Profile: Robin Williams

If there is any Hollywood star that could be named among the most influential among both adults and children, it would be Robin Williams. As an actor who went from a stand-up comedian in the 1980s to arguably the most beloved star in the film industry, Williams maintained his memorable and popular status among viewers by his diverse performances and his particular choice of films.

Sadly, Williams passed away in August 2014 following complications of depression that are still being investigated today. His untimely death shook the world and he has left us with a timeless legacy that we will never forget. This article will be looking at the late Academy Award winner’s career, beginning from his early days as a stand-up comedian to when we see him onscreen in posthumous features released in late 2014 and 2015.

Stand-Up Comedian & Media Breakthrough

Robin Williams’s first path to success was in comedy. As a young man, he attended schools including Claremont’s Men’s College, the College of Marin and the Julliard School in New York City. The latter is where he met and befriended classmates who became his fellow actors: the late Christopher Reeve and William Hurt. He originally started off enrolling in political science, but had a change of heart and decided to pursue a career in acting, while simultaneously experimenting with comedy.

Having done stand-up comedy throughout the 1970s and working on various TV shows including The Richard Pryor Show and Laugh-In, Williams’s key breakthrough in this particular period was his leading role in Mork & Mindy from 1978 to 1982. The show was an American sitcom that centres on an extra-terrestrial named Mork (Williams‘s character), who arrives on Earth from home planet Ork and changes the life of a young girl named Mindy McConnell (played by Pam Dawber). Much of the show’s success was due to Williams‘s eccentric voices that he has also done frequently in his later films, and his generally wacky but beloved attitude.

Following the show’s success, Robin Williams made his feature film debut in 1980 as the titular role of Popeye, which was directed by Oscar-nominated director Robert Altman. The film received mixed critical reception, despite Williams’s performance. However, in the late 1980s, Williams earned global recognition in cinema for performances such as in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and Dead Poet’s Society (1988), both of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Actor.

The former film reflected Williams’s caliber as a comedy actor whereas the latter film demonstrated his more serious and down-to-earth approach in cinema. As Robin Williams’s diverse choices and flexibility in performances had been demonstrated in the early stages of his film career, the 1990s saw him go the distance with a younger audience.

The Family Star of 1990s Hollywood

If anyone touched the childhoods of all the boys and girls in the 1990s (like myself) with his or her films, the instant star that springs to mind is Robin Williams. Although he was the lead in some other dramas, including Awakenings (1990) and an Oscar-nominated role in The Fisher King (1991), Williams ultimately became the unforgettable face in a number of family films that are arguably considered the most treasured in film history.

The first that started it was Hook (1991), a film that enhanced Williams’s stardom, having been directed by Steven Spielberg as well as being another loose adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan. The story was already known globally as one of the earliest Disney animations, but Williams (who played Peter Pan/Peter Banning) starring alongside co-stars Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith and Gwyneth Paltrow, delivered an exceptional delight for families to enjoy.

The following year, Robin Williams earned further global recognition in voicing the unique character of Genie in Aladdin. Some have considered Williams as “a real-life cartoon character”, and in his role as the Genie we really saw that reflection. Unfortunately, the actor lost almost all connection with Disney following a promotional dispute, but returned to the role in Aladdin & The King Of Thieves (1996) and reconciled with the company before his death.

Following this, Robin Williams’s next performance was one that made us cry with laughter and cry with both joy and sadness at the same time. The film was Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), which saw Williams appear as two identities: one was a man named Daniel Hillard, a voice-actor turned film shipping clerk, and the other as an elderly Scottish housekeeper named Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire.

The film is very much structured as a situation-comedy, a style that started Williams’s career in the media, but it also touches upon a very tender (but quite frankly underrated) subject – divorce and how children and parents handle it. The film is incredibly funny but it also provides emotional comfort, and Williams helps to portray that important message of families being different, but love is the most important thing. On an emotional level, Mrs. Doubtfire is probably the most touching film he ever did.

Another delight that starred Robin Williams at his prime was Jumanji (1996), a cultural hit that has left a legacy despite its mixed critical reception. The film saw Williams at his funniest and most charming as a true Hollywood star. As his career was hitting its peak in the family genre, he also starred in other comedies including The Birdcage (1996), Fathers’ Day (1997) and Deconstructing Harry (1997).

At this time in 1997, Robin Williams starred in perhaps his final 1990s family film: Flubber. The film had a mixed critical reaction, but audiences alike, particularly children as expected, loved it. He also starred in Good Will Hunting later in the year as therapist Dr. Sean Maguire, a critically-acclaimed performance that earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Oscar Winner and Dramatic Performances

At this stage in his career, Robin Williams practically ticked all the boxes to a successful career – he’s loved by families, as a comedian, as a dramatic actor and now as an Oscar winner. Although Good Will Hunting was his fourth nomination, he was sadly never nominated again. Despite this, Williams still provided us with some memorable performances in the late 90s and the early years of the 21st century.

In the aftermath of his Oscar glory, Robin Williams took leading roles in films like What Dreams May Come (1998) and Patch Adams (1998), both of which were mixed at the critical panel but did reasonably well at the box office. In 1999, Williams starred in Jakob the Liar, an adaptation that centres on Jewish ghetto life during the Holocaust and World War II. He also reunited with Mrs. Doubtfire director Chris Columbus in Bicentennial Man, a sci-fi about a robot’s desire to become human on an emotional and physical scale.

On the brink of the 21st century, arguably Robin Williams’s most acclaimed performance was in psychological thriller One Hour Photo (2002), where a photo technician (Williams) becomes infatuated with a suburban family. Some have said that this role should have got Williams his fifth Academy Award nomination, but either way One Hour Photo was one of his later great performances. Similarly, Williams took an antagonist role in Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia (2002) alongside fellow Oscar winners Al Pacino and Hilary Swank.

Robin Williams’s career may not have been as commercially or critically successful as his work in the ’80s and ’90s, but his roles in the early 2000s were still among those that demonstrated his flexible choices as an actor.

Final Years

During the final ten years of his life, Robin Williams went from what he did best in comedies and dramas to other roles in family films that made him a global superstar. Particularly in 2006 we saw this, as Williams starred in five films and another uncredited role. One of these, The Night Listener (2006), is a psychological thriller where Williams plays a homosexual radio show host suffering a midlife crisis following separation from his partner. The film explores the psychological depth of someone in those circumstances as well as the profundity of Williams’s performance.

In the later stages of his career, Williams mainly pursued voice-acting roles in films such as Robots (2005), Happy Feet (2006) and its 2011 sequel. Williams also took the parts of family hits such as in RV (2006) and in particular the Night At The Museum trilogy (2006, 2009, 2014), where he played historical figure and former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. In fact, that trilogy was some of Williams’s most popular hits before his untimely death in August 2014.

In the aftermath of Williams’s passing, there were three films released that were posthumously dedicated in his honour. One of these was the final Night At The Museum installment titled Secret Of The Tomb, which was released in December 2014. The film did reasonably well at the box office and was considered the best of the trilogy on a critical level. That being said, the film provided a nice final farewell to Robin Williams.

Another final film of Williams’s was A Merry Friggin’ Christmas, also released in memory of the fine actor. Robin Williams starring in a Christmas movie is about the most wonderful combination of any film, as his charming calibre as an actor and the festive magic can only make families cry with happiness and laugh with glee.

His very last role was a voice performance as Dennis the Dog in Absolutely Anything, a sci-fi comedy starring Simon Pegg and fellow comedians John Cleese, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam (also known as the Monty Python troupe). The film was panned at the box office and by critics, but Williams’s role was seen as similar to that of the Genie – as an animal or unique being in a supportive role to the protagonist.

Conclusion

Having explored Williams’s career, could there really have been a more beloved or impactful star? Will there ever be another actor who could make us laugh or make us cry more than Robin Williams? As a child of the 1990s, Williams’s films were of deep significance, as I’m sure they were to others. Not many stars are able to achieve that – going from a stand-up comedian to a growing film star with diverse performances in comedies, dramas and thrillers.

Sadly, Mr. Williams’ career was cut a little short, as he passed away in August 2014. But as many people have said, he is now free from this cruel world and the troubles in his life, a bit like Genie becoming free from his lamp. The Aladdin ending really has a new meaning now, doesn’t it? Nevertheless, Robin Williams has left a legacy for us to cherish over generations, and may he rest in peace.

What was your favourite Robin Williams performance?