RIP Robin Williams

Story



Robin Williams is dead of an apparent suicide due to depression. Very sad. He has had an amazing career. RIP.

My favorite role of Robin's is Mrs. Doubtfire. He was a comedic genius in the film.

Here's a link to some hometown coverage...

http://www.sfgate.com/

Great actor, great comedian, great person...another true Hollywood story. RIP Robin

This is a tough one. I'm shocked and deeply saddened. Rest in peace to one of the all time greats.

RIP.

A great shame!!

I have two friends who knew Williams very well. They both describe him as a very decent guy. One of them tells the story of when he was appearing at one of the comedy clubs in L.A. He was doing his routine when he looked out the front window of the club and saw his car being driven out of the parking lot. He panicked and ran outside just at the exact moment Robin was pulling into the parking lot. My friend told Williams what was happening (the repo man took his car) and Williams told him, "Get in", and they followed the the tow truck for five miles. At a stop light, my friend jumped out and approached the repo man, begging him to let the car off the hook. He promised the tow driver money, drugs, etc. but the driver wouldn't listen. Williams got out of his car and spoke to the repo man (my friend couldn't hear what he was saying) and within two minutes the car was released.

THis was back in 1980 (when Williams was starring in "Mork and Mindy").

Willaims' death has really saddened me. Besides the fact that he was the same age as me it is hard to accept that I'll never see him do a tv interview again and I'll never see him in a new movie.

I remember all he did for Christopher Reeve's kids after they lost their mother and father pretty much back to back. That alone tells me how good a guy he was. And I know I post this a lot, but that's rare in Hollywood where so many people seem to be so selfish. It's just very sad.

They showed a clip of his first appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He was hilarious. He talks so fast and is so animated, you have to listen closely or you miss a joke within a joke.

He was good a drama also. I saw One Hour Photo and recently an old Law & Order episode in which he appeared. Very good at playing creepy characters.

TIS

While I was never a huge fan of Williams as a comedian, I always respected his enormous level of talent. When I watched him do standup, he was too hyper for my own taste. But to see this ending for such an extraordinarily talented person is terrible.

A lot of the comedians seem to battle depression (Chris Farley, Phil Hartman come to mind). It's hard to fathom that what the rest of the world would perceive as "succesful," the performer still has doubts about his/her ability. I read that Williams was upset about the cancellation of a TV show and poor reception of a recent movie. I know everybody has his/her own breaking point, but with all cumulative success and at that age, one would think that failures could be put into proper context.

As i said in the main thread, a great shame..

Well said Goombah!

Exactly how I feel, Goom. I never really went in for his frenzied brand of comedy, but he was a wonderful dramatic actor. And like I said earlier, I became a big fan when I read about all he did for Christopher Reeve's children.

I was wild about Robin from his first exposures on Happy Days and Mork & Mindy. His wit is unmatched in entertainment history. I always thought of him as the successor to Jonathon Winters, but Robin was better and quicker.

However, as PB points out, you reap what you sow. While his depression was certainly real, given his money, there were legal and effective alternatives other than illegal drugs. To imbibe them was his choice.

That's it, Oli. They seem to go hand-in-hand when you're that messed up. They're fond of calling it "self-medicating." But I think that's just an excuse to get high. But I don't want to go off the beam here. He seemed like a genuinely good soul and an incredible talent.

Courtesy of Backstreets.com

Robin Williams singing as Elmer Fudd

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vT-VaMXsAw#action=share[/video]

I have imitated that for years and one of my sisters and daughters thinks I'm hilarious when I do it.

They obviously feel bad about your speech impediment.

I'm a huge fan of Robin Williams. I loved his stand-up routines and whenever he was a guest on any show, you were assured of a dynamic, first-rate off-the-cuff performance. His style was unique and without equal.

My mother's first-cousin, Corky, was an actor in Hollywood, who had roles in many shows in the 70s. He was friends with Williams before the Mork phenomenon. While several family members met Williams through Corky over the years, neither I nor my immediate family had the pleasure.

On St. Patrick's Day night in 1981 or 82 Corky was hit by a car in LA and was in a coma for days. he was in the hospital a few days before he was identified, and it was Williams who notified the family. Williams also paid much of the medical expenses. Corky struggled after the injury and had few roles thereafter. He died in his early 60s about 12 years ago. Williams offered to pay for the service and apologized to my mom's aunt for not attending the funeral across the country. Apparently Williams has paid for many funerals of friends and family members of friends.

By the way another generous actor, who let Corky live with him in his house when Corky was struggling for parts, was Jack Lemmon. I never knew how generous he was until both had died.

Hook was another great role from Robin. I watched that movie lots when I was younger. His role in One Hour Photo really was a creepy role and showed his range and possibly some of his dark side. As SC said, Robin really seemed like a decent guy. My friend met him in Hawaii and shared this story on Facebook.

"Ill never forget meeting Robin Williams in Hawaii when I was in the 3rd grade .. We sat beside him and his family on the beach for hours. I remember asking "Aren't you Mrs Doubtfire?"He then began to talk to me in "her" voice... It was a priceless moment that's always stuck with me. I'll also never forget when he stood on the coral reef and got in shit by the beach patrol and replying to them "I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD"!! And that, he was! An amazing man, so sweet and kind - RIP Robin Williams"

Kly,

I'm recently learning just how generous Williams was people. Don't know if it was just in my area, but not too long ago, he was in many ads, with sick/dying children supporting the Children's hospital.


Hi Blake, nice to see you around.

What a wonderful memory for your friend. I'm sure he'll never forget that vacation.



TIS

At TIS' suggestion I'm relaying a story I heard today about Robin Williams. A childhood friend of mine, Mitch Davidoff, is now a professional comedian/actor (under the name of Mitchell Walters). He was a truly funny kid and I'm not surprised he went on to that field as his career. He was a writer for a comedy show in the '70s where he met another new writer, Robin Williams.

Mitch relayed this story about Williams today:

It was 1980 and Mitch was doing a standup comedy routine in The Comedy Store in L.A. It was a late show (like 1:30 in the morning) and as he was onstage he was able to look out the club's window only to see his car moving away. He ran outside at the exact moment that Robin Williams was driving in to the parking lot. They saw Mitch's car on the hook of a tow truck (the repo man was taking the car). Mitch told Robin what was happening and Williams told him, "Get in". They then proceeded to follow the tow truck for five miles before Mitch was able to get out at a traffic light. He begged the driver to let the car go. He offered him money and drugs but the repo guy didn't want any part of it. Then Robin got out, walked up to the driver and started talking to him (Mitch couldn't hear what was being said). Two minutes later the car was released.

I'd love to know what he said to the repo guy.

Great story SC. Think about it. His whole life, Mitch will have the vision of Robin Williams and the tow truck driver talking but will NEVER know what was said. Great memory for him.


TIS

There's also an interesting story involving Robin Williams and the famous gorilla, Koko, which is able to use hundreds of words through sign language. Koko apparently enjoyed watching videos, particularly Robin Williams movies, and it was arranged to bring Williams in to meet her. The meeting is captured on film and, I think, could be found on youtube. It is as funny as it is fascinating. Koko retrieved a VCR container with Williams' picture to show him that she knew who he was.

I just read a story about how they told Koko about Williams death and how Koko bowed her head and became very somber. Koko apparently shows remarkable human tendencies and was very attached to Williams.
http://www.eonline.com/news/568971/these...=rss_topstories

Just heard on cable news that Robin Williams wife disclosed that Robin was experiencing the first stages of Parkinson's disease. Added to his depression no doubt.



TIS

That is just really sad news to hear. Besides battling his demons of depression, addiction, and the effects of heart surgery. His body nor mind never really got a clear break from it all.

With Parkinson's he most likely would have to retire from acting like Michael J Fox did for over a decade ago(with few small roles)and Bob Hoskins a couple years ago.

If you don't understand why a man with wealth and fame and accolades would be upset over a small glitch in his career or want to self-medicate, then you simply don't understand clinical depression. It's an overwhelming sense of worthlessness, hopelessness and despair.

This guy was having a lot going wrong with his health. He had the beginnings of Parkinson's. Before the the signs of the disease hits you get major depression.

Now forget trying to figure out why he did it and enjoy this

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9I_QvEXDv0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I read that he resented having to sign on to do lots of movies because they brought out his demons; Mrs Doubtfire 2 being one of those movies, which will presumably no longer happen.

The guy had two? ex-wives to support.

I'll miss Robin (strange as I never met him and have no connection to him). He was an endearing actor and he seemed like a beautiful human being.

Regards to his children.