Profile of Robin Williams on Famous Like Me

Robin McLaurin Williams (born July 21, 1952) is a multi-award-winning American actor and comedian who was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Marin County, California. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, of English, Welsh, and Irish descent, was a senior executive at Ford in charge of the Midwest area, and his mother Laurie was a New Orleans-born former model of French descent.

He first achieved notice for his stand-up routines in San Francisco. After studying with the Strut and Fret theatre group in Claremont, California and at Juilliard Drama School, he was cast by Garry Marshall as the alien Mork in a guest star part in Happy Days that was so popular it led to his own television series, Mork and Mindy, which ran from 1978 to 1982. The majority of his acting career has been for cinema, although he has made some memorable performances on stage as well (notably as Estragon in a production of Waiting for Godot).

His first starring roles in Popeye and in The World According to Garp were both major flops, but with Good Morning Vietnam Williams established a screen identity. Many of his roles have been comedies tinged with pathos (e.g. The Birdcage, Mrs. Doubtfire). In particular, his role as the Genie in the animated film Aladdin was instrumental in establishing the importance of star power in voice actor casting. Later Williams once again used his voice actor talents in the 2005 animated feature Robots.

He has also starred in dramatic films such as Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990) and What Dreams May Come (1996). In 1998 he won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his role as a psychologist in Good Will Hunting. However, by the early 2000s, he was thought by some to be stereotyped in films such as Patch Adams (1998) and Bicentennial Man. This apparently prompted him to take radically unconventional roles beginning with the dark comedy Death to Smoochy, followed by One Hour Photo, Insomnia, and The Final Cut.

He is known for his wild improv skills and impersonations. He is a talented mimic and can jump in and out of characters at an extremely fast pace. His comic style is a major influence on late night talk show host/comedian Conan O'Brien. Williams states that he began doing impersonations as a child mimicking the Southern accent of his aunt.

Williams has been accused, on multiple occassions, of stealing comic material. Probably the most famous of these is a bit he did on the Late Show with David Letterman about telephone head implants. This bit had not only been a well-known routine done by Ray Romano for years, but the reason that this was the most public incident involving allegations of plagiarism is that Romano had done the same bit on The Late Show only days before Williams' appearance.

Williams' first marriage was to Valerie Velardi on June 4, 1978, with whom he had one child, Zachary. That marriage ended in 1988. He married for a second time on April 30, 1989, to Marsha Garces and they have two children together.

Robin Williams and his wife Marsha Garces Williams founded the Windfall Foundation, a philanthropic organization to raise money for many different charities. Robin Williams devotes much of his energy doing work for charities, including the Comic Relief fund-raising efforts.

Watching his frantic mannerisms and immediate changes in personality, some have speculated that Williams is affected by bipolar disorder, but this has never been confirmed. A more likely explanation for his remarkable creativity and intense impulsive humor may be the reason that he is often referred to as "the poster child for ADD," though this statement is often said with a sarcastic edge.

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was portrayed to perfection by Chris Diamantopoulos in the made for television biopic Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Mork & Mindy (2005), documenting the actor's arrival in Hollywood a struggling comedian and becoming an overnight star when he landed the role in Mork & Mindy.

Robin Williams, along with other celebrities, has performed for U.S. Army troops stationed in Iraq. Robin himself has done so for 3 years.

He is a staunch Democrat.

Williams is a San Francisco resident.

Filmography

• Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses? (1977)
• Popeye (1980)
• The World According to Garp (1982)
• The Survivors (1983)
• Moscow on the Hudson (1984)
• The Best of Times (1986)
• Club Paradise (1986)
• Seize the Day (1986)
• Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
• Portrait of a White Marriage (1988) (Cameo)
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
• Dead Poets Society (1989)
• Cadillac Man (1990)
• Awakenings (1990)
• Dead Again (1991)
• The Fisher King (1991)
• Hook (1991)
• I'm From Hollywood (1992) (documentary)
• Shakes the Clown (1992)
• FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) (voice)
• From Time to Time (1992) (short subject) (voice)
• Aladdin (1992) (voice)
• Toys (1992)
• Being Human (1993)
• Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) (also producer)
• Nine Months (1995)
• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)(Cameo)
• Jumanji (1995)
• The Birdcage (1996)
• Jack (1996)
• The Secret Agent (1996)
• Hamlet (1996)
• Fathers' Day (1997)
• Deconstructing Harry (1997)
• Flubber (1997)
• Good Will Hunting (1997)
• What Dreams May Come (1998)
• Junket Whore (1998) (documentary)
• Patch Adams (1998)
• Get Bruce (1999) (documentary)
• Jakob the Liar (1999) (also executive producer)
• Bicentennial Man (1999)
• A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001) (voice only)
• One Hour Photo (2002)
• Death to Smoochy (2002)
• Insomnia (2002)
• The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2002) (Cameo)
• The Final Cut (2004)
• House of D (2004)
• Noel (2004) (Cameo)
• The Aristocrats (2005) (documentary)
• Robots (2005) (voice)
• The Big White (2005) (currently completed filming)
• In Search of Ted Demme (2005) (currently in pre-production)
• The Night Listener (2006) (currently filming)
• Happy Feet (2006) (voice) (currently filming)
• R.V. (2006) (currently in pre-production)
• August Rush (2006) (currently in pre-production)
• The Krazees (2006) (currently announced start of production)
• Mrs Doubtfire 2 (2006) (currently announced start of production)

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