cite book|first=Gerald|last=Nachman|title=Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s|publisher=Pantheon Books|location=New York City|date=2003|isbn=978-0-375-41030-7}}{{rp|6}} Reflecting on that era, Williams said that he found out about "drugs and happiness" during that period, adding that he saw "the best brains of my time turned to mud". Williams moved to Los Angeles and continued performing stand-up at clubs, including The Comedy Store. There, in 1977, he was seen by television producer George Schlatter, who asked him to appear on a revival of his show Laugh-In. The show aired later that year and marked Williams' television debut. That same year, he performed a show at the L.A. Improv for Home Box Office.video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH7crqRvhhc "Young Robin Williams at the Los Angeles Improv, 1977] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201195819/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH7crqRvhhc |date=February 1, 2020 }} Although the Laugh-In revival failed, it opened doors for Williams' television career; he continued performing stand-up at comedy clubs such as the Roxy to help keep his improvisational skills sharp.{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsIh5z7oYyY&t=2m25s |title=Robin Williams Live at the Roxy 1978 |date=December 27, 2012 |via=YouTube |access-date=August 31, 2023 |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518175047/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsIh5z7oYyY&t=2m25s |url-status=bot: unknown }} Williams also took his act overseas and performed at The Fighting Cocks in England.{{Cite web |last=Sharman |first=Jon |date=2014-08-12 |title=Comedy night organiser remembers Robin Williams surprise performance at Fighting Cocks |url=https://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/11404684.comedy-night-organiser-remembers-robin-williams-surprise-performance-at-fighting-cocks-kingston/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304163635/https://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/11404684.comedy-night-organiser-remembers-robin-williams-surprise-performance-at-fighting-cocks-kingston/ |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=Your Local Guardian |language=en}}

David Letterman, who knew Williams for nearly 40 years, recalled first seeing him perform as a newcomer at The Comedy Store in Hollywood. Letterman, already an established comedian at the time, described Williams' arrival as "like a hurricane", saying that he thought to himself, "Holy crap, there goes my chance in show business".{{cite web|last=Lockett|first=Dee|date=August 19, 2014|title=Letterman Remembers the First Time He Met Robin Williams|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/08/19/david_letterman_s_robin_williams_tribute_the_late_show_host_remembers_when.html|access-date=October 23, 2014|website=Slate|archive-date=October 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023180951/http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/08/19/david_letterman_s_robin_williams_tribute_the_late_show_host_remembers_when.html|url-status=live}} Williams' first credited film role was a minor part in the 1977 low-budget comedy Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses?. However, his first starring performance was as the title character in Popeye (1980), in which Williams showcased the acting skills previously demonstrated in his television work. Accordingly, the film's commercial disappointment was not blamed on his performance.{{cite web | url = http://articles.philly.com/2014-08-13/news/52732960_1_golden-globe-aladdin-role | title = Robin Williams, 63, comic genius | first = Steven | last = Rea | author-link = Steven Rea | date = August 13, 2014 | access-date = August 18, 2014 | work = The Philadelphia Inquirer | archive-date = March 4, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043346/http://articles.philly.com/2014-08-13/news/52732960_1_golden-globe-aladdin-role | url-status = dead }}{{cite web |last=Spitznagel |first=Eric |title=Popeye Is the Best Movie Robin Williams Ever Made |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/2014/08/robin-williams-popeye |date=August 12, 2014 |work=Vanity Fair |access-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813212404/http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/2014/08/robin-williams-popeye |url-status=live }}

Mork and Mindy

{{Main|Mork & Mindy}}

File:Robin williams by michael dressler 1979.jpg magazine, March 12, 1979]]

After the Laugh-In revival, and appearing in the cast of The Richard Pryor Show on NBC, Williams was cast by Garry Marshall as the alien Mork in a 1978 episode of the television series Happy Days titled "My Favorite Orkan".{{cite episode | title = Robin Williams | series = Inside the Actors Studio | season = 7 | number = 710 | airdate = June 10, 2001 | network = Bravo | url = http://www.bravotv.com/Inside_the_Actors_Studio/guest/Robin_Williams | credits = James Lipton (host) | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070204093734/http://www.bravotv.com/Inside_the_Actors_Studio/guest/Robin_Williams | archive-date = February 4, 2007 | df = mdy-all }} Sought after as a last-minute cast replacement for a departing actor, Williams impressed the producer with his quirky sense of humor when he sat on his head when asked to take a seat for the audition.{{cite web|title=Robin Williams Biography |url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/robin-williams.html |publisher=Biography Channel |access-date=September 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716212135/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/robin-williams.html |archive-date=July 16, 2012 }} As Mork, Williams improvised much of his dialogue and physical comedy, speaking in a high, nasal voice, and he made the most of the script. The cast and crew, as well as television network executives, were deeply impressed with Williams's performance. As such, the executives moved quickly to get the performer on contract just four days later before competitors could make their own offers.{{cite magazine |title='Happy Days' Cast Reveals How Robin Williams Got Cast as a "Martian" in Show's "Worst Script" |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/happy-days-cast-reveals-how-750779 |access-date=August 10, 2018 |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |date=November 20, 2014 |archive-date=August 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810042224/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/happy-days-cast-reveals-how-750779 |url-status=live }}

Mork's appearance proved so popular with viewers that it led to the spin-off television sitcom Mork & Mindy, which co-starred Pam Dawber, and ran from 1978 to 1982; the show was written to accommodate his extreme improvisations in dialogue and behavior. Although he portrayed the same character as in Happy Days, the series was set in the present in Boulder, Colorado, instead of the late 1950s in Milwaukee. Mork & Mindy at its peak had a weekly audience of sixty million and was credited with turning Williams into a "superstar". Among young people, the show was very popular because Williams became "a man and a child, buoyant, rubber-faced, an endless gusher of ideas", according to critic James Poniewozik.{{cite magazine |last=Corliss |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Corliss |url=https://time.com/3110842/robin-williams-the-heart-of-comedy/ |title=Robin Williams: The Heart of Comedy |magazine=Time |date=August 25, 2014 |access-date=August 20, 2014 |archive-date=August 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819223702/http://time.com/3110842/robin-williams-the-heart-of-comedy/ |url-status=live }}

File:Robin Williams and Pam Dawber 1978.jpg in a promotional photo for Mork & Mindy, 1978]]

Mork became popular, featured on posters, coloring books, lunch-boxes, and other merchandise.{{cite web |title=Mork & Mindy |url=http://www.retrojunk.com/article/show/2981/mork-mindy|website=retrojunk.com |access-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141024040353/http://www.retrojunk.com/article/show/2981/mork-mindy|archive-date = October 24, 2014|url-status=live}} Mork & Mindy was such a success in its first season that Williams appeared on the March 12, 1979, cover of Time magazine.{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19790312,00.html |title=Robin Williams – March 12, 1979 |year=2014 |access-date=August 12, 2014 |magazine=Time |archive-date=August 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814190551/http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19790312,00.html |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/3102046/robin-williams-dead-hollywood-television-movies/ |title=How Robin Williams Went From Unknown To Star in 5 Months |magazine=Time |date=March 12, 1979 |access-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-date=August 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812083546/http://time.com/3102046/robin-williams-dead-hollywood-television-movies/ |url-status=live }} The cover photo, taken by Michael Dressler in 1979, is said to have "[captured] his different sides: the funnyman mugging for the camera, and a sweet, more thoughtful pose that appears on a small TV he holds in his hands", according to Mary Forgione of the Los Angeles Times. This photo was installed in the National Portrait Gallery in the Smithsonian Institution shortly after Williams died to allow visitors to pay their respects.{{cite news | url = https://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-trb-robin-williams-national-portrait-gallery-20140812-story.html | title = The lighter side of Robin Williams, now at National Portrait Gallery | work = Los Angeles Times | date = August 12, 2014 | access-date = August 14, 2014 | first = Mary | last =Forgione |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140814213020/http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-trb-robin-williams-national-portrait-gallery-20140812-story.html|archive-date=August 14, 2014 |url-status=live}} He also appeared on the cover of the August 23, 1979, issue of Rolling Stone, photographed by Richard Avedon.Williams, Robin. Rolling Stone, May 18, 2006{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/comedy-on-the-cover-20080903/comedy-covers-rs-298-robin-williams-97021537 |title=A History of Comedy Stars on the Cover of Rolling Stone |date=June 1, 2011 |access-date=August 19, 2014 |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-date=August 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820101421/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/comedy-on-the-cover-20080903/comedy-covers-rs-298-robin-williams-97021537 |url-status=live }}

With his success on Mork & Mindy, Williams began to reach a wider audience with his stand-up comedy, starting in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, including three HBO comedy specials: Off The Wall (1978), An Evening with Robin Williams (1983), and A Night at the Met (1986).{{cite news|last1=Benedictus|first1=Leo|date=December 6, 2012|title=Comedy gold: Robin Williams' A Night at the Met|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London, England|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/dec/06/robin-williams-night-met-comedy-gold|access-date=December 3, 2014|archive-date=June 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626201217/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/dec/06/robin-williams-night-met-comedy-gold|url-status=live}} Williams won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for the recording of his 1979 live show at the Copacabana in New York City, Reality{{nbsp}}... What a Concept.{{Cite web|url=http://www.awardsandshows.com/features/grammy-awards-1980-228.html|title=Grammy Award Nominees 1980 – Grammy Award Winners 1980|website=Awardsandshows.com|access-date=August 9, 2019|archive-date=June 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613025031/http://www.awardsandshows.com/features/grammy-awards-1980-228.html|url-status=live}}

Williams starred as the lead character in The World According to Garp (1982), which he noted "may have lacked a certain madness onscreen, but it had a great core". Critic Roger Ebert wrote of his performance, "Although Robin Williams plays Garp as a relatively plausible, sometimes ordinary person, the movie never seems bothered by the jarring contrast between his cheerful pluckiness and the anarchy around him."{{cite web|url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-world-according-to-garp-1982|title= The World According to Garp|website= Roger Ebert|accessdate= February 3, 2024|archive-date= March 2, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140302131647/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-world-according-to-garp-1982|url-status= live}} Williams continued with other smaller roles in less successful films, such as The Survivors (1983) and Club Paradise (1986), although he said these roles did not help advance his film career.

File:Robin Williams and journalist fan (2105789673) (cropped).jpg in 1990]]

In 1986, Williams co-hosted the 58th Academy Awards.{{cite news |last1=O'Connor |first1=John J |author-link=John J. O'Connor (journalist) |title=The Academy Awards Ceremony |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/26/movies/the-academy-awards-ceremony.html |access-date=August 12, 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times|date = March 26, 1986|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140812213954/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/26/movies/the-academy-awards-ceremony.html|archive-date = August 12, 2014|url-status=live}} The following year, he appeared in a sketch comedy special Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin (1987), acting alongside Carol Burnett, Carl Reiner, and Whoopi Goldberg. Williams was also a regular guest on various talk shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson{{YouTube|iqdSagycCWc|"Robin Williams on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show – 1991"}} and Late Night with David Letterman, on which he appeared 50 times. Williams's first major break came from his starring role in director Barry Levinson's Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), which earned Williams a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film is set in 1965 during the Vietnam War, with Williams playing the role of Adrian Cronauer, a radio shock jock who keeps troops entertained with comedy and sarcasm. Williams was allowed to play the role without a script, improvising most of his lines. Over the microphone, Williams created voice impressions of various people, including Walter Cronkite, Gomer Pyle, Elvis Presley, Mr. Ed, and Richard Nixon.{{cite magazine | last = Zehme | first = Bill | author-link=Bill Zehme | magazine = Rolling Stone | pages = 29–32 | date = February 25, 1988 | access-date = August 18, 2014 | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/robin-williams-the-rolling-stone-interview-19880225 | title = Robin Williams: The Rolling Stone Interview | archive-date = March 3, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180303110700/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/robin-williams-the-rolling-stone-interview-19880225 | url-status = live }} "We just let the cameras roll," said producer Mark Johnson, and Williams "managed to create something new for every single take".{{Cite book|title = Inventing Vietnam: The War in Film and Television|publisher = Temple University Press|year = 1991|isbn = 978-0-87722-862-2|page = [https://archive.org/details/inventingvietnam0000unse/page/238 238]|series = Culture And The Moving Image: Vol 6|editor-last = Anderegg|editor-first = Michael|editor-link = Michael Murphy Andregg|location = Philadelphia|url = https://archive.org/details/inventingvietnam0000unse/page/238}}

Williams appeared opposite Steve Martin at Lincoln Center in an off-Broadway production of Waiting for Godot in 1988.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19881126&id=t_pNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4225,5378106|title=Still 'Waiting for Godot': Robin Williams, Steve Martin play it for laughs|last=Kuchwara|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Kuchwara|date=November 26, 1988|work=The Free Lance–Star|access-date=October 23, 2014|agency=Associated Press|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112131226/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19881126&id=t_pNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4225%2C5378106|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Rich |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Rich |title=Review/Theater: 'Godot': The Timeless Relationship of 2 Interdependent Souls |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/07/theater/review-theater-godot-the-timeless-relationship-of-2-interdependent-souls.html |access-date=January 22, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=November 7, 1988 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525083332/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/07/theater/review-theater-godot-the-timeless-relationship-of-2-interdependent-souls.html |url-access=subscription |archive-date=May 25, 2015}}{{cbignore}} Many of his subsequent roles were in comedies tinged with pathos, such as Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Patch Adams (1998).{{cite news|last1=Monk|first1=Katherine|title=A clown and his demons: Robin Williams mixed zany comedy, sharp satire and pathos (with video)|url=https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/clown+demons+Robin+Williams+mixed+zany+comedy+sharp+satire+pathos/10110121/story.html|access-date=August 12, 2014|newspaper=The Vancouver Sun|date=August 12, 2014|archive-date=August 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814165134/http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/clown+demons+Robin+Williams+mixed+zany+comedy+sharp+satire+pathos/10110121/story.html|url-status=live}} Looking over most of Williams's filmography, one writer was "struck by the breadth" and radical diversity of most of the roles Williams portrayed.{{cite news|last=Rosenberg|first=Alyssa|date=August 11, 2014|title=How Robin Williams helped us grow up|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/08/11/how-robin-williams-helped-us-grow-up/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029230238/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/08/11/how-robin-williams-helped-us-grow-up/|archive-date=October 29, 2014}} In 1989, he played a private-school English teacher in Dead Poets Society, which included a final, emotional scene that some critics said "inspired a generation" and became a part of pop culture.{{cite news|last=Goodman|first=Jessica|date=August 11, 2014|title=Robin Williams and the 'O Captain' Scene That Inspired a Generation|work=HuffPost|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/11/robin-williams-o-captain_n_5670177.html|url-status=live|access-date=October 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013195853/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/11/robin-williams-o-captain_n_5670177.html|archive-date=October 13, 2014}} Similarly, Williams's performance as a therapist in Good Will Hunting (1997) deeply affected even some real therapists.{{cite web|first=Ryan Thomas|last=Neale|date=August 12, 2014|title=Requiem for a Therapist: A Tribute to Robin Williams|work=HuffPost|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-thomas-neace-/requiem-for-a-therapist-a_b_5670467.html?page_version=legacy&view=print&comm_ref=false|url-status=live|access-date=October 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819102825/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-thomas-neace-/requiem-for-a-therapist-a_b_5670467.html?page_version=legacy&view=print&comm_ref=false|archive-date=August 19, 2014}} In Awakenings (1990), he plays a doctor modeled after Oliver Sacks, who wrote the book on which the film is based. Sacks later said the way the actor's mind worked was a "form of genius". In 1991, Williams played an adult Peter Pan in the film Hook, although he had said that he would have to lose 25 pounds for the role.Rolling Stone, February 21, 1991, p. 26. Terry Gilliam, who directed Williams in two of his films, The Fisher King (1991) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), said in 1992 that Williams had the ability to "go from manic to mad to tender and vulnerable{{nbsp}}... [Williams had] the most unique mind on the planet. There's nobody like him out there."

File:Robin Williams 1.jpg

While Williams voiced characters in several animated films, his voice role as the Genie in the animated musical Aladdin (1992) was written for Williams. The film's directors said that they had taken a risk by writing the role.{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOo9XqAyxE&t=2m24s| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/akOo9XqAyxE| archive-date=December 11, 2021 | url-status=live|via=YouTube|title=Turning Robin Williams into 'Aladdin's' Genie|publisher=ABC News|date=August 15, 2014}}{{cbignore}} At first, Williams refused the role because it was a Disney movie and he did not want the studio profiting by selling merchandise based on the movie. Williams accepted the role with certain conditions: "I'm doing it basically because I want to be part of this animation tradition. I want something for my children. One deal is, I just don't want to sell anything—as in Burger King, as in toys, as in stuff."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/15/robin-williams-almost-didnt-make-aladdin-and-a-generation-of-children-are-grateful-that-he-did/|title=Robin Williams almost didn't make 'Aladdin,' and a generation of children is grateful that he did|last=McDonald|first=Soraya Nadia|author-link=Soraya Nadia McDonald|date=August 15, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=September 10, 2017|archive-date=December 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216091427/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/15/robin-williams-almost-didnt-make-aladdin-and-a-generation-of-children-are-grateful-that-he-did/|url-status=live}} Williams improvised much of his dialogue, recording approximately 30 hours of tape, and impersonated dozens of celebrities, including Ed Sullivan, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Groucho Marx, Rodney Dangerfield, William F. Buckley Jr., Peter Lorre, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Arsenio Hall.{{cite magazine |url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/08/12/robin-williams-aladdin-eric-goldberg/ |title=Robin Williams in 'Aladdin': Animator Eric Goldberg remembers drawing Genie |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |first=Jeff |last=Labrecque |date=August 12, 2014 |access-date=August 18, 2014 |archive-date=August 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140818091407/http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/08/12/robin-williams-aladdin-eric-goldberg/ |url-status=live }} Williams's role in Aladdin became one of his most recognized and best-loved, and the film was the highest-grossing of 1992; it won numerous awards, including a Special Golden Globe Award for Vocal Work in a Motion Picture for Williams. His performance paved the way for other animated films to incorporate actors with more star power.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/how-celebrities-took-over-cartoon-voice-acting/247481/ |title=How Celebrities Took Over Cartoon Voice Acting |first=Scott |last=Meslow |date=October 28, 2011 |access-date=August 17, 2014 |magazine=The Atlantic |archive-date=July 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731120907/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/how-celebrities-took-over-cartoon-voice-acting/247481/ |url-status=live }} Williams was named a Disney Legend in 2009.{{cite news|title=2009 Disney Legends Award Recipients to Be Honored During D23 Expo in Anaheim|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2009/09/01/idUS158754+01-Sep-2009+PRN20090901|date=September 1, 2009|access-date=January 26, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214011248/https://www.reuters.com/article/2009/09/01/idUS158754+01-Sep-2009+PRN20090901|archive-date=December 14, 2013}}

Due to Disney breaking an agreement with Williams regarding the use of the Genie in the advertising for Aladdin, he refused to sign for the direct-to-video sequel, The Return of Jafar (1994); the Genie was instead voiced by Dan Castellaneta. When Jeffrey Katzenberg was replaced by Joe Roth as Walt Disney Studios chairman, Roth organized a public apology to Williams.{{cite news|last=Welkos|first=Robert|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-24-ca-54095-story.html|title=Abracadabra: Disney, Robin Williams Quit Feud|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=October 24, 1994|access-date=July 12, 2017|archive-date=June 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614154408/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-10-24/entertainment/ca-54095_1_robin-williams|url-status=live}} He would, in turn, reprise the role in the second sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996).{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-09-27-ca-50412-story.html | title=Genie Grants Disney's Video Wish : Marketing: Robin Williams will reprise his 'Aladdin' role in 'King of Thieves,' continuing the emergence of direct-to-video projects as an industry gold mine. | last=Cerone | first=Daniel Howard | author-link=Daniel Cerone | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | date=September 27, 1995 | access-date=August 15, 2014 | archive-date=May 12, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512082228/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-09-27-ca-50412-story.html | url-status=live }} During this time, Williams lent his voice to FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992). Other dramatic performances by Williams include Moscow on the Hudson (1984), What Dreams May Come (1998), and Bicentennial Man (1999).{{cite web|last1=Brennan|first1=Sandra|title=Robin Williams|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/robin-williams-p116900|access-date=August 12, 2014|publisher=AllMovie|archive-date=February 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220052914/http://www.allmovie.com/artist/robin-williams-p116900|url-status=live}} During the early 2000s, Williams demonstrated a new rank of his versatility by playing darker roles than he had in the previous decades. Williams appeared with fellow comedian, Billy Crystal, in an unscripted cameo at the beginning of a 1997 episode of the third season of Friends.{{cite web |last=Cook |first=Jon |title=Comedians Crystal and Williams in "Friends" episode |url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Artists/W/Williams_Robin/1997/04/04/762654.html |website=canoe.ca |access-date=August 12, 2014 |date=April 4, 1997 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140812202812/http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Artists/W/Williams_Robin/1997/04/04/762654.html |archive-date=August 12, 2014 |url-status=usurped}}

Williams's performances garnered various accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Good Will Hunting; as well as two previous Academy Award nominations, for Dead Poets Society, and as a troubled homeless man in The Fisher King, respectively. Among the actors who helped Williams during his acting career, he credited Robert De Niro, from whom Williams learned the power of silence and economy of dialogue when acting. From Dustin Hoffman, with whom Williams co-starred in Hook, he learned to take on totally different character types, and to transform his characters by extreme preparation. Mike Medavoy, producer of Hook, told its director, Steven Spielberg, that he intentionally teamed up Hoffman and Williams for the film because he knew they wanted to work together, and that Williams welcomed the opportunity of working with Spielberg.{{cite book|title = You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot|last = Medavoy|first = Mike|author-link = Mike Medavoy|publisher = Simon & Schuster (Altria)|year = 2002|isbn = 978-0-7434-0054-1|location = New York|page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780743400541/page/n281 228]|others = Young, Josh (contributor)|url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780743400541|url-access = registration}} Having Woody Allen, who directed him and Billy Crystal in Deconstructing Harry (1997), helped Williams. Allen knew that Crystal and Williams had often worked together on stage.{{cite book|title = Conversations with Woody Allen: His Films, the Movies, and Moviemaking|last = Lax|first = Eric|author-link = Eric Lax|publisher = Knopf Doubleday|location=New York City|year = 2007|isbn = 978-0375415333|page = [https://archive.org/details/conversationswit00laxe/page/52 52]|url = https://archive.org/details/conversationswit00laxe/page/52}}

File:Robin Williams in Camp Phoenix.jpg (USO) show on December 20, 2007]]

File:Robin Williams in 2008.jpg

Williams was the host of a talk show for Audible that aired in April 2000 and was only available on Audible's website.{{cite news|title=Robin Williams and Audible Announce New Weekly Internet Program.|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Robin+Williams+and+Audible+Announce+New+Weekly+Internet+Program.-a058460845|work=Business Wire|publisher=The Free Library|date=January 6, 2000|access-date=November 21, 2018|archive-date=November 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121120441/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Robin+Williams+and+Audible+Announce+New+Weekly+Internet+Program.-a058460845|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|last=Frauenfelder|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Frauenfelder|title=Living online|magazine=Playboy|date=December 1, 2002|volume=49|issue=12|page=41}} In Insomnia (2002), Williams portrayed a murderer on the run from a sleep-deprived Los Angeles police detective (played by Al Pacino) in rural Alaska.{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Karl|title=Insomnia (2002)|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/insomnia-v260290|access-date=August 12, 2014|publisher=AllMovie|archive-date=February 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214052837/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/insomnia-v260290|url-status=live}} That same year, in the psychological thriller One Hour Photo, Williams portrayed an emotionally disturbed photo development technician who becomes obsessed with a family for whom he has developed pictures for a long time.{{cite web|last=Deming|first=Mark|title=One Hour Photo (2002)|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/one-hour-photo-v260306|access-date=August 12, 2014|publisher=AllMovie|archive-date=March 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314090333/http://www.allmovie.com/movie/one-hour-photo-v260306|url-status=live}} In the 2004 science fiction psychological thriller The Final Cut, Williams played a professional who specializes in editing the memories of unsavory people into uncritical memorials that are played at funerals. His many television appearances included an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway?,{{cite episode |series=Whose Line Is It Anyway? |series-link = Whose Line Is It Anyway? (U.S. TV series) |airdate=November 16, 2000 |season=3 |number=9}} and Williams starred in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He headlined his own one-man show, Robin Williams: Live on Broadway, which played at the Broadway Theatre in July 2002.The Broadway League. [http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=13427 "Robin Williams: Live on Broadway"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212025727/http://ibdb.com/production.php?ID=13427 |date=February 12, 2010 }}, Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved January 19, 2019.

Williams's stand-up work was a consistent thread throughout his career, as seen by the success of his one-man show (and subsequent DVD), Robin Williams: Live on Broadway (2002). In 2004, Williams was voted 13th on Comedy Central's list of "100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time." Two years later, he was the Surprise Guest at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards,{{cite news|date=April 1, 2006|title=Kids' Choice Awards|publisher=CBS News|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/kids-choice-awards/11/|access-date=August 12, 2014|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812205222/http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/kids-choice-awards/11/|url-status=live}} and appeared on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that aired January 30.{{cite news|date=November 3, 2011|title=Quick Takes: An 'Extreme Makeover' salute to military families|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-nov-03-la-et-quick-20111103-story.html|access-date=August 12, 2014|archive-date=December 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207061809/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/03/entertainment/la-et-quick-20111103|url-status=live}} After a six-year hiatus, in August 2008, Williams announced a new 26-city tour, Weapons of Self-Destruction. The tour began at the end of September 2009, and concluded in New York on December 3, and was the subject of an HBO Special on December 8, 2009.{{Cite web|last=Gans|first=Andrew|date=July 8, 2009|title=HBO to Air Robin Williams' Weapons of Self-Destruction|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/hbo-to-air-robin-williams-weapons-of-self-destruction-com-162549|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306101936/https://www.playbill.com/article/hbo-to-air-robin-williams-weapons-of-self-destruction-com-162549|archive-date=March 6, 2016|access-date=June 27, 2020|magazine=Playbill|language=en}}

File:Robin Williams Aviano.jpg (Italy) on December 22, 2007]]

Years after the films, Janet Hirshenson revealed in an interview that Williams had expressed interest in portraying Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter film series, but was rejected by director Chris Columbus due to the "British-only edict".{{cite news|title=He really wanted to be in the movie|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/robin-williams-was-turned-down-for-a-key-harry-potter-role/news-story/1590a9c7c2dd974a1fa9758053acc97f|website=News.com.au|date=January 2, 2017|access-date=January 15, 2017|archive-date=January 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116173727/http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/robin-williams-was-turned-down-for-a-key-harry-potter-role/news-story/1590a9c7c2dd974a1fa9758053acc97f|url-status=live}} In 2006, Williams starred in five movies, including Man of the Year, a political satire, and The Night Listener, a thriller about a radio show host who realizes that a child with whom he has developed a friendship may not exist. Williams continued to provide voices in other animated films, including Robots (2005), the Happy Feet film franchise (2006–2011), and an uncredited vocal performance in Everyone's Hero (2006). He also voiced the holographic character Dr. Know in the live-action film A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). Williams was the voice of The Timekeeper, a former attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort about a time-traveling robot who encounters Jules Verne and brings him to the future.{{cite book |last=Veness |first=Susan |title=The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World: Over 600 Secrets of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0j1qhFi2fMC&pg=PT74 |year=2009 |publisher=Adams Media |location=Vero Beach, Florida|isbn=978-1-4405-0432-7 |page=74 |access-date=July 17, 2015 |archive-date=September 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930204859/https://books.google.com/books?id=u0j1qhFi2fMC&pg=PT74 |url-status=live }}

In 2010, Williams appeared in a sketch with Robert De Niro on Saturday Night Live, and in 2012, he guest-starred as himself in two FX series, Louie and Wilfred.{{cite web|url = https://www.tvguide.com/News/Robin-Williams-Dies-1085425.aspx|title = Robin Williams Dies of Suspected Suicide at 63|date = August 11, 2014|access-date = October 23, 2014|website = TV Guide|last = Stanhope|first = Kate|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140812203820/http://www.tvguide.com/News/Robin-Williams-Dies-1085425.aspx|archive-date = August 12, 2014|url-status=live}} Williams made his Broadway acting debut in Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre March 31, 2011. For his performance, Williams was nominated for the Drama League Award for Outstanding Distinguished Performer.{{cite news|last=Isherwood|first=Charles|author-link=Charles Isherwood|title=Ghostly Beast Burning Bright in Iraq|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/theater/reviews/bengal-tiger-with-robin-williams-review.html|access-date=August 12, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 31, 2011|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812214145/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/theater/reviews/bengal-tiger-with-robin-williams-review.html|url-status=live}} In May 2013, CBS started a new series, The Crazy Ones, starring Williams,{{cite magazine |last1=Rose |first1=Lacey |last2=Goldberg |first2=Lesley |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cbs-series-orders-mom-intelligence-crazy-ones-will-arnett-519502 |title=CBS Orders Chuck Lorre's 'Mom,' Robin Williams' 'Crazy Ones,' Will Arnett Comedy, More |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |date=May 10, 2013 |access-date=July 25, 2013 |archive-date=October 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031131755/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cbs-series-orders-mom-intelligence-crazy-ones-will-arnett-519502 |url-status=live }} which was canceled after one season.{{cite magazine |last=Littleton |first=Cynthia |title=CBS Renews 'Mentalist', Cancels 'Crazy Ones', 'Hostages', 'Intelligence' & 2 More |url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/cbs-renews-mentalist-cancels-crazy-ones-1201177236/ |magazine=Variety |date=May 10, 2014 |access-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140511011859/https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/cbs-renews-mentalist-cancels-crazy-ones-1201177236/|archive-date = May 11, 2014|url-status=live}} The Angriest Man in Brooklyn was his last movie to be released during his lifetime. In the movie, Williams played Henry Altmann, an angry, bitter man who tries to change his life after being told he has a terminal illness.{{Cite news|first=Tomas|last=Hachard|title=The 'Angriest' Robin Williams Sadly Becomes The Inspirational One|publisher=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/05/22/313116016/the-angriest-robin-williams-sadly-becomes-the-inspirational-one|date=May 22, 2014|access-date=September 13, 2018|archive-date=September 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913223530/https://www.npr.org/2014/05/22/313116016/the-angriest-robin-williams-sadly-becomes-the-inspirational-one|url-status=live}} Four films starring Williams were released after his death in 2014: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, A Merry Friggin' Christmas, Boulevard, and Absolutely Anything.{{cite news|url=http://downriversundaytimes.com/2014/08/24/celebrity-extra-265|title=Celebrity Extra|last=Elavsky|first=Cindy|author-link=Cindy Elavsky|work=Downriver Sunday Times|publisher=King Features|date=August 24, 2014|access-date=September 5, 2014|archive-date=April 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403231333/http://downriversundaytimes.com/2014/08/24/celebrity-extra-265/|url-status=live}}

File:Robin and Marsha Williams (cropped).jpg at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989]]

Williams married actress Valerie Velardi in 1978, following a live-in relationship with comedian Elayne Boosler.{{Cite magazine|title = Robin Williams, 1951–2014|last = Browne|first = David|author-link = David Browne (journalist)|date = September 11, 2014|magazine = Rolling Stone|pages = 38–47}} Velardi and Williams met in 1976 while he was working as a bartender at a San Francisco tavern. Their son, Zachary Pym, was born in 1983.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20098328,00.html |title=A Comic's Crisis of the Heart |date=February 22, 1988 |magazine=People |first=Brad |last=Darrach |author-link=Brad Darrach |access-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-date=October 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016070733/https://people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20098328,00.html |url-status=live }} Velardi and Williams were divorced in 1988.{{cite web|first1=David|last1=Holahan|access-date=July 28, 2021|title=Robin Williams bio revelations: Infidelity, substance abuse, insecurity over Jim Carrey|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2018/05/07/robin-williams-bio-revelations-infidelity-depression-insecurity/587314002/|website=USA Today|archive-date=July 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728192944/https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2018/05/07/robin-williams-bio-revelations-infidelity-depression-insecurity/587314002/|url-status=live}}

While it was reported that Williams began an affair with Zachary's nanny, Marsha Garces, in 1986,{{cite magazine |last1=Mikelbank |first1=Peter |last2=Clehane |first2=Diane |last3=Dagostino |first3=Mark |title=Robin Williams Surprise Split |url=https://people.com/archive/robin-williams-surprise-split-vol-69-no-14/ |magazine=People |access-date=February 6, 2023 |date=April 14, 2008 |archive-date=August 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809125723/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20196332,00.html |url-status=live }} Velardi stated in the 2018 documentary, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind, that the relationship with Garces began after the two had separated.{{cite news |last=LaSalle |first=Mick |author-link=Mick LaSalle |title=Robin Williams gets his just due in documentary 'Come Inside My Mind' |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/movies/article/Robin-Williams-gets-his-just-due-in-documentary-13063742.php |access-date=October 25, 2018 |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=July 11, 2018 |archive-date=October 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026064544/https://www.sfchronicle.com/movies/article/Robin-Williams-gets-his-just-due-in-documentary-13063742.php |url-status=live }} On April 30, 1989, Williams married Garces, who was six months pregnant with their first child. They had two children, Zelda Rae (born 1989) and Cody Alan (born 1991). In March 2008, Garces filed for divorce from Williams, citing irreconcilable differences.{{cite magazine |last=Hochman |first=David |title=Still Crazy: Years after Mork and Buffy, Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar hope to rope us in with a new sitcom |magazine=TV Guide |date=September 9, 2013 |pages=16–19 |issn=0039-8543}}{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/26/DD7AVQHPA.DTL&tsp=1 |title=Robin Williams' wife files for divorce after nearly 19 years |first=Leah |last=Garchik |date=March 27, 2008 |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329231846/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2008%2F03%2F26%2FDD7AVQHPA.DTL&tsp=1 |archive-date=March 29, 2008 |url-status=dead }} Their divorce was finalized in 2010.

In 2011, Williams married graphic designer Susan Schneider, and they remained married until his death.{{cite news|last1=Chaney|first1=Jen|title=Robin Williams and Susan Schneider reportedly wed|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/robin-williams-and-susan-schneider-reportedly-wed/2011/10/24/gIQAbweHDM_blog.html|access-date=August 18, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 24, 2011|archive-date=October 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016071656/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/robin-williams-and-susan-schneider-reportedly-wed/2011/10/24/gIQAbweHDM_blog.html|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.usmagazine.com/celebritynews/news/robin-williams-weds-20112410 |title=Robin Williams Weds! |first=Justin |last=Ravitz |date=October 24, 2011 |magazine=Us Weekly |access-date=October 24, 2014 |archive-date=October 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026174453/http://www.usmagazine.com/celebritynews/news/robin-williams-weds-20112410 |url-status=live }} They lived at their house in Sea Cliff, San Francisco, California. Williams said, "My children give me a great sense of wonder. Just to see them develop into these extraordinary human beings."{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1n41x1|title=Robin Williams. It's time for a convoluted stream of consciousness. Ask Me Anything!|publisher=Reddit|date=September 25, 2013|access-date=August 12, 2014|archive-date=August 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819073529/http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1n41x1/|url-status=live}}

File:Robin Williams 2008.jpg World Debate on February 27, 2008]]

In New York City, Williams was part of the West Side YMCA runners club and showed promising results with 34:21 minutes at a 10K run in Central Park in 1975.{{cite magazine|first1=Bob|last1=Glover|url=https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a20808121/robin-williams-my-teammate/|year=2014|title=Robin Williams, My Teammate|magazine=Runner's World|access-date=July 11, 2020|archive-date=July 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711175535/https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a20808121/robin-williams-my-teammate/|url-status=live}} His favorite books were the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov,{{cite interview|last=Williams|first=Robin|interviewer=The Reddit Community|title=Robin Williams. It's time for a convoluted stream of consciousness. Ask Me Anything!|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1n41x1/robin_williams_its_time_for_a_convoluted_stream|date=September 25, 2013|access-date=September 10, 2017|archive-date=November 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109140051/https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1n41x1/robin_williams_its_time_for_a_convoluted_stream/|url-status=live}} and his favorite book as a child was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which he later shared with his children.{{cite web|date=September 25, 2013|title=Robin Williams. It's time for a convoluted stream of consciousness. Ask Me Anything!|url=https://www.reddit.com/comments/1n41x1|access-date=August 12, 2014|website=Reddit|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812152452/http://www.reddit.com/comments/1n41x1|url-status=live}}

Williams was an enthusiast of both pen-and-paper role-playing games and video games.{{cite news|first=Mike|last=Szymanski|title=Robin Williams Confesses to Another Addiction ... the Internet|url=http://www.zap2it.com/movies/news/story/0,1259,---13446,00.html|website=Zap2it|publisher=Tribune Media Services|location=Chicago, Illinois|date=August 21, 2002|access-date=August 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021010045827/http://www.zap2it.com/movies/news/story/0%2C1259%2C---13446%2C00.html|archive-date=October 10, 2002|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|first1=Rusel|last1=DeMaria|first2=Johnny L.|last2=Wilson|title=High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games|date=2003|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=New York|isbn=978-0-07-223172-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJNvZLvpCEQC&pg=PA154|edition=2nd|page=154|access-date=January 23, 2017|archive-date=February 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215051317/https://books.google.com/books?id=HJNvZLvpCEQC&pg=PA154|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|first=Marc|last=Graser|title=Robin Williams to Be Memorialized in 'World of Warcraft'|url=https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/robin-williams-to-be-memorialized-in-world-of-warcraft-1201282195|magazine=Variety|location=Los Angeles, California|date=August 13, 2014|access-date=August 16, 2014|archive-date=August 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816041655/http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/robin-williams-to-be-memorialized-in-world-of-warcraft-1201282195/|url-status=live}} His daughter Zelda was named after the title character from The Legend of Zelda, a family favorite video game series, and Williams sometimes performed at consumer entertainment trade shows.{{cite web |url=http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/06/live-coverage-of-the-google-keynote/ |title=Live coverage of Google Keynote with Robin Williams |website=Engadget |access-date=February 6, 2023 |date=January 6, 2006 |last=Boutin |first=Paul |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006115938/http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/06/live-coverage-of-the-google-keynote/|url-status=unfit}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/Robin-Williams-yucks-it-up-for-Spore/2100-1043_3-6071292.html|title=Robin Williams yucks it up for 'Spore'|first=Daniel|last=Terdiman|date=May 11, 2006|access-date=August 19, 2014|publisher=CNET|archive-date=August 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820093633/http://news.cnet.com/Robin-Williams-yucks-it-up-for-Spore/2100-1043_3-6071292.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/whatson/dungeons-and-dragons-game-day-article-5339.html|title=Dungeons and Dragons Game Day at London Dungeon|website=Viewlondon.co.uk|access-date=August 29, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070722052833/http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/whatson/dungeons-and-dragons-game-day-article-5339.html|archive-date=July 22, 2007}}

Williams was a big fan of anime and collecting figures. His daughter described him as a "figurine hoarder"; one of his figures was the character Deunan Knute from the anime film Appleseed, which Williams was a fan of. He also liked the film Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.{{Cite web|title=Robin Williams' Daughter Asks Fans To Help Identify His Massive Anime Collection|url=https://comicbook.com/anime/2018/05/16/robin-williams-anime-zelda-figures/|last=Peters|first=Megan|date=May 17, 2018|website=ComicBook|access-date=February 9, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807201417/http://comicbook.com/anime/2018/05/16/robin-williams-anime-zelda-figures|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=More Robin Williams on Anime|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-05-04/more-robin-williams-on-anime|last=Macdonald|first=Christopher|date=May 5, 2005|website=Anime News Network|access-date=February 9, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807044842/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-05-04/more-robin-williams-on-anime|url-status=live}}

Williams also became a devoted cycling enthusiast, having taken up the sport partly as a substitute for drugs. Eventually, he accumulated a large bicycle collection and became a fan of professional road cycling, often traveling to racing events such as the Tour de France.{{cite news|last=Murphy|first=Brian|title=Tour de Lance: 100 percent pure|url=https://www.espn.com/page2/s/murphy/020729.html|publisher=ESPN|access-date=June 29, 2007|archive-date=February 9, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209011842/http://espn.go.com/page2/s/murphy/020729.html|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|first=Dan|last=Koeppel|author-link=Dan Koeppel|url=http://www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/robin-williams-im-lucky-have-bikes-my-life|year=2003|title=Robin Williams Profile – Robin Williams: "I'm Lucky to Have Bikes in My Life"|magazine=Bicycling Magazine|access-date=September 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903160436/http://www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/robin-williams-im-lucky-have-bikes-my-life|archive-date=September 3, 2014|url-status=dead}} In 2016, Williams' children donated 87 of his bicycles in support of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.{{cite web|title=Cycle of Life {{!}} Paddle8|url=https://paddle8.com/editorial/cycle-of-life/|website=Paddle8|access-date=November 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109155952/https://paddle8.com/editorial/cycle-of-life/|archive-date=November 9, 2016 }}

Williams was raised and sometimes identified himself as an Episcopalian. In a comedy routine, Williams described his denomination as: "I have that idea of Chicago Protestant, Episcopal—Catholic light: half the religion, half the guilt."{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Caitlin A. |date=July 3, 2007 |title=A "License" to Laugh |publisher=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/03/earlyshow/leisure/boxoffice/main3011495.shtml |url-status=dead |access-date=March 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202220950/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/03/earlyshow/leisure/boxoffice/main3011495.shtml |archive-date=February 2, 2012}} He also described himself as an "honorary Jew",{{cite news|last=Borschel|first=Amanda|date=August 12, 2014|title='Honorary Jew' Robin Williams, 63, found dead|newspaper=The Times of Israel |agency=AP|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/honorary-jew-robin-williams-63-found-dead|access-date=August 12, 2014|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812074211/http://www.timesofisrael.com/honorary-jew-robin-williams-63-found-dead/|url-status=live}} and on Israel's 60th Independence Day in 2008, Williams appeared in Times Square, along with several other celebrities, to wish Israel a happy birthday.{{cite web|date=May 13, 2008|title=Celebrity Salute to Israel @ Times Square|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edIZyz3OdKA|access-date=August 12, 2014|via=YouTube|archive-date=August 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813031533/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edIZyz3OdKA|url-status=live}}

In 1986, Williams teamed up with Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal to establish Comic Relief USA. This annual HBO television benefit devoted to the homeless raised $80{{nbsp}}million as of 2014.{{cite web|url = http://www.blackenterprise.com/news/robin-williams-whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-helped-raise-80-million-america-homeless/|title = Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal Raised $80 Million For Homeless|date = August 12, 2014|access-date = October 24, 2014|website = blackenterprise.com|last = Brown|first = Carolyn M.|archive-date = October 25, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141025085558/http://www.blackenterprise.com/news/robin-williams-whoopi-goldberg-billy-crystal-helped-raise-80-million-america-homeless/|url-status = live}} Bob Zmuda, creator of Comic Relief, explains that Williams felt blessed because he came from a wealthy home, but wanted to do something to help those less fortunate.{{cite web|url = http://www.eonline.com/news/568668/billy-crystal-and-whoopi-goldberg-react-in-kind-to-robin-williams-death-no-words|title = Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg React in Kind to Robin Williams' Death: "No Words"|last = Finn|first = Natalie|date = August 12, 2014|publisher = E!|access-date = October 25, 2014|archive-date = October 23, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141023172216/http://www.eonline.com/news/568668/billy-crystal-and-whoopi-goldberg-react-in-kind-to-robin-williams-death-no-words|url-status = live}} Williams made benefit appearances to support literacy and women's rights, along with appearing at benefits for veterans. He was a regular on the USO circuit, where Williams traveled to 13 countries and performed to approximately 90,000 troops.{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3103930/robin-williams-military-uso/|title=The Military Absolutely Loved Robin Williams|last=Thompson|first=Mark|date=August 12, 2014|magazine=Time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809101605/https://time.com/3103930/robin-williams-military-uso/|archive-date=August 9, 2019|url-status=live}} After his death, the USO thanked Williams "for all he did for the men and women of our armed forces".On Patrol, USO, Fall 2014, p. 8

Williams and his second wife Marsha founded a philanthropic organization called the Windfall Foundation to raise money for many charities. In December 1999, he sang in French on the BBC-inspired music video of international celebrities doing a cover of The Rolling Stones single "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" for the charity Children's Promise.{{cite news | title = Stones cover enters festive race | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/558252.stm |work=BBC News | date = December 10, 1999 | access-date = July 14, 2007 | archive-date = November 16, 2005 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051116123612/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/558252.stm | url-status = live }}

File:Robin Williams Bahrain.jpg on December 19, 2003]]

In response to the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, Williams donated all proceeds of his Weapons of Self Destruction Christchurch performance to help rebuild the New Zealand city. Half the proceeds were donated to the Red Cross and half to the mayoral building fund.{{cite news | title = Robin Williams' quake donation | first = Marc | last = Greenhill | url = http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/4348443/Robin-Williams-quake-donation | date = November 16, 2010 | access-date = August 11, 2014 | website = Stuff | archive-date = August 12, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140812210441/http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/4348443/Robin-Williams-quake-donation | url-status = live }} Williams performed with the USO for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.{{cite news |title=Good Morning, Iraq |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/09/DDG5AB3TBJ38.DTL |date=February 9, 2005 |access-date=September 4, 2009 |first=Phil |last=Bronstein |author-link=Phil Bronstein |archive-date=March 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311032651/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2005%2F02%2F09%2FDDG5AB3TBJ38.DTL |url-status=live }}

For several years, Williams supported St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.{{cite web |url=http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=fcd4fa2454e70110VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD&vgnextchannel=12d113c016118010VgnVCM1000000e2015acRCRD |title=Celebrity Involvement at St. Jude |publisher=St. Jude |access-date=July 7, 2012 |archive-date=June 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614101207/http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=fcd4fa2454e70110VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD&vgnextchannel=12d113c016118010VgnVCM1000000e2015acRCRD |url-status=live }}

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had an addiction to cocaine.{{cite news |first=Decca |last=Aitkenhead |date=September 20, 2010 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/20/robin-williams-worlds-greatest-dad-alcohol-drugs |title=Robin Williams: 'I was shameful, did stuff that caused disgust—that's hard to recover from' |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London, England |access-date=August 12, 2014 |archive-date=August 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812012955/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/20/robin-williams-worlds-greatest-dad-alcohol-drugs |url-status=live }} He was a casual friend of John Belushi, and partied with the Saturday Night Live comedian the night before Belushi died of a drug overdose in 1982. The shock of Belushi's death, along with the birth of his son Zak, prompted Williams to quit drugs and alcohol: "Was it a wake-up call? Oh yeah, on a huge level. The grand jury helped, too." Williams turned to exercise and cycling to help alleviate his depression shortly after Belushi's death; according to bicycle shop owner Tony Tom, Williams said, "cycling saved my life".{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/robin-williams-told-friend-cycling-saved-life-post-24970974 |title=(video) Robin Williams Told Friend 'Cycling Saved My Life' Post-Cocaine Days |agency=ABC News|date=August 13, 2014 |access-date=August 16, 2014 |archive-date=August 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815215921/http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/robin-williams-told-friend-cycling-saved-life-post-24970974 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |first=Alan |last=Duke |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/14/showbiz/robin-williams-parkinsons-disease/ |title=Robin Williams was in early stages of Parkinson's disease, wife reveals |publisher=CNN |date=August 14, 2014 |access-date=August 16, 2014 |archive-date=August 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816083147/http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/14/showbiz/robin-williams-parkinsons-disease/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |first1=Jason |last1=Gay |url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/robin-williams-and-dario-pegoretti-the-comedian-and-the-bike-builder-1407970079 |title=Robin Williams and Dario Pegoretti: The Comedian and the Bike Builder |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=August 14, 2014 |access-date=August 18, 2014 |archive-date=August 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140818234803/http://online.wsj.com/articles/robin-williams-and-dario-pegoretti-the-comedian-and-the-bike-builder-1407970079 |url-status=live }}{{subscription required|s}}

In 2003, Williams started drinking again while working on the film The Big White (2005) in Alaska. In 2006, he checked in to a substance-abuse rehabilitation center in Newberg, Oregon, saying that he was an alcoholic.{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2515796 |title=Robin Williams Comes Clean on 'GMA' |website=ABC News |publisher=ABC |location=New York City |date=October 2, 2006 |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-date=September 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926103342/http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2515796 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |first=Alan |last=Duke |title=Robin Williams, short of breath, takes a break |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/04/robin.williams.health/index.html?iref=nextin |publisher=CNN |location=Atlanta, Georgia |date=March 4, 2009 |access-date=August 12, 2014 |archive-date=August 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812203920/http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/04/robin.williams.health/index.html?iref=nextin |url-status=live }} Years afterward, Williams acknowledged his failure to maintain sobriety, but said that he never returned to using cocaine, declaring in a 2010 interview:

{{blockquote|No. Cocaine—paranoid and impotent, what fun. There was no bit of me thinking, ooh, let's go back to that. Useless conversations until midnight, waking up at dawn feeling like a vampire on a day pass. No.}}

In mid-2014, Williams was admitted to the Hazelden Foundation Addiction Treatment Center in Center City, Minnesota, for treatment for alcoholism.{{cite web|last=Errico|first=Marcus|date=August 11, 2014|title=Robin Williams Dead of Apparent Suicide at 63|url=https://celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/robin-williams-dead-of-apparent-suicide-at-63-231414092.html|access-date=August 12, 2014|publisher=Yahoo!|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812034210/https://celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/robin-williams-dead-of-apparent-suicide-at-63-231414092.html|url-status=live}}

In March 2009, Williams was hospitalized due to heart problems. He postponed his one-man tour for surgery to replace his aortic valve,{{cite news |url=http://www.today.com/id/29518817/ns/today-today_entertainment/t/robin-williams-undergo-heart-surgery/ |title=Robin Williams to undergo heart surgery |work=Today |date=March 5, 2009 |access-date=October 29, 2014 |agency=Associated Press |archive-date=October 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024064635/http://www.today.com/id/29518817/ns/today-today_entertainment/t/robin-williams-undergo-heart-surgery/ |url-status=live }} repair his mitral valve and correct his irregular heartbeat.{{Cite web|url=https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20090324/robin-williams-heart-surgery-road-to-recovery|title=Robin Williams' Heart Surgery: Road to Recovery|last=Doheny|first=Kathleen|publisher=WebMD|access-date=December 19, 2019|archive-date=December 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219134529/https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20090324/robin-williams-heart-surgery-road-to-recovery|url-status=live}} The surgery was completed March 13, 2009, at the Cleveland Clinic.{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/23/robin.williams.health/ |title=Robin Williams' heart surgery goes 'extremely well' |publisher=CNN |location=Atlanta, Georgia|date=March 23, 2009 |access-date=May 22, 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141024064802/http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/23/robin.williams.health/|archive-date = October 24, 2014|url-status=live}}

His publicist, Mara Buxbaum, commented that Williams had severe depression before his death.{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/11/showbiz/robin-williams-dead/ |title=Robin Williams dead; family, friends and fans are 'totally devastated' |first=Alan |last=Duke |publisher=CNN|date=August 12, 2014 |access-date=August 16, 2014 |archive-date=August 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811231747/http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/11/showbiz/robin-williams-dead/ |url-status=live }} His wife, Susan Schneider, said that in the period before his death, Williams had been sober but was diagnosed with early-stage Parkinson's disease, which was information that he was "not yet ready to share publicly".{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28796277 |title=Robin Williams 'had Parkinson's' |work=BBC News |date=August 14, 2014 |access-date=August 14, 2014 |archive-date=August 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814211407/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28796277 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |first=Taryn |last=Ryder |date=August 15, 2014 |url=https://uk.yahoo.com/movies/wife-robin-williams-had-parkinsons-disease-his-94744481702.html |title=Wife: Robin Williams Had Parkinson's Disease, His Sobriety Intact Before Death |publisher=Yahoo! |access-date=August 15, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816000113/https://uk.yahoo.com/movies/wife-robin-williams-had-parkinsons-disease-his-94744481702.html |archive-date=August 16, 2014}} An autopsy revealed that Williams had diffuse Lewy bodies (which had been misdiagnosed as Parkinson's), and this may have contributed to his depression.{{cite journal |last1=Tsai |first1=Kevin Wen-Kai |last2=Matsuda |first2=Hiroshi |last3=Orimo |first3=Satoshi |last4=Wei |first4=Cheng-Yu |title=Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Application |journal=International Journal of Gerontology |date=September 1, 2019 |volume=13 |issue=3 |doi=10.6890/IJGE.201909_13(3).0001}}{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/robin-williams-coroner-report-drugs-alcohol-system-article-1.2003220|title=Robin Williams coroner's report finds no illegal drugs or alcohol in system|newspaper=Daily News|location=New York|access-date=November 11, 2014|archive-date=November 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109214001/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/robin-williams-coroner-report-drugs-alcohol-system-article-1.2003220|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://qz.com/798443/robin-williams-suffered-from-dementia-with-lewy-bodies-a-widely-under-diagnosed-condition/|title=Robin Williams suffered from a common form of dementia that many people don't know about|website=Quartz|access-date=October 6, 2016|date=October 2, 2016|first1=Marta|last1=Cooper|archive-date=October 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005094648/http://qz.com/798443/robin-williams-suffered-from-dementia-with-lewy-bodies-a-widely-under-diagnosed-condition/|url-status=live}}

In an essay published in the journal Neurology two years after his death, Schneider revealed that the pathology of Lewy body disease in Williams was described by several doctors as among the worst pathologies they had seen. She described the early symptoms of his disease as beginning in October 2013. Williams's initial condition included a sudden and prolonged spike in fear, anxiety, stress, and insomnia, which worsened in severity and included memory loss, paranoia, and delusions. According to Schneider, "Robin was losing his mind and he was aware of it{{nbsp}}... He kept saying, 'I just want to reboot my brain.{{'"}}{{cite journal|last1=Schneider Williams|first1=Susan|date=September 27, 2016|title=The terrorist inside my husband's brain|url=https://n.neurology.org/content/neurology/87/13/1308.full.pdf|journal=Neurology|language=en|volume=87|issue=13|pages=1308–1311|doi=10.1212/WNL.0000000000003162|pmid=27672165|doi-access=free|access-date=July 23, 2020|archive-date=May 16, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516235921/https://www.neurology.org/doi/pdfdirect/10.1212/WNL.0000000000003162|url-status=live |issn=0028-3878 }}

Williams was found dead at age 63 in his home in Paradise Cay, California, on August 11, 2014.{{cite news|last1=Itzkoff|first1=Dave|author-link1=Dave Itzkoff|last2=Fitzsimmons|first2=Emma G.|title=Robin Williams, Oscar-Winning Comedian, Dies at 63|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/12/movies/robin-williams-oscar-winning-comedian-dies-at-63.html|date=August 11, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=August 11, 2014|first3=Bruce|last3=Weber|archive-date=January 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107070117/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/12/movies/robin-williams-oscar-winning-comedian-dies-at-63.html|url-status=live}} The final autopsy report, released that November, concluded that Williams's death was a suicide resulting from "asphyxia due to hanging". He had aspyhxiated himself using a belt wrapped around a door handle.{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=California: Robin Williams's Autopsy Shows No Illicit Drugs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/us/california-actors-autopsy-shows-no-illicit-drugs.html |access-date=November 9, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111114014/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/us/california-actors-autopsy-shows-no-illicit-drugs.html |archive-date=November 11, 2014}} Neither alcohol nor illegal drugs were involved, and prescription drugs present in his body were at therapeutic levels. The report also noted that Williams had depression and anxiety.{{cite news|title=No Alcohol Or Drugs Involved in Death of Robin Williams|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/robin-williams-death/no-alcohol-or-drugs-involved-death-robin-williams-n241381|publisher=NBC News|access-date=December 20, 2018|date=November 7, 2014|archive-date=January 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102010826/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/robin-williams-death/no-alcohol-or-drugs-involved-death-robin-williams-n241381|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/07/showbiz/robin-williams-autopsy/index.html|title=Robin Williams' death ruled suicide|first=Matthew|last=Stucker|date=November 7, 2014|access-date=November 7, 2014|publisher=CNN|archive-date=November 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108020255/http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/07/showbiz/robin-williams-autopsy/index.html|url-status=live}} An examination of his brain tissue suggested that Williams had "diffuse Lewy body dementia". Describing the disease as "the terrorist inside my husband's brain", Schneider said that "however you look at it—the presence of Lewy bodies took his life", referring to his previous diagnosis of Parkinson's. She noted "how we as a culture don't have the vocabulary to discuss brain disease in the way we do about depression. Depression is a symptom of LBD and it's not about psychology – it's rooted in neurology. His brain was falling apart."{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/01/robin-williamss-widow-there-were-so-many-misunderstandings-about-what-had-happened-to-him |title=Robin Williams's widow: 'There were so many misunderstandings about what had happened to him' |newspaper=The Guardian |date=January 1, 2021 |access-date=March 23, 2022 |last=Freeman |first=Hadley |url-status=live |archive-date=November 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101235530/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/01/robin-williamss-widow-there-were-so-many-misunderstandings-about-what-had-happened-to-him}} Medical experts had earlier struggled to determine a cause, and had eventually diagnosed him with Parkinson's disease.

The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) clarified the distinction between the term used in the autopsy report, "diffuse Lewy body dementia", which is more commonly called "diffuse Lewy body disease", and refers to the underlying disease process—and the umbrella term, "Lewy body dementia"—which encompasses both Parkinson's disease dementia (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). According to LBDA spokesperson Dennis Dickson, "The report confirms he experienced depression, anxiety, and paranoia, which may occur in either Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies.{{nbsp}}... In early PD, Lewy bodies are generally limited in distribution, but in DLB, the Lewy bodies are spread widely throughout the brain, as was the case with Robin Williams." Ian G. McKeith, professor and researcher of Lewy body dementias, commented that Williams's symptoms and autopsy findings were explained by DLB.{{Cite news |url= https://theconversation.com/robin-williams-had-dementia-with-lewy-bodies-so-what-is-it-and-why-has-it-been-eclipsed-by-alzheimers-50221 |title= Robin Williams had dementia with Lewy bodies—so, what is it and why has it been eclipsed by Alzheimer's? | last = McKeith | first = IG | name-list-style = vanc |newspaper= The Conversation |access-date= April 6, 2018 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104010452/https://theconversation.com/robin-williams-had-dementia-with-lewy-bodies-so-what-is-it-and-why-has-it-been-eclipsed-by-alzheimers-50221 |archive-date= November 4, 2016 }} Williams's body was cremated at Monte's Chapel of the Hills in San Anselmo, and his ashes were scattered over San Francisco Bay on August 21, 2014.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/21/showbiz/robin-williams-ashes/index.html|title=Robin Williams' ashes scattered in San Francisco Bay|first=Dana|last=Ford|date=August 21, 2014|access-date=August 21, 2014|publisher=CNN|archive-date=May 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514135441/http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/21/showbiz/robin-williams-ashes/index.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Death Certificate Indicates Robin Williams Cremated, Ashes Scattered In San Francisco Bay|url=http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/08/21/tabloids-report-robin-williams-cremated-ashes-scattered-in-san-francisco-bay|publisher=CBS Local|access-date=September 16, 2014|date=August 21, 2014|archive-date=August 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826111545/http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/08/21/tabloids-report-robin-williams-cremated-ashes-scattered-in-san-francisco-bay/|url-status=live}}

File:Robin williams tribute at mrs doubfire house 2014-08-13.jpg home used for the filming of Mrs. Doubtfire, August 2014]]

Following the announcement of Williams's death, many figures in the entertainment industry praised him on social media.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robin-williams-remembered-by-steve-martin-ellen-degeneres-more|title=Robin Williams tributes pour in from Hollywood|publisher=CBS News|date=August 12, 2014|last=Derschowitz|first=Jessica|access-date=October 29, 2014|archive-date=October 24, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024044635/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/robin-williams-remembered-by-steve-martin-ellen-degeneres-more/|url-status=live}} Schneider said, "I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken."{{cite news|url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/Marin-County-Sheriffs-Office-Investigating-Death-of-Actor-Robin-Williams-270820641.html|publisher=NBC|title=Beloved Comic, Actor Robin Williams Dead at 63|date=August 12, 2014|access-date=October 29, 2014|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812210048/http://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/Marin-County-Sheriffs-Office-Investigating-Death-of-Actor-Robin-Williams-270820641.html|url-status=live}} His daughter, Zelda Williams, responded to his death by saying that the "world is forever a little darker, less colorful and less full of laughter in his absence".{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/robin-williams-family-the-world-is-forever-a-little-darker-1201281687|title=Robin Williams' Family: 'The World is Forever a Little Darker'|date=August 12, 2014|magazine=Variety|access-date=August 12, 2014|archive-date=December 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222100438/http://variety.com/2014/film/news/robin-williams-family-the-world-is-forever-a-little-darker-1201281687/|url-status=live}}

President Barack Obama released a statement on Williams's death:

{{blockquote|Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between ... 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.{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/08/11/president-obama-passing-robin-williams-he-was-one-kind|title=President Obama on the Passing of Robin Williams: "He Was One of a Kind"|date=August 11, 2014|publisher=White House|access-date=March 5, 2019|archive-date=December 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221223932/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/08/11/president-obama-passing-robin-williams-he-was-one-kind|url-status=live}}}}

Williams was scheduled to be the "Blackmail" special guest for the final night of Monty Python's ten-date stage shows in London one month before his death—with his friend, Monty Python's Eric Idle—but he canceled, stating that he was "suffering from severe depression".{{cite magazine|first=Clark|last=Collis|title=Monty Python reunion: Eric Idle on his late friend Robin Williams|url=https://www.ew.com/article/2014/11/11/robin-williams-monty-python-reunion|date=November 11, 2014|access-date=August 22, 2019|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|archive-date=August 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822103642/https://ew.com/article/2014/11/11/robin-williams-monty-python-reunion/|url-status=live}} The show's subsequent home video release was dedicated to Williams.

At the United Nations headquarters on August 12, Williams was celebrated during the opening of the International Youth Day. In the presence of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Assistant Secretary General Thomas Gass paid tribute to Williams by standing on the pulpit of the ECOSOC Chamber and quoting one of Keating's lines from Dead Poets Society: "Dare to look at things in a different way!".{{Cite web|title=International Youth Day Event: Mental Health Matters|url=https://www.unmultimedia.org/photo/detail.jsp?id=597/597223&key=135&query=Palau&sf=|access-date=June 27, 2020|website=United Nations Photo|language=en|archive-date=June 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614003256/https://www.unmultimedia.org/photo/detail.jsp?id=597%2F597223&key=135&query=Palau&sf=|url-status=live}} Several fans similarly paid tribute to Williams on social media with photo and video reenactments of Dead Poets Society{{'}}s "O Captain! My Captain!" scene.{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Idato|date=August 14, 2014|title=Robin Williams death: Jimmy Fallon fights tears, pays tribute with 'Oh Captain, My Captain'|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/robin-williams-death-jimmy-fallon-fights-tears-pays-tribute-with-oh-captain-my-captain-20140814-103uwh.html|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=November 15, 2014|archive-date=September 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140901165613/http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/robin-williams-death-jimmy-fallon-fights-tears-pays-tribute-with-oh-captain-my-captain-20140814-103uwh.html|url-status=live}}

Shortly after Williams died, Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney Junior aired Aladdin commercial-free over the course of a week, with a dedicated drawing of the Genie at the end of each airing before the credits.{{cite magazine|first=Hilary|last=Lewis|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-networks-air-aladdin-honor-725640|title=Disney Networks to Air 'Aladdin' in Honor of Robin Williams|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|date=August 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329235951/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-networks-air-aladdin-honor-725640 |archive-date=March 29, 2020 }} In honor of his theater work, the lights of Broadway were darkened for the evening of August 14.{{cite web|title=Robin Williams honored on Broadway with dimmed lights, 'Aladdin' tribute|date=August 14, 2014 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/robin-williams-honored-broadway-dimmed-lights-aladdin-tribute-f1D80062788|access-date=January 28, 2018|publisher=NBC News|archive-date=January 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128132804/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/robin-williams-honored-broadway-dimmed-lights-aladdin-tribute-f1D80062788|url-status=live}} That night, the cast of the Aladdin musical honored Williams by having the audience join them in a sing-along of "Friend Like Me", an Oscar-nominated song originally sung by Williams in the film Aladdin.{{cite news|last=Simakis|first=Andrea|date=August 14, 2014|title=Broadway's 'Aladdin' cast honors Robin Williams with song|url=http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2014/08/broadways_aladdin_cast_honors.html|access-date=October 29, 2014|newspaper=The Plain Dealer|archive-date=October 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026130250/http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2014/08/broadways_aladdin_cast_honors.html|url-status=live}}

File:Los Angeles Theatre - Robin Williams.jpg honors Williams on its marquee, August 2014.]]

Fans of Williams created makeshift memorials at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame{{cite news|date=August 12, 2014|title=Fans mourn Robin Williams at Hollywood Walk of Fame star, autopsy pending|newspaper=Los Angeles Daily News|agency=City News Service|url=http://www.dailynews.com/arts-and-entertainment/20140812/fans-mourn-robin-williams-at-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star-autopsy-pending|access-date=August 16, 2014|archive-date=August 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819082750/http://www.dailynews.com/arts-and-entertainment/20140812/fans-mourn-robin-williams-at-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star-autopsy-pending|url-status=live}} and at locations from his television and film career, such as the bench in Boston's Public Garden featured in Good Will Hunting;{{cite news|last1=MacQuarrie|first1=Brian|last2=Crimaldi|first2=Laura|date=August 12, 2014|title=Boston fans remember Robin Williams|newspaper=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/12/boston-fans-fondly-recalling-good-will-hunting-mourn-loss-robin-williams/iKNI4mZAGzBZksXspLpiTM/story.html|access-date=August 15, 2014|archive-date=August 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814222207/http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/12/boston-fans-fondly-recalling-good-will-hunting-mourn-loss-robin-williams/iKNI4mZAGzBZksXspLpiTM/story.html|url-status=live}} the Pacific Heights, San Francisco home used in Mrs. Doubtfire;{{cite news|last=Rocha|first=Veronica|date=August 13, 2014|title=Robin Williams memorial grows outside 'Mrs. Doubtfire' house|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-memorial-robin-williams-mrs-doubtfire-house-20140813-story.html|access-date=August 16, 2014|archive-date=August 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816064102/http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-memorial-robin-williams-mrs-doubtfire-house-20140813-story.html|url-status=live}} the sign for Parrish Shoes in Keene, New Hampshire, where parts of Jumanji were filmed;{{cite web|date=August 15, 2014|title=Keene theater to host free 'Jumanji' screening after star's death|url=http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/keene-theater-to-host-free-jumanji-screening-after-star-s/article_37b993fe-a147-5c03-8ba5-cff56def7b97.html|access-date=March 19, 2018|archive-date=June 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614003253/https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/keene-theater-to-host-free-jumanji-screening-after-star-s/article_37b993fe-a147-5c03-8ba5-cff56def7b97.html|url-status=live}} and the Boulder, Colorado, home used for Mork & Mindy.{{cite magazine|last=Bacle|first=Ariana|date=August 12, 2014|title=Fans remember Robin Williams at 'Mork and Mindy' house|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|url=http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/08/12/mork-mindy-robin-williams-boulder|access-date=August 15, 2014|archive-date=August 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815102011/http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/08/12/mork-mindy-robin-williams-boulder/|url-status=live}}

During the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards on August 25, close friend and fellow comedian, Billy Crystal, presented a tribute to Williams, referring to him as "the brightest star in our comedy galaxy". Afterward, some of Williams's best comedy moments were shown, including his first The Tonight Show appearance, indicating his great life in making people laugh.{{Cite web|last=Therrell|first=Lane|date=August 22, 2014|title=Billy Crystal Emmys Tribute to Robin Williams Expected to Honor Humor|url=https://guardianlv.com/2014/08/billy-crystal-emmys-tribute-to-robin-williams-expected-to-honor-humor/|access-date=May 25, 2023|website=Guardian Liberty Voice|url-status=live|archive-date=May 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526120033/https://guardianlv.com/2014/08/billy-crystal-emmys-tribute-to-robin-williams-expected-to-honor-humor/}}{{cite news|title=Emmys 2014: Robin Williams given emotional tribute by good friend Billy Crystal|first=Ethan|last=Sacks|date=August 25, 2014|newspaper=Daily News|location=New York|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/robin-williams-honored-emotional-emmy-tribute-article-1.1916760|access-date=August 26, 2014|archive-date=August 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826114640/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/robin-williams-honored-emotional-emmy-tribute-article-1.1916760|url-status=live}} Talk show hosts, including David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon, paid tribute to Williams on their respective shows.{{cite news|date=August 13, 2014|title=Robin Williams late-night tributes: Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and Conan O'Brien share memories|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2014/08/13/robin-williams-late-night-tributes-jimmy-fallon-seth-meyers-and-conan-obrien-share-memories/|access-date=March 4, 2019|archive-date=March 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306112829/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2014/08/13/robin-williams-late-night-tributes-jimmy-fallon-seth-meyers-and-conan-obrien-share-memories/|url-status=live}}

On September 9, 2014, PBS aired a one-hour special devoted to Williams's career,{{Cite magazine|last=Weinstein|first=Shelli|date=September 2, 2014|title=Robin Williams Tribute Special to Air on PBS|url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/robin-williams-tribute-pbs-1201296353/|access-date=May 25, 2023|magazine=Variety|url-status=live|archive-date=April 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417004511/https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/robin-williams-tribute-pbs-1201296353/}} and on September 27, dozens of leading stars and celebrities held a tribute in San Francisco to celebrate his life and career.{{Cite magazine|last=Barnes|first=Mike|date=September 27, 2014|title=Robin Williams' Life Celebrated at San Francisco Tribute Attended by Family, Industry Friends|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/robin-williams-life-celebrated-at-736165/|access-date=May 25, 2023|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|url-status=live|archive-date=May 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525203139/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/robin-williams-life-celebrated-at-736165/}} British heavy metal band Iron Maiden dedicated a song to Williams, titled "Tears of a Clown", on their 2015 album The Book of Souls. The song looks into his depression and suicide, and how he attempted to hide his condition from the public.{{cite web|last1=Morgan Britton|first1=Luke|date=August 24, 2015|title=Iron Maiden dedicate new song 'Tears Of A Clown' to Robin Williams|url=https://www.nme.com/news/iron-maiden/87791|access-date=December 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906115831/https://www.nme.com/news/iron-maiden/87791|archive-date=September 6, 2015|url-status=dead|magazine=NME}}

A tunnel painted with a rainbow on Highway 101, north of the Golden Gate Bridge, was officially named the "Robin Williams Tunnel" on February 29, 2016.{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Robin-Williams-tunnel-officially-gets-new-signs-6864015.php#photo-9482994|title=Robin Williams tunnel officially gets new signs|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=March 2016|access-date=January 2, 2017|archive-date=October 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017000702/http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Robin-Williams-tunnel-officially-gets-new-signs-6864015.php#photo-9482994|url-status=live}} In 2017, Sharon Meadow in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the home of the annual Comedy Day, was renamed "Robin Williams Meadow".{{cite web |title=Golden Gate Park meadow renamed for Robin Williams |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Golden-Gate-Park-meadow-renamed-for-Robin-Williams-12448885.php |website=San Francisco Chronicle |date=December 22, 2017 |access-date=January 9, 2020 |archive-date=March 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314105334/https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Golden-Gate-Park-meadow-renamed-for-Robin-Williams-12448885.php |url-status=live }}

In 2018, HBO produced a documentary about his life and career. Directed by Marina Zenovich, the film Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind was also screened at the Sundance Film Festival.{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/robin-williams-come-inside-my-mind-review-1202671144/|title=Sundance Film Review: 'Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind'|first=Owen|last=Gleiberman|author-link=Owen Gleiberman|date=January 20, 2018|magazine=Variety|access-date=July 10, 2018|archive-date=July 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718091723/https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/robin-williams-come-inside-my-mind-review-1202671144/|url-status=live}} That same year, a mural of Robin Williams was created on Market Street in San Francisco.{{cite news|date=August 30, 2018|title=San Francisco mural honors Robin Williams|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-robin-williams-mural-20180830-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=September 9, 2018|archive-date=September 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910094545/http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-robin-williams-mural-20180830-story.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Rodriguez|first=Joe Fitzgerald|date=August 29, 2018|title=Artist paints Robin Williams mural for free on SF's Market Street|url=https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/artist-paints-robin-williams-mural-for-free-on-sf-s-market-street/article_e0255c37-c802-56d3-b32d-d3ed571e8249.html|newspaper=San Francisco Examiner|access-date=May 22, 2023|archive-date=August 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830154037/http://www.sfexaminer.com/artist-paints-robin-williams-mural-free-sfs-market-street/|url-status=live}} Work on a biography was begun by The New York Times writer David Itzkoff in 2014,{{Cite magazine|last=Lewis|first=Andy|date=August 27, 2014|title=Robin Williams Bio in the Works|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/robin-williams-bio-works-728683/|access-date=May 25, 2023|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|url-status=live|archive-date=May 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230525203139/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/robin-williams-bio-works-728683/}} and was published four years later, titled Robin.{{Cite book|last=Itzkoff|first=Dave|title=Robin|date=May 15, 2018|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|isbn=9781627794244|location=New York|oclc=1035944986|author-link=Dave Itzkoff}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=nfQ4DwAAQBAJ Preview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626052714/https://books.google.com/books?id=nfQ4DwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=twopage |date=June 26, 2020 }} at Google Books.

In September 2020, Vertical Entertainment released a documentary titled Robin's Wish. Directed by Tylor Norwood, the film explores Williams's battle with Lewy body dementia.{{cite magazine |last1=Huff |first1=Lauren |title=Robin Williams' final days detailed in touching trailer for new documentary Robin's Wish |url=https://ew.com/movies/robins-wish-exclusive-trailer-robin-williams-doc/ |access-date=August 7, 2020 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=August 6, 2020 |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806180752/https://ew.com/movies/robins-wish-exclusive-trailer-robin-williams-doc/ |url-status=live }} In May 2022, Williams was inducted into the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York.{{Cite web|title=The Hall — National Comedy Center, Jamestown, NY|url=https://comedycenter.org/thehall/|access-date=May 25, 2023|publisher=National Comedy Center|archive-date=June 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601145538/https://comedycenter.org/thehall/|url-status=live}}

{{Clear}}

{{quote box | align=left | width=25% | quote=You can't look at any modern comic and say, "That's the descendant of Robin Williams", because it's not possible to be a Robin Williams rip-off.{{nbsp}}... He raised the bar for what it's possible to do, and made an enormous amount of us want to be comedians. | source=Judd Apatow}}

Although Williams was first recognized as a stand-up comedian and television star, he became known for acting in film roles of substance and serious drama. Williams was considered a "national treasure" by many in the entertainment industry and by the public.{{Cite web|date=August 13, 2014|title=Glenn Close on Friend and Colleague: "Robin Williams Was a World Treasure"|url=https://www.showbiz411.com/2014/08/13/glenn-close-on-friend-and-colleague-robin-williams-was-a-world-treasure|access-date=May 25, 2023|website=Showbiz411.com|language=en-US|last=Friedman|first=Roger|url-status=live|archive-date=May 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517060801/https://www.showbiz411.com/2014/08/13/glenn-close-on-friend-and-colleague-robin-williams-was-a-world-treasure}}

File:Robin Williams Walk of Fame.jpg]]

Williams's onstage energy and improvisational skill became a model for a new generation of stand-up comedians. Many comedians valued the way he worked highly personal issues into his comedy routines, especially his honesty about drug and alcohol addiction, along with depression.{{Cite news|title=Robin Williams: His unscripted riffs were not merely funny, but observant|work=The Christian Science Monitor|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2014/0812/Robin-Williams-His-unscripted-riffs-were-not-merely-funny-but-observant|access-date=May 25, 2023|issn=0882-7729|last=Goodale|first=Gloria|location=Los Angeles|date=August 12, 2014|url-status=live|archive-date=June 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602203717/https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2014/0812/Robin-Williams-His-unscripted-riffs-were-not-merely-funny-but-observant}} According to media scholar Derek A. Burrill, because of the openness with which Williams spoke about his own life, "probably the most important contribution he made to pop culture, across so many different media, was as Robin Williams the person".

File:Impronte di Robin Williams al TCL Chinese Theatre - Los Angeles - USA - agosto 2011.jpg]]

Williams created a signature free-form comedy persona so widely and uniquely identified that new comedians like Jim Carrey impersonated him,{{YouTube|9zorOqE0j1c|"Jim Carrey Impersonates Robin Williams"}} paving the way for the growing comedy scene that developed in San Francisco. Young comedians felt more liberated on stage by seeing his spontaneously diverse range: "One moment acting as a bright, mischievous child, then as a wise philosopher or alien from outer space".Rappoport, Leon. Punchlines: The Case for Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Humor, Greenwood Publishing (2005) p. 136 According to Judd Apatow, the eclectic performer's rapid-fire improvisational style was an inspiration as well as an influence for other comedians, but his talent was so extremely unusual no one else could possibly attempt to copy it.{{cite magazine | last=Browne | first=David |author-link=David Browne (journalist) | title=Robin Williams, 1951–2014 | magazine=Rolling Stone | date=September 11, 2014 | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/robin-williams-final-days-inside-rolling-stones-new-issue-20140827 | pages=38–47 | access-date=August 26, 2016 | archive-date=August 29, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829003957/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/robin-williams-final-days-inside-rolling-stones-new-issue-20140827 | url-status=live }}

Williams's film performances often influenced other actors, both in and out of the film industry. Director Chris Columbus, who directed him in Mrs. Doubtfire, says watching him work "was a magical and special privilege. His performances were unlike anything any of us had ever seen, they came from some spiritual and otherworldly place."{{cite web|url = http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/aug/13/chris-columbus-speaks-about-life-with-ro/?print|title = Valley native Chris Columbus speaks about life with Robin Williams|date = August 13, 2014|access-date = October 24, 2014|website = vindy.com|archive-date = August 19, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140819084802/http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/aug/13/chris-columbus-speaks-about-life-with-ro/?print|url-status = live}} Looking over most of Williams's filmography, Alyssa Rosenberg at The Washington Post was "struck by the breadth" and radical diversity of most of his roles, writing that "Williams helped us grow up".

Williams said that, partly due to the stress of performing stand-up, he started using drugs and alcohol early in his career. He further said that he neither drank nor took drugs while on stage, but occasionally performed when hung over from the previous day. During the period when he was using cocaine, Williams said it made him paranoid when performing on stage.{{cite magazine|first=Lawrence|last=Grobel|title=Playboy Interview: Robin Williams|magazine=Playboy|publisher=Playboy Enterprises|location=Beverly Hills, California|date=January 1992|url=https://www.iplayboy.com/interview/robin-williams|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119180317/https://www.iplayboy.com/interview/robin-williams|archive-date=January 19, 2016|url-status=dead}}

Williams once described the life of stand-up comedians as follows:

{{blockquote|It's a brutal field, man. They burn out. It takes its toll. Plus, the lifestyle—partying, drinking, drugs. If you're on the road, it's even more brutal. You gotta come back down to mellow your ass out, and then performing takes you back up. They flame out because it comes and goes. Suddenly they're hot, and then somebody else is hot. Sometimes they get very bitter. Sometimes they just give up. Sometimes they have a revival thing and they come back again. Sometimes they snap. The pressure kicks in. You become obsessed and then you lose that focus that you need.{{rp|34–35}}}}

Some, such as the critic Vincent Canby, were concerned that Williams's monologues were so intense that it seemed as though, at any minute, his "creative process could reverse into a complete meltdown".{{cite book | title=Robin Williams: When the Laughter Stops 1951–2014 | first=Emily | last=Herbert | publisher=John Blake Publishing Ltd. | location=London, England | date=November 15, 2014 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9DpUCgAAQBAJ | isbn=978-1-78418-300-4 | oclc=889523094 | access-date=August 26, 2016 | archive-date=December 26, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226050044/https://books.google.com/books?id=9DpUCgAAQBAJ | url-status=live }} His biographer, Emily Herbert, described Williams's "intense, utterly manic style of stand-up [which sometimes] defies analysis{{nbsp}}... [going] beyond energetic, beyond frenetic{{nbsp}}... [and sometimes] dangerous{{nbsp}}... because of what it said about the creator's own mental state." Regarding the quick-fire delivery of his performance, Williams said, "Usually, you start off performing in bars, where you can't really take your time, because people go: [mimics a drunk person] 'Oy, what are you doing now?' So I developed a style that was very much synaptic: quick-firing, moving, so that they never really had a chance to lock on as a target."{{Citation |title=Robin Williams/Stephen Fry UK Interview (RE-EDITED) | date=April 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLRw5voY2YI&t=1102 |access-date=2023-09-06 |language=en}}

Williams felt secure that he would not run out of ideas, as the constant change in world events would keep him supplied. He also explained that he often used free association of ideas while improvising to keep the audience interested.{{YouTube|id=4LaJDOD5cJI|time=14m20s|title=Robin Williams – Parkinson interview [2002]}}. Retrieved July 22, 2020. The competitive nature of the show made things difficult. For example, some comedians said that Williams had stolen their jokes, which he strongly denied.{{Cite news|first=Chris|last=Gardner|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rambling-reporter/robin-williams-accused-stealing-jokes-comedy-tell-all-book-1045397|title=Robin Williams Accused of Stealing Jokes in Comedy Tell-All Book|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=October 4, 2017|access-date=July 20, 2018|language=en|archive-date=July 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721043918/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rambling-reporter/robin-williams-accused-stealing-jokes-comedy-tell-all-book-1045397|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.kempa.com/robin-williams-prince-of-thieves/|title=Robin Williams: Prince of Thieves|website=Kempa.com|language=en-US|access-date=July 20, 2018|archive-date=July 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721043651/http://www.kempa.com/robin-williams-prince-of-thieves/|url-status=live}} David Brenner claimed that he confronted Williams's agent and threatened bodily harm if he heard him utter another one of his jokes.{{cite book|title=Comedy at the Edge|first=Richard|last=Zoglin|publisher=Bloomsbury USA|year=2008|isbn=978-1-58234-624-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/comedyatedgehows0000zogl}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/07/joke-stealing-comedy-conan-twitter/399800/|title=In Conan O'Brien Versus Twitter Comedians, Whose Joke Is It Anyway?|last=Sims|first=David|date=July 28, 2015|work=The Atlantic|access-date=July 20, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=July 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721044032/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/07/joke-stealing-comedy-conan-twitter/399800/|url-status=live}} Whoopi Goldberg defended Williams, asserting that it is difficult for comedians not to reuse another comedian's material, and that it is done "all the time".{{cite magazine| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/robin-williams-fears-of-a-clown-20140811 | title = Robin Williams: Fears of a Clown | first = Jeff | last = Giles | date = February 21, 1991 | access-date = August 17, 2014 | magazine = Rolling Stone | archive-date = August 15, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140815021730/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/robin-williams-fears-of-a-clown-20140811 | url-status = live }} Subsequently, he avoided going to performances of other comedians to deter similar accusations.

During a Playboy interview in 1992, Williams was asked whether he ever feared losing his balance between his work and his life. He replied, "There's that fear—if I felt like I was becoming not just dull but a rock, that I still couldn't speak, fire off or talk about things, if I'd start to worry or got too afraid to say something.{{nbsp}}... If I stop trying, I get afraid." While he attributed the recent suicide of novelist Jerzy Kosiński to his fear of losing his creativity and sharpness, Williams felt that he could overcome those risks. For that, he credited his father for strengthening his self-confidence, telling him to never be afraid of talking about subjects which were important to him.

Williams credited comedians, including Jonathan Winters, Peter Sellers, Nichols and May, and Lenny Bruce as influences, admiring their ability to attract a more intellectual audience with a higher level of wit.{{rp|43}} He also liked Jay Leno for his quickness in ad-libbing comedy routines, and Sid Caesar, whose acts he felt were "precious".

Jonathan Winters was his "idol" early in life; Williams, aged eight, first saw him on television and paid him homage in interviews throughout his career.{{rp|259}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/jonathan-winters-dead_n_3070474.html|title=Jonathan Winters Dead: 'Mork and Mindy' Star Dies At Age 87|date=April 12, 2013|work=HuffPost|access-date=October 23, 2014|archive-date=November 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110235521/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/jonathan-winters-dead_n_3070474.html|url-status=live}} Williams was inspired by Winters's ingenuity, saying "that anything is possible, that anything is funny{{nbsp}}... He gave me the idea that it can be free-form, that you can go in and out of things pretty easily."{{rp|260}}

During an interview in London in 2002, Williams told Michael Parkinson that Peter Sellers was an important influence, especially his multi-character roles in Dr. Strangelove, stating, "It doesn't get better than that." British comedy actors Dudley Moore and Peter Cook were also among his influences, Williams told Parkinson.video: {{cite interview|last=Williams|first=Robin|interviewer=Michael Parkinson|title=Robin Williams, Parkinson interview 2002|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LaJDOD5cJI|access-date=September 18, 2014|archive-date=September 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917135858/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LaJDOD5cJI|url-status=live}}

Williams was also influenced by Richard Pryor's fearless ability to talk about his personal life onstage, with subjects that included his use of drugs and alcohol, and Williams added those kinds of topics during his own performances. By bringing up such personal matters as a form of comedy, Williams told Parkinson that it was "cheaper than therapy", and gave him a way to release his pent-up energy and emotions.{{rp|121}}

{{Main|List of Robin Williams performances|List of awards and nominations received by Robin Williams}}

Throughout his career, Williams won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Good Will Hunting (1997).{{Cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/robin-williams|title=Robin Williams|website=Television Academy|access-date=January 28, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807041515/https://www.emmys.com/bios/robin-williams|url-status=live}} He also won six Golden Globe Awards, including Best Actor—Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his roles in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), The Fisher King (1991), and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), along with the Special Golden Globe Award for Vocal Work in a Motion Picture for his role Genie in Aladdin (1992), and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2005.{{Cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/robin-williams|title=Robin Williams|website=Golden Globe Awards|access-date=January 28, 2020|archive-date=July 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731110217/https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/robin-williams|url-status=live}} Williams also received two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five Grammy Awards.{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/robin-williams/14343 |title=Robin Williams – Artist |publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |access-date=August 2, 2020 |quote="{{title case|ARTIST ROBIN WILLIAMS WINS 5 NOMINATIONS 9}}" |archive-date=September 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922015159/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/robin-williams/14343 |url-status=live }}

• Reality ... What a Concept (Casablanca, 1979)
• Throbbing Python of Love (Casablanca, 1983)
• A Night at the Met (Columbia, 1986)
• Live 2002 (Columbia, 2002)
• Weapons of Self Destruction (Sony Music, 2009)

{{notelist}}

Footnotes

{{reflist}}

Sources

• {{Cite book |title= The Life and Humor of Robin Williams: A Biography |first= Jay |last= David |publisher= Quill |location= New York |date= 1999 |isbn= 978-0-688-15245-1}}
• {{Cite book |title= Robin Williams: A Biography |first= Andy |last= Dougan |publisher= Thunder's Mouth Press |date= 1999 |isbn= 978-1-56025-213-9 |url= https://archive.org/details/robinwilliams00doug }}
• {{Cite book |title= The Robin Williams Scrapbook |first= Stephen J. |last= Spignesi |publisher= Carol Pub. |location=Secaucus, NJ |date= 1997 |isbn= 978-0-8065-1891-6}}

• {{cite news|title=The Life and Death of Robin Williams|series=2020|work=ABC News|date=August 12, 2014|url=http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2014-08/11-2020-0812-the-life-death-of-robin-williams|access-date=August 13, 2014|archive-date=August 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813175903/http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2014-08/11-2020-0812-the-life-death-of-robin-williams|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite magazine|magazine=Rolling Stone|author=Travers, Peter|title=Peter Travers on 9 of His Favorite Robin Williams Performances – Rolling Stone{{'}}s film critic weighs in on the late actor and comedian's best work |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/peter-travers-on-9-of-his-favorite-robin-williams-performances-20140812}}
• {{cite news|title=Robin Williams set up a 3-part trust fund for his kids amid money troubles before death|work=Business Insider|author=Weisman, Aly|date=August 13, 2014|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/robin-williams-kids-trust-funds-2014-8}}

{{Sister project links |wikt=no |commons=Category:Robin Williams |b=no |n=Actor and comic Robin Williams found dead at 63 |q=Robin Williams |s=no |v=no |species=no |display=Robin Williams}}

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{{AcademyAwardBestSupportingActor 1981-2000}}

{{Cecil B. DeMille Award 2001–2025}}

{{Disney Legends Awards 2000s}}

{{EmmyAward VarietyPerformance 1976–2000}}

{{GoldenGlobeBestActorMotionPictureMusicalComedy 1981–2000}}

{{GoldenGlobeBestActorTVComedy 1970–1989}}

{{Grammy Award for Best Children's Album}}

{{Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album}}

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{{Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor}}

{{MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance}}

{{National Board of Review Award for Best Actor}}

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