Robin Williams, I appreciate your time.
Robin Williams is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and household name. He has been recognized for his acting work with three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and has received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Good Will Hunting. He has also received five Grammy Awards, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Robin studied acting at the Julliard School, accepted in the twenty-person freshman class of 1976, and was accepted into the Advanced Program that year with one other student, actor Christopher Reeve. His acting career began on television, where he was cast as the alien Mork on the series Happy Days, from which the spin-off sitcom Mork & Mindy was born. The show ran from 1978 to 1982, and at the same time Robin was working as a stand-up comedian, releasing three HBO specials between 1978 and 1986. His Robin Williams LIVE on Broadway tour in 2002 broke sales records for comedy shows, and he toured again in 2008-2009 with his Weapons of Self Destruction tour. His film work has produced many classic movies, including Good Morning Vietnam, Hook, and Dead Poets Society. Disney’s Aladdin and Happy Feet have highlighted his vocal power and elasticity, while films like One Hour Photo and Insomnia have delved deep into psychological darkness. His latest project is a return to television after 32 years, starring in The Crazy Ones on CBS.The comedy series casts Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar as father and daughter leading an advertising agency.
Robin Williams was one of the first actors that I could identify by name, and his films had a lasting influence on me. I mimicked the Genie, sought out the sources of his myriad references, and practiced my impressions and accents through imitation. The role was originally meant to be only a few lines, but Robin built the character through hours of stream-of-consciousness improvisation. The tone that the Genie provides to that film – off-the-wall, manic, unbelievable variety in a tiny package – sells the magical world better than anything else in the film. I pointed to Robin as an inspiration when I began acting in high school. His more adult, less humourous films first illustrated for me how closely comedy and tragedy are linked, and how the skills for portraying one were not distinct from the skills needed to portray the other.
Despite his many successes, Robin’s career has not been free of grief or struggle. In the 70s and 80s, Robin was addicted to alcohol and cocaine; the death of his friend, actor and comedian John Belushi, and the birth of his first son helped him quit, but he later relapsed into addiction to alcohol in the mid-2000s. Robin speaks candidly about his experiences as an alcoholic in his 2010 interview with The Guardian. The struggles, regrets, and recovery that he has endured emphasizes for me the need to be critical of our heroes, to recognize that they are flawed human beings and to resist the urge to paint them as perfect idols. Their failures can teach us as much as their successes, and can help us recognize that for each person who overcomes an addiction, there are many who do not. Robin devotes much of his time to charity work, such as fundraising for Comic Relief, performing with the USO, and supporting St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Watch the first look at Robin William’s new television series, The Crazy Ones
Watch Robin William’s improvised stand-up set at The Nerdist
Read The Guardian’s 2010 Interview with Robin Williams
See Robin William’s filmography at IMDb http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000245/
Follow Robin Williams on tumblr
Follow Robin Williams on twitter @robinwilliams
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