I don't think I ever before realized what a huge fan I am of Robin Williams. It shouldn't surprise me: I grew up on his movies, and he was the first actor I can ever remember being pleased to see onscreen. I knew I liked his comedy; what I didn't realize until this week was how much of an impact his art has really had on me. His comedy was as brilliant as it was full of hope, reminding us (or, at least, reminding me) what a powerful force laughter can be. Despite his own internal struggles, his presence made the world a bit more bright.
Williams's fans didn't know him (though, like all great comedians, he made you feel like you did). We'll miss him all the same. In honor of his humorous, heartwarming, and unforgettable career, we present a (highly subjective) list of five of his most memorable onscreen roles:
-- An Alien
For a lot of fans, he'll always be Mork. First premiering on ABC in 1978, Mork & Mindy was a four-season sitcom following the adventures of the alien Mork (from Ork), and his human pal Mindy.
An unlikely spin-off from Happy Days, the series was Williams's first major acting role and owed much of its success to Williams's improv abilities. (The writers eventually began leaving gaps in the script where Williams could start improvising.) It was wildly popular upon its debut, earning the number-three slot in the ratings only behind Laverne & Shirley and Three's Company.
While subsequent seasons saw a decline (due, most likely, to a change in direction and an altered time slot), the show remains a staple in television pop culture. It also cemented Williams as a major comedic player, launching a Hollywood career that would last over three and a half decades.
- Request Mork & Mindy: The Complete First Season from the Catalog
-- A Doctor
It's often difficult to know exactly what category to put Williams's films into. Is Good Morning, Vietnam a comedy or a drama? How about the cult classic The Fisher King? Williams excelled at finding a balance between comedy and pathos in nearly all of his roles, seamlessly blending together humor and heart in the characters he portrayed.
Perhaps this can be best be seen in the 1998 film Patch Adams. Starring Williams in the title role, the movie was loosely based on the real-life story of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams. After spending some time in a mental hospital being treated for depression, Adams discovers that humor goes a long way towards helping his fellow patients. Upon release, he starts work towards a new career path, enrolling as the oldest first-year med student at the Medical College of Virginia -- with the goal of becoming a doctor who uses medicine and humor to heal his patients.
While perhaps leaning a bit too severely towards pathos in several scenes, the film nonetheless stays committed to a story about the importance of laughter in our lives.
- Request Patch Adams from the Catalog
-- A Cartoon
Robin Williams had a talent with voices. Despite lending his voice to several animated characters over the years, nowhere are his vocal talents more evident than in Disney's 1992 classic Aladdin.
Williams voiced the Genie, the wise-cracking, wish-granting inhabitant of the magic lamp discovered by the title character. The hilarious, memorable performance that Williams delivered is made all the more impressive by the fact that all but a handful of his lines were ad-libs.
His vocal talents allowed the Genie to be as skilled at improv and impersonations as the actor behind him. (Genie's celebrity impersonations throughout the film include Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ed Sullivan, Groucho Marx, Robert De Niro, Rodney Dangerfield, and Jack Nicholson.) The result was a character that, while animated, is unmistakably and undeniably Williams.
- Request Aladdin from the Catalog
-- A Pirate
Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook had its share of critics. A sequel of sorts to J.M. Barrie's classic tale of Peter Pan, Hook asks the question of what would happen if Peter Pan, the Boy Who Never Grew Up, did just that. Having left Neverland, the Lost Boys, and his childhood memories behind, "Peter Banning" is now a hard-hitting lawyer and married father of two kids -- just about as far from being Peter Pan as someone could ever be. At least until Captain Hook (played by the fantastic Dustin Hoffman) returns and kidnaps Peter's two children, Jack and Maggie. Now Peter has no choice but to return to a life he left behind -- although he's going to need a lot of help, and just a little bit of faith.
The movie received heavy criticism for being saccharine and too plot-heavy. Those who grew up with the film, however, remember it as a fun and fantastical adventure romp, with a Peter Pan who had a sense of humor even before he found his way back to Neverland. (His battle of wits with Lost Boy Rufio, which Williams ad-libbed much of, brings a smile to my face to this day.)
-- A Dad
Last September, CBS debuted The Crazy Ones, a single-camera comedy created by David E. Kelley (of The Practice and Ally McBeal fame). The show starred Williams as Simon Roberts, an advertising executive who oversaw his own ad agency. His business partner? Sydney Williams, his daughter (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar).
Divorced and estranged from Sydney's mom, Simon did his best to be a part of Sydney's childhood but missed out on more than a few important moments. The show focused on Simon's efforts to strengthen his relationship with Sydney -- and Sydney's willingness to connect back. The show had a delightfully comedic supporting cast, but the story never lost its focus on Simon and his daughter, and their sometimes-crazy, sometimes-hilarious, but always-poignant relationship.
- Click here for more about The Crazy Ones
Other Robin Williams performances from the Catalog (click to request)
-- Good Morning, Vietnam
-- Dead Poets Society
-- The Fisher King
-- Moscow on the Hudson
-- Mrs. Doubtfire
-- Awakenings
-- What Dreams May Come
-- Jumanji
-- Good Will Hunting
-- Robin Williams: Live on Broadway [stand-up]
-- Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction [stand-up CD/DVD]
From actor Christopher Reeve's memoir, Still Me:
"As the day of the operation drew closer, it became more and more painful and frightening to contemplate. ... At an especially bleak moment, the door flew open and in hurried a squat fellow with a blue scrub hat and a yellow surgical gown and glasses, speaking in a Russian accent. He announced that he was my proctologist, and that he had to examine me immediately. ... it was Robin Williams. For the first time since the accident, I laughed. My old friend had helped me know that somehow I was going to be okay."
"Comedy is acting out optimism."
-- Robin Williams
-- Robin Williams
-- Post by Ms. B
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