Background

Ethnicity: Williams was of English, German, French, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.

Robin McLaurin Williams was born on July 21, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford Motor Company executive from Indiana.

Education

Williams attended Gorton Elementary School in Lake Forest and Deer Path Junior High School. When Williams was 12, his family moved to Detroit, where he was a student at the private Detroit Country Day School. His father took early retirement when Robin was 16 and they moved to California where he finished his education at Redwood High School. In 1969, Williams entered Claremont Men's College, where he studied political science and played soccer. He ended up taking lessons in improvisation, which perfectly suited his sharp wit and he was soon hooked.

After leaving Claremont, Williams enrolled at the College of Marin to study acting and quickly won a full scholarship to the renowned Juilliard School in New York City where he studied with Christopher Reeve. The pair became great friends - a friendship that would last until Reeve's death in 2004.

Career

Williams had done work on TV programs like The Richard Pryor Show, Laugh-In and Eight Is Enough before becoming more widely known to American audiences as the alien Mork. The character debuted on the series Happy Days before being given his own show, Mork & Mindy. Williams co-starred with Pam Dawber in the zany, endearing sitcom, which debuted in 1978 and ran for four seasons.

Playing Mork from the planet Ork, Robin was a sensation so much so that a new show was created for him – 'Mork And Mindy'. The show was a hit, earning Williams his first Golden Globe win in 1979 - Mork's greeting, 'Nanu-nanu', became a worldwide catch-phrase.

Having been part of the cast of the 1977 romp Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses?, Williams made his big-screen debut in a lead role playing the famous spinach-eating sailor in Popeye (1980), directed by Robert Altman and co-starring Shelley Duvall.

A string of successful film roles for Williams followed over the years, showcasing his stellar comedic talents as well as his ability to take on serious work. He played the title character in 1982's The World According to Garp as well as a Russian musician who defects to America in Moscow on the Hudson (1984). Later, in Good Morning Vietnam (1987), Williams portrayed irreverent radio DJ Adrian Cronauer, while in Dead Poets Society (1989) he played free-thinking teacher John Keating. Both projects earned him Academy Award nods for lead actor.

Three films were released starring Williams in 1988, 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen', 'Rabbit Ears: Pecos Bill' and 'Portrait of a White Marriage'. However, it wasn't until the following year that he would firmly grab the critic's attention once more with his star turn as a maverick teacher in 'Dead Poet's Society', a role which notched him his second Oscar nomination.

1990 saw Williams star in 'Cadillac Man', 'Back to Neverland' and 'Awakenings' - his performance as doctor Oliver Sacks alongside Robert De Niro was celebrated as being one of his most moving and heartfelt to date.

Terry Gilliam's 'The Fisher King' (1991) is often classed as Williams' best film and his role as a down-and-out who saves Jeff Bridges' life saw him nominated for an Academy Award for the third time. Steven Spielberg's 'Hook' in the same year was the total opposite theme of 'The Fisher King' with its action-packed plot, yet despite breaking the $100 million barrier, the film was deemed to be overly sentimental and Spielberg's first flop.

Disney's 'Aladdin' in 1992 was a landmark in establishing the talents of Williams as a voice actor in his role of the Genie, the majority of which he improvised and ad-libbed. His performance as one the film's most notable A-list stars carried the box office receipts past $200 million.

Following on from the less successful 'Toys' (1992) and 'Being Human' (1993), it was Williams' wife Marsha who stumbled upon the script for 'Mrs Doubtfire' in 1993 and in turn, she went on to produce the film. The film was a huge international hit and won Williams a Golden Globe, plus the achievement of once again making a $200 million taking.

Williams was reunited with director Chris Columbus (Mrs Doubtfire) in the film 'Nine Months' (1995) which was far less of success by comparison. He then received an Emmy nomination for a brief role in the TV programme 'Homicide: Life On The Streets', before returning to the children's market with the fantasy film 'Jumanji'.

'The Birdcage' (1996) saw Williams play the part of a gay club-owner whose son wants to bring his girlfriend (Calista Flockheart) and her strict conservative parents (Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest) to stay and was yet another $100 million hit. Williams followed this flamboyant part with the lead in 'Jack', directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He played a child with an aging disorder that saw him in a 40-year-old body at the age of 10 and while he gave an endearing performance, the premise of the film failed to attract a wide audience.

Williams diversified his work throughout 1996 and 1997, taking small parts in 'Hamlet' (1996) and 'The Secret Agent' (1996) as well as Woody Allen's 'Deconstructing Harry' (1997). 1997 was set to be a great year, first marking success with the release of Disney's 'Flubber' - a box office triumph.

Yet it was to be the collaboration with newcomers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that would raise the stakes in Williams' career. 'Good Will Hunting' saw Williams play Sean Maguire, psychiatrist to Damon's troubled genius, and his performance earned him his first Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

A series of less impacting films between 1999 and 2001 followed, until Williams played a 'baddie' for the first time in his career in the film 'One Hour Photo' (2002). He won rave reviews as a photo lab worker who becomes devoted to a young local family, but gradually starts to become more strange and sinister.

'Death To Smoochy' in 2002 failed to rake in the box office big bucks despite having a great script and cast including Ed Norton, with Danny De Vito in the director's chair. That year, as 'Death to Smoochy' and 'Insomnia' were released, Williams returned to his roots, selling-out on Broadway with another impressive stand-up show.

Despite not being seen on screen again for another two years, he was in fact extremely busy and his stock of already-completed films was being released in slow droves. These included 2004 movies 'Noel', a Christmas-themed drama, David Duchovny's directorial debut 'House of D' and 'The Final Cut', which also co-starred James Caviezel and Mira Sorvino. He went on to star in 'The Aristocrats' and 'Robots' in 2005 and picked up a nomination for a Blimp Award for Favourite Voice from an Animated Feature.

Six movie releases in 2006 highlighted Williams' versatility as an actor. In 'Man of the Year', he played the role of Tom Dobbs, the host of a comedy/political talk show. He then took on a different character in computer animated feature film 'Everyone's Hero' in which he had a voice role. 'Runaway Vacation' saw him portray a California beverage company executive struggling with a dysfunctional family on a holiday full of mishaps.

'The Night Listener', based on the novel by Armistead Maupin, saw Williams as a gay radio show host who, on air, befriends a 14-year-old abuse victim - a role which he accepted for only $65,000. This was followed by the rather more cheerful animation 'Happy Feet', which was a global hit. 'Night At The Museum', with Ben Stiller, followed suit, with Williams playing a comic version of the former president Theodore Roosevelt.

In 2007, Williams entertained fans in romantic comedy 'License to Wed' and drama 'August Rush', which were followed by roles in 'Shrink' and 'World's Greatest Dad' in 2009.

Reprising his role as President Roosevelt, Williams teamed up with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson once more in 'Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian'. Despite mixed reviews from critics, the movie was a commercial success like its predecessor. 'Old Dogs' (2009), a collaboration with John Travolta, Kelly Preston and Matt Dillon, also performed well at the box office. Since then he had reprised his voice roles in animated 'Happy Feet Two' in 2011, which was his only project that year.

In 2012, Williams appeared in the TV comedy 'Wilfred', which stars Elijah Wood who is the only man that can see his neighbour's dog as a full-grown man. This was followed by an appearance in 'The Big Wedding', which was released in November 2012, as well as 'The Face of Love', 'The Butler' in 2013 and 'The Angriest Man In Brooklyn', in 2014. After his death in 2014, four films starring him were released: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, A Merry Friggin' Christmas, Boulevard and Absolutely Anything.

Achievements

• 

  Robin Williams’s incredible mastery in performing a wide diversity of roles, from comic to heavy dramatic ones, together with the subtle expertise with voice and facial expression secured him status of one of the greatest performers and comedians of all time, according to both critics and audience.
  
  In 2004, Robin Williams was placed 13th in Comedy Central's list 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
  
  A marquee stand-up and feature movie artist, Williams developed his own unique style in the genre of comedy that had inspired and continue to inspire the new generations of comedians. The honesty with which he shared his own personal problems through his comedy routines is underlined by many of his fellows both in and out the cinematography. Jim Carrey reffered to Williams’s character of Mork at the beginning of his career.
  
  Robin Williams won one Academy Award out of four nominations, six Golden Globe Awards out of twelve nominations, four Grammy Awards out of six nominations, three Emmy Awards out of seven nominations and a couple of MTV Movie Awards and SAG Awards out of six and four nominations respectively. He was a two-time nominee for BAFTA Awards as well.
  
  Williams's contributions were also marked by a plethora of other honors and awards, including the Saturn Award, the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, the Jupiter Award, the National Board of Review Award to name but a few.
  
  There is a star of Williams on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his hands and footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Good Will Hunting

    (Matt Damon stars as a young, headstrong working-class gen...)

    1997
  • Night at the Museum

    (When good-hearted dreamer Larry Daley is hired as night w...)

    2006
  • Aladdin

    (Experience the timeless tale featuring Academy Award-winn...)

    1992
  • Boulevard

    (In his remarkable final on-screen performance, Robin Will...)

    2014
  • Being Human

    (In five distinct yet cleverly interlocked roles, Williams...)

    1994
  • Patch Adams

    (Robin Williams is Patch Adams, a doctor who will do anyth...)

    1998
  • Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction

    (Comedy icon Robin Williams takes the stage at Washington'...)

    2009
  • Toys

    (An eccentric toymaker discovers thats his family business...)

    1992
  • Seize the Day

    (An honest, hard-working salesman has lost his job, his gi...)

    1986
  • The Angriest Man in Brooklyn

    (Believing he has only 90 minutes to live, a grumpy middle...)

    2014
  • The Birdcage

    (Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane and Dianne Wies...)

    1996
  • Mrs. Doubtfire

    (The eccentric dad of three children dresses as a British ...)

    1993
  • One Hour Photo

    (An alienated photo-finisher's obsession with a seemingly ...)

    2002
  • The Big White

    (To remedy his financial problems, a travel agent has his ...)

    2005
  • The Night Listener

    (Academy Award winner Robin Williams is unforgettable in a...)

    2006
  • Hook

    (Superstars Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman and Julia Rober...)

    1991
  • Radioman

    (Radioman, so called for the stereo boombox around his nec...)

    2012
  • Moscow on The Hudson

    (Robin Williams portrays a Russian musician who defects in...)

    1984
  • Popeye

    (The sailor man travels to Sweethaven, falls in love with ...)

    1980
  • Happy Feet

    (Away from home for the first time, Mumble meets a posse o...)

    2006
  • Dead Poets Society

    (Robin Williams stars as a teacher who inspires his studen...)

    1989
  • The World according to Garp

    (Robin Williams plays John Irving's quirky everyman, a wis...)

    1982
  • Awakenings

    (Robert De Niro and Robin Williams star in a story of the ...)

    1990
  • World's Greatest Dad

    (In the wake of a freak accident, Lance suffers the worst ...)

    2009
  • The Fisher King

    (A homeless history professor who lives in a world of fant...)

    1991
  • What Dreams May Come

    (After Chris Nielsen dies in an accident, he tries to rema...)

    1998
  • Good Morning, Vietnam

    (Robin Williams delivers his quintessential comedic perfor...)

    1987
  • Jumanji

    (A mysterious game transports its players to the jungles o...)

    1995
  • Jack

    (Robin Williams stars as a 10-year-old in a grown-up's body.)

    1996
  • Man of the Year

    (A political talk show host decides to run for president.)

    2006
  • Insomnia

    (Crime never sleeps. Neither does Will Dormer, a veteran L...)

    2002

Religion

Williams was brought up by an Episcopalian and a Christian Scientist. He seemed to claim Episcopalian but many speculate that he was really an atheist.

Politics

Williams was a long-time supporter of the Democratic Party and quite liberal.

Views

Quotations: "Сocaine is God's way of telling you you are making too much money."

"Ah, yes, divorce, from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man's genitals through his wallet."

"You can start any Monty Python routine and people finish it for you. Everyone knows it like shorthand."

"Canada is like a loft apartment over a really great party."

"Comedy is acting out optimism."

"Everyone has these two visions when they hold their child for the first time. The first is your child as an adult saying "I want to thank the Nobel Committee for this award." The other is "You want fries with that?"."

"A woman would never make a nuclear bomb. They would never make a weapon that kills, no, no. They'd make a weapon that makes you feel bad for a while."

"They're talking about partial nuclear disarmament, which is also like talking about partial circumcision - you either go all the way or forget it."

"I started doing comedy because that was the only stage that I could find. It was the pure idea of being on stage. That was the only thing that interested me, along with learning the craft and working, and just being in productions with people."

"Well, you just try and keep it in perspective; you have to remember the best and the worst. In America they really do mythologize people when they die."

"It's amazing that medical science can develop a drug to give you an erection, but can't develop a drug to give you mental clarity."

"Life's a tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those that think. So it can be curse in that you find something funny in even the darkest thing."

"Being a celebrity is like wearing a Mardi Gras head - although you're not floating! Obviously it's great that it can get you a table in a restaurant, but it can also get people following you into the men's room with a palm-cam.

The imagination functions on its own. I grew up as an only child, so the imagination was a necessity, like a survival mechanism."

"There's nothing Bush has said, apart from a few malapropisms, that we will remember. Comparing him to Churchill is akin to comparing Margaret Thatcher and Paris Hilton."

"I had my midlife crisis when I was about 30, so I got that over with. But when I hit 50, it was like, this is cool. It feels like the prime of your life, literally. Things are going great; you've come to the point where it's no longer a struggle. As Rodney Dangerfield said, "Why am I sweating? I own the club!" You're there, so you don't have to worry as much. And yet the object is to keep working, to find interesting parts, and obviously it's skewed more for men than women to find character parts at my age. And, hey, supporting parts are just as interesting as the lead."

"My childhood was lonely. Both my parents were away a lot, working, and the maid basically raised me. And I think that's where a lot of my comedy comes from. Not only was the maid very funny and witty, but when my mother came home I'd use humor to try and get her attention. If I made mommy laugh, then maybe everything would be all right. I think that's where it all started."

"I don't know how much value I have in this universe, but I do know that I've made a few people happier than they would have been without me, and as long as I know that, I'm as rich as I ever need to be."

Personality

Williams was an avid enthusiast of games, even naming both his children after game characters. His daughter Zelda was named after the title character from The Legend of Zelda, a family favorite video game series, and he sometimes performed at consumer entertainment trade shows.

His favorite books were the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov, with his favorite book as a child being The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which he later shared with his children.

Williams became a devoted cycling enthusiast, having taken up the sport partly as a substitute for drugs. Eventually, he accumulated a large bicycle collection of his own and became a fan of professional road cycling, often traveling to racing events, such as the Tour de France. In 2016, his children donated 87 of his bicycles in support of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. Williams was a supporter of eco-friendly vehicles.

Physical Characteristics: During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had an addiction to cocaine. He was a casual friend of John Belushi, and the sudden death of Belushi due to an overdose, together with the birth of Williams' son Zak, prompted him 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."

In 2003, Williams started drinking alcohol again while working on a film in Alaska. In 2006, he checked himself in to a substance-abuse rehabilitation center in Newberg, Oregon, saying he was an alcoholic. Years afterward, Williams acknowledged his failure to maintain sobriety, but said he never returned to using cocaine, declaring in a 2010 interview: "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 March 2009, he was hospitalized due to heart problems. He postponed his one-man tour for surgery to replace his aortic valve. The surgery was completed on March 13, 2009, at the Cleveland Clinic.

In mid–2014, Williams admitted himself into the Hazelden Foundation Addiction Treatment Center in Lindstrom, Minnesota for treatment for alcoholism.

Mara Buxbaum, commented that Williams was suffering from severe depression before his death. Susan Schneider, his wife, stated that in the period before his death, Williams had been sober, but was diagnosed with early stage Parkinson's disease. On August 11, 2014, Williams died by suicide in his Paradise Cay, California. An autopsy revealed that Williams had diffuse Lewy body dementia, which had been diagnosed as Parkinson's. 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' initial condition included a sudden and prolonged spike in fear and anxiety, stress and insomnia; which worsened in severity to include memory loss, paranoia, and delusions.

Quotes from others about the person

• [Watching Williams 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." Chris Columbus, movie director
  
  "Williams helped us grow up." - Alyssa Rosenberg, The Washington Post author
  
  "[Williams had] intense, utterly manic style of stand-up [which sometimes] defies analysis ... [going] beyond energetic, beyond frenetic ... [and sometimes] dangerous ... because of what it said about the creator's own mental state." - Emily Herbert, actor's biographer
  
  "[Williams could] go from manic to mad to tender and vulnerable ... [Williams had] the most unique mind on the planet. There's nobody like him out there." - Terry Gilliam, screenwriter, movie director, actor
  
  "Probably the most important contribution he made to pop culture, across so many different media, was as Robin Williams the person." - Derek A. Burrill, media scholar

Interests

• reading

• Writers

  C.S. Lewis, Isaac Asimov

• Sport & Clubs

  professional road cycling,rugby

• Athletes

  Jonah Lomu

Connections

Williams married his first wife Valerie Velardi in June 1978, following a live-in relationship with comedian Elayne Boosler. Velardi and Williams met in 1976 while he was working as a bartender at a tavern in San Francisco. Their son Zachary Pym "Zak" Williams was born in 1983. Williams and Velardi divorced in 1988.

On April 30, 1989, Williams married Marsha Garces, Zachary's nanny, who was pregnant with his child. They had two children, Zelda Rae Williams (born 1989) and Cody Alan Williams (born 1991). In March 2008, Garces filed for divorce from Williams, citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce was finalized in 2010.

Williams married his third wife, graphic designer Susan Schneider, on October 22, 2011, in St. Helena, California. The two lived at their house in Sea Cliff, San Francisco, California until Robin's death.

Father:

Robert Fitzgerald Williams

Robert Fitzgerald Williams was a Ford Motor Company executive from Indiana.

Mother:

Laura McLaurin

(September 24, 1922 - September 4, 2001)

Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a model, actress, and longtime community volunteer.

Brother:

Robert Todd Williams

(June 14, 1938 - August 14, 2007)

Robert Todd Williams, known as Dr. Toad, was an actor, known for Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). He also built a national reputation as a top-flight winemaker with the Toad Hollow Vineyards he founded with vintner Rodney Strong.

Brother:

McLaurin Smith-Williams

(b. 1947)

ex-wife:

Valerie Velardi

Valerie Velardi is an actress, known for Popeye (1980), Rappaccini (1966) and Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018).

ex-wife:

Marsha Garces Williams

(b. June 18, 1956)

Marsha Garces Williams is an American film producer and philanthropist. She was married to actor and comedian Robin Williams from 1989 to 2010.

Wife:

Susan Schneider Williams

(b. 1964)

Susan Schneider Williams is a fine artist, author, and advocate. As a professional artist she has participated in numerous shows, group and solo, and her paintings are in private collections throughout the United States and Canada.

In 2014, when her husband Robin Williams died of Lewy body dementia, she set out to raise awareness about this devastating yet little known brain disease. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The View, and CBS This Morning. Ms. Schneider Williams moderated the 2016 Forbes Healthcare Summit panel “Healing the Brain” and remains committed to raising awareness for brain disease.

Son:

Zachary 'Zak' Pym Williams

(b. April 11, 1983)

Zachary 'Zak' Pym Williams is the first child and eldest son of actor and comedian Robin Williams. He was born to Williams and his first wife, Valerie Velardi.

Son:

Cody Alan Williams

(b. November 25, 1991)

Cody Alan Williams is the youngest son of Robin Williams. Unlike his father, Cody found comfort in working behind the camera as opposed to working in front of it. Starting his career as a production assistant, Cody Williams went on to work in several popular films, such as 'Trouble with the Curve' and 'American Reunion.'

Daughter:

Zelda Williams

(b. July 31, 1989)

Zelda Williams is the daughter of Robin Williams and Marsha Garces Williams. She is named after Princess Zelda from the "Legend of Zelda" series.

colleague:

Terry Gilliam

colleague:

Chris Columbus

colleague:

Al Pacino

colleague:

Robert De Niro

colleague:

Dustin Hoffman

colleague:

Matt Damon

colleague:

Pierce Brosnan

colleague:

Sally Field

colleague:

Jeff Bridges

References

• Robin From New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff, the definitive biography of Robin Williams – a compelling portrait of one of America’s most beloved and misunderstood entertainers.
  2018
• Robin Williams: A Biography of Robin Williams The biography charts the life story of Robin Williams.
  2018
• Robin Williams Emily Herbert's sensitive and thoughtful biography celebrates the actor's genius and warmth but also attempts to understand what could have driven such a gentle and gifted man to so tragic an end.
  2014
• Robin Williams: A Singular Portrait, 1986-2002 The book offers a touching and up-close look at the real Robin Williams – the manic and happy, the pensive and weary, the engaged and disengaged, a true portrait of one of America's greatest comics and most beloved actors.
  2016
• Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind Told largely through his own words, this funny, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of Robin Williams looks back at the comedy legend.
  2018
• Discovering Robin Williams From the Classic Movie Docs library, Discovering's episode focused on Robin Williams.
  2019
• Robin Williams Remembered – A Pioneers of Television Special Celebrities and friends of the late actor share stories and discuss Williams' body of work, from stand-up to television to film.
  2014