Robin Williams

Robin McLaurin Williams(July 21, 1951 August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Starting as astand-up comedianinSan FranciscoandLos Angelesin the mid-1970s, he is credited with leading San Francisco's comedy renaissance.[1]After rising to fame as Mork in the TV seriesMork & Mindy(197882), Williams went on to establish a career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting.After his film debut inPopeye(1980), he starred or co-starred in widely acclaimed films includingThe World According to Garp(1982),Good Morning, Vietnam(1987),Dead Poets Society(1989),Awakenings(1990),The Fisher King(1991),Aladdin(1992), andGood Will Hunting(1997), as well as financial successes such asHook(1991),Mrs. Doubtfire(1993),Jumanji(1995),The Birdcage(1996),One Hour Photo(2002), andNight at the Museum(2006).Williams was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actorthree times and won theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actorfor his performance as therapist Dr. Sean Maguire inGood Will Hunting. He received twoEmmy Awards, fourGolden Globe Awards, twoScreen Actors Guild Awards, and fiveGrammy Awardsthroughout his career.On August 11, 2014, Williams died of an apparentsuicideat his home inParadise Cay, California.[2]

Robin McLaurin Williams was born atSt. Luke's Hospital[3]in Chicago, Illinois, on July 21, 1951.[4]His mother, Laurie McLaurin (c. 1923 September 4, 2001), was a former model fromJackson, Mississippi; her great-grandfather was Mississippi senator and governorAnselm J. McLaurin.[5]Williams's father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams (September 10, 1906 October 18, 1987) was a senior executive inFord Motor Company'sLincoln-Mercury Division.[6][7]Williams had two half-brothers: Robert Todd Williams (June 14, 1938 August 14, 2007) and McLaurin Smith (born 1947).[8]He hadEnglish,Welsh,Irish,Scottish,German, andFrenchancestry.[9]While his mother was a practitioner ofChristian Science, Williams was raised as anEpiscopalian[10][11]and later authored the comedic list, "Top Ten Reasons to be an Episcopalian."[12]During a TV interview onInside the Actors Studioin 2001, he credited his mother as being an important early influence for his sense of humor, noting also that he tried to make her laugh to gain attention.[13]Williams attended public elementary school at Gorton Elementary School (now Gorton Community Center) and middle school at Deer Path Junior High School (now Deer Path Middle School),[14]both inLake Forest, Illinois. He described himself as a quiet and shy child who did not overcome his shyness until he became involved with his high school drama department.[15]His friends recall him as being very funny.[14]In late 1963, when Williams was twelve, his father was transferred to Detroit. They lived in a 40-room farmhouse on 20 acres[6]in suburbanBloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he was a student at the privateDetroit Country Day School.[14][16]He excelled in school, where he was on the school's soccer team and wrestling team, and became class president.[17]As Williams's father was away much of the time, and his mother also worked, he was attended to by the family's maid, who was his main companion. When Williams was 16, his father took early retirement and the family moved toTiburon, California.[6][18][19]Following the move, Williams attendedRedwood High Schoolin nearbyLarkspur. At the time of his graduation in 1969, he was voted "Most Likely Not to Succeed" and "Funniest" by his classmates.[20]After high school graduation, Williams enrolled atClaremont Men's CollegeinClaremont, Californiato studypolitical science, then later dropped out to pursue acting.[6][21]Williams then studied theatre for three years at theCollege of Marin, acommunity collegeinKentfield, California. According to Marin drama professor James Dunn, the depth of Williams's talent first became evident when he was cast in the musicalOliver!asFagin. Williams was known to improvise during his time in Marin's drama program, putting cast members in hysterics.[22]Dunn called his wife after one late rehearsal to tell her that Williams "was going to be something special."[22]In 1973, Williams attained a full scholarship to theJuilliard Schoolin New York City. He was one of only 20 students accepted into the freshman class and one of only two students to be accepted byJohn Housemaninto the Advanced Program at the school that year; the other wasChristopher Reeve.William HurtandMandy Patinkinwere also classmates.[23][24]Reeve remembers his first impression of Williams when they were two new students at Juilliard:He wore tie-dyed shirts with track suit bottoms and talked a mile a minute. I'd never seen so much energy contained in one person. He was like an untied balloon that had been inflated and immediately released. I watched in awe as he virtually caromed off the walls of the classrooms and hallways. To say that he was "on" would be a major understatement.[24]Reeve and Williams had a class in dialects taught by Edith Skinner, who, Reeve said, was one of the world's leading voice and speech teachers. Skinner had no idea what to make of Williams, adds Reeve, as Williams could instantly perform in any dialect, including Scottish, Irish, English, Russian, Italian, and many others.[24]Their primary acting teacher wasMichael Kahn, who was "equally baffled by this human dynamo," notes Reeve. Williams already had a reputation for being funny, but Kahn sometimes criticized his antics as simple stand-up comedy. In a later production, Williams silenced his critics with his convincing role of an old man inThe Night of the Iguana,byTennessee Williams. "He simplywasthe old man," observed Reeve. "I was astonished by his work and very grateful that fate had thrown us together."[24]Williams left Juilliard[25][26]during his junior year in 1976 at the suggestion of Houseman, who said there was nothing more Juilliard could teach him.[23][27]His teacher at Juilliard,Gerald Freedman, notes that Williams was a "genius," and the school's conservative and classical style of training did not suit him, therefore no one was surprised that he left.[28]