robin williams

Actor, comedian, producer. Born July 21, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois. Williams spent his childhood years in Chicago and Bloomfield, Michigan; his father was an executive at Ford Motor Company. Upon his father’s early retirement, the family moved to Marin County, California, near San Francisco. Williams dropped out of his political science studies at Claremont Men’s College in Claremont, California, to begin studying drama at the Juilliard School in New York City. Back in the San Francisco area, he began performing as both a mime and a stand-up comedian on the burgeoning West Coast comedy club circuit.
Williams had a good deal of success with stand-up during the 1970s, including a stint at Los Angeles’ Comedy Store in his own showcase. After performing on the revival of the Laugh-In series in 1977-78, Williams landed a guest role on the popular sitcom Happy Days as Mork, a lovably weird space alien from the planet Ork. Before too long, he had brought the character to his own spin-off sitcom, Mork + Mindy (1978-82), which costarred Pam Dawber as the female earthling with whom Mork falls in love and Jonathan Winters as a fellow alien.

With a successful sitcom under his belt, Williams also brought his talents for improvisation and stand-up comedy to cable television, headlining two Home Box Office (HBO) comedy specials, An Evening with Robin Williams (1982) and Robin Williams: Live at the Met (1986). In 1986, he joined fellow comics Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg in hosting HBO’s annual Comic Relief telecast, which donated all funds raised to helping the homeless.

Despite Williams’ undeniable success among audiences with his television work and stand-up comedy, his film career got off to a somewhat slower start. He made his film debut in the title role of a disappointing live-action version of Popeye (1980), directed by Robert Altman. Though he earned acclaim for his performances in a film version of John Irving’s The World According to Garp (1982) and the well-reviewed Moscow on the Hudson (1984), he also starred in less inspiring projects such as The Survivors (1983), Club Paradise (1986), and The Best of Times (1986).

In 1987, Williams made the leap to the Hollywood A-list with his Oscar-nominated performance in Good Morning, Vietnam, Barry Levinson’s comedy-drama about an irreverent deejay assigned to a radio station for the U.S. Armed Services in Vietnam. Even on the set of a movie, Williams’ improvisational skills became famous, and he was known for ad-libbing many a scene. Billed as Ray DiTutto, Williams turned in another funny performance in the somewhat bizarre The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), written and directed by Terry Gilliam.

Williams earned his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in 1989, for his performance as John Keating, the inspirational prep-school teacher at the heart of Dead Poets Society. In 1990, he starred as a doctor who treats a catatonic patient (Robert De Niro) in the acclaimed drama Awakenings, directed by Penny Marshall. On a less serious (and less successful) note, he played Peter Pan in Steven Spielberg’s Hook (1991), a notorious big-budget flop which costarred Dustin Hoffman and Julia Roberts.

Williams reunited with Terry Gilliam to score his third Best Actor nod from the Academy in 1991 for The Fisher King, also starring Jeff Bridges. He delighted children and adults alike by lending his unmistakable voice to an animated blue genie in Disney’s blockbuster hit Aladdin (1992). Although his second effort with Levinson, Toys (1992), received a mediocre welcome from critics and audiences, he had his biggest (live-action) commercial success yet with the 1993 comedy Mrs. Doubtfire, in which he played a divorced father who dresses up as a female housekeeper in order to spend time with his children. The film, which Williams coproduced, was directed by Chris Columbus and costarred Sally Field and Pierce Brosnan.

Williams’ next big hit came three years later with The Birdcage (1996), a remake of the classic 1978 La Cage aux Folles costarring Nathan Lane and Gene Hackman. In between, he had moderate success with the adventure film Jumanji (1995) and turned in a cameo as a befuddled doctor in Nine Months (1995), starring Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore. Also in 1996, he starred in the disappointing Jack, about a boy who ages physically at an unnatural rate, and turned in his first Shakespearean performance as Osric in Kenneth Branagh’s epic Hamlet.

Though his teaming with Crystal in Father’s Day (1997) met with disappointing results, Williams scored a hit that year with Flubber, Disney’s remake of its 1961 hit The Absent Minded Professor. He achieved a critical coup that year as well, winning his first Academy Award—for Best Supporting Actor—for his restrained performance in Good Will Hunting, costarring Matt Damon, Minnie Driver, and Ben Affleck.

Though his most recent efforts—including What Dreams May Come (1998), Patch Adams (1998), Jakob the Liar (1999), and Bicentennial Man (1999)—have met with a relatively disappointing critical and commercial reception, Williams remains an unusual commodity in Hollywood: a talented comedic actor who can also deliver sincere, affecting dramatic performances. Upcoming projects include The Interpreter (2000), directed by Mrs. Doubtfire’s Columbus.

Williams has made his share of headlines for his personal life, beginning early in his career, when he was reputed to have had a cocaine habit, and to have snorted cocaine with comic John Belushi just before the latter’s death of an overdose in 1982. In 1986, Williams was sued for $6.2 million by a former girlfriend who alleged he had given her herpes. He countersued for extortion. The case was later settled out of court, and the terms were undisclosed. Williams and his first wife, Valerie Velardi, divorced in 1988 after a decade of marriage; he subsequently married Marcia Garces, who had worked as a nanny for his son Zachary. He and Garces have two children, Zelda and Cody. Garces is also Williams' partner in a production company, Blue Wolf Productions.

Porfile
Born July 21, 1952
Place Chicago, IL
Full Name Robin McLaurim Williams
Wife Marsha Garces
Kids Zachary, Zelda, & Cody
Education Redwood High School - Tiburon, CA
Class of 1969
Claremont Men's College (Political Science)
College of Marin (Acting)
The Julliard School - 3 years (Drama)
Marriages Valerie Velardi - June 4, 1978
Mother to Zachary
Divorced in 1988
Marcha Garces - April 30, 1989
Mother to Zelda & Cody
Parents Robert and Laurie Williams
Charity Comic Relief
Agent Michael Ovitz
Artists Management Group
Los Angeles, CA
Drug History (Included due to e-mail after e-mail....)
Began using drugs in the Mork & Mindy years.
Stopped a bit after John Belushi's death, around the time of the birth of his son.
Big Break Mork & Mindy
Robin's Fave Movies Dead Poets, Alladin, Awakenings
Movies in the '90's Of all the actors out there, Robin Williams was 5th in line for making the most movies in the 1990's. With 27 movies, Robin has been busy! He was preceded by Samuel L. Jackson (36 movies), Harvey Keitel (30 movies), Whoopi Goldberg (29 movies), and Steve Buscemi (28 movies).
Biggest Award 1998 - Academy Award
Oscar for Best Supporting Actor - Good Will Hunting
Other Awards 1998 - Screen Actors Guild Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Good Will Hunting
1998 - Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
Favorite Actor/Actress - Family - Flubber
1997 - MTV Movie Awards
Best Comedic Performance - The Birdcage
Best On-Screen Duo - The Birdcage
1994(ish) - Entertainment Weekly
Named Funniest Man Alive
1994 - People's Choice Awards
Favorite Comedy Motion Picture Actor
1994 - MTV Movie Awards
Best Comedic Performance - Mrs. Doubtfire
1994 - Golden Globes
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical - Mrs. Doubtfire
1994 - American Comedy Awards
Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role) - Mrs. Doubtfire
1993 - MTV Movie Awards
Best Comedic Performance - Aladdin
1993 - Golden Globes
Given a Special Award for his vocal work in Aladdin
1992 - Golden Globes
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical - The Fisher King
1989 - American Comedy Awards
Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic
1988, 1990, 1992 - Academy Awards
Nominated for Best Actor Oscars - Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King
1988 - Golden Globes
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical - Good Morning, Vietnam
1988 - American Comedy Awards
Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role) - Good Morning, Vietnam
Funniest Male Performer of the Year
Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic
1987 - American Comedy Awards
Funniest Male Performer of the Year
Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic
1979 - Golden Globes
Best TV Actor - Musical/Comedy - "Mork & Mindy"

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