Robin McLaurin Williams was born at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 21, 1951. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a senior executive in Ford’s Lincoln-Mercury Division. His mother, Laurie McLaurin, was a former model from Jackson, Mississippi, whose great-grandfather was Mississippi senator and Governor Anselm J. McLaurin. As would be expected of a family of such a lineage, Robin Williams grew up both affluent and popular. His popularity even carried over to his school where he became the class president. Even in his early school years, his natural charisma and charm shone through which many of his old classmates remembering him as being a very funny and friendly person. Unfortunately for Robin not everything was fine for him at home. With both his parents away at work most of the time, Williams was partially raised by the family’s maid, who was his only consistent companion.
After high school graduation, Williams enrolled at Claremont Men’s College in Claremont, California, to study political science; but he dropped out soon thereafter to pursue acting. Williams went on to study theatre for three years at the College of Marin, a community college in Kentfield, California, before being offered a full scholarship to the Juilliard School in New York City in 1973. He was one of 20 students accepted into the freshman class, and he and Christopher Reeve were the only two accepted by John Houseman into the Advanced Program at the school that year. However, during his junior year in 1976, he decided to drop out. He however, continued to remain close friends with Reeve, until his death in 2004. In fact, Williams even went so far as to pay many of Reeve’s medical bills and gave financial support to his family following Reeve’s tragic horse-riding accident that left him a quadriplegic.
Soon after dropping out from Juilliard, Robin decided to pursue comedy, beginning with stand-up comedy in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1976. But being one of the funniest comedians to ever walk the earth, Williams quickly skyrocketed in popularity. In fact, just two years later, in 1978, he auditioned for and nailed the role of Mork the Alien for the show ‘Happy Days’. The character was so successful that it laid the foundation for a spin-off called ‘Mork & Mindy’ that was first broadcast later that same year, featuring Robin as Mork the Alien from the planet Ork. The show was a huge success and ran till 1982, making Robin Williams a household name in the process.
The rest as we say is history. Robin went on to take several major roles in movies throughout his long and illustrious career. He completely won the hearts of both kids and adults the world over, who adored him for his quirky expressions, charming clumsiness, and innocent yet witty dialogues. He was, however, a wealth of talent, whose acting prowess extended far beyond just comedy roles. In fact, he was nominated for the Academy Award thrice and won it in 1997 for his performance as Dr Sean Maguire in the film ‘Good Will Hunting’. Some of his other memorable roles include Popeye the Sailor Man, ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’, and the Genie in ‘Aladdin’.
Unfortunately, his personal life was far different from his on-screen persona. Behind is funny façade was a man struggling with worsening depression, while also having problems with alcoholism. In mid-2014, Williams admitted himself into the Hazelden Foundation Addiction Treatment Center in Center City, Minnesota, to treat his alcoholism. Unfortunately for him, help came a little too late. His depression had reached boiling point and sadly on August 11, 2014, Williams took his own life.
Regardless of his personal traumas, Robin Williams was a man of his time. He entered the world of movies and in just a few years won over the world to become the funnyman everyone loved. There is no doubt his legacy will endure, and he will forever remain one of the most talented actors and funniest comedians the world has ever known.