Robin Williams just found dead

[TK]

[balki1867]

But boy, kinda puts a different twist on the plots of What Dreams May Come and Patch Adams knowing he suffered depression and killed himself.

 

That was one of my first thoughts when I heard the news.  I actually remember watching 'What Dreams May Come' and being impressed with the maturity/compassion with which his character handled mental illness in that film.  It wasn't one of his more famous roles by any stretch, but man, its unfortunate he was struggling with some of this stuff in his private life.

 

I was never particularly into or averse to his work, but the man is a legend and made a lot of people laugh (including my mom, when Mork and Mindy was one of the first TV shows she discovered when she moved to the US).

 

RIP.

[Boss_Hogg]

Depression is real, not something you can "snap out" of.

The news coverage is going to be ghastly.

[Riggo#44]

His best role, in my opinion, better than Good Will Hunting was Adrian Cronauer. Good Morning, Vietnam! is one of my all time favorites.

"You're in more dire need of a blow job than any white man in history."

He was doing coke with Belushi the night he died. That sort of thing stays with you.

[Destino]

Obama issued a nice statement.

"Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien – but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most – from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets. The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin’s family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams."

[Bacon]

[Chew]

I met Williams in Kyrgyzstan. He was so patient with us, he signed hundreds of autographs and shook everybody's hand. Very genuine and kind man.

[FrFan]

This is a devastating loss for the movie industry. He was my  favorite actor with Tom Hanks. His talent, smile, candor, kindness will be missed. RIP  Robin, God bless you and your family.

 

Henry Winkler Recalls Robin Williams' 'Happy Days' Debut

t's such a tragedy to lose a TV and movie legend like Robin Williams.

But it's heartwarming when everyone who knew him speaks nothing but kind words about him.

And that's all Henry Winkler had to say upon news about his former Happy Days co-star's passing.

He opened up about just what it was like to be in the presence of Robin playing Mork while on set, seeing him work in the most magical way:

"Here I am playing this man of very few words and I'm watching brilliance explode like fireworks every 10 or 15 seconds."

He added about Robin's comedic power during scenes:

"What ever you said, he inhaled out of the air and then threw it back at you. There was not one time it came out the same. There was not one time it was not truly, endlessly and fervently funny. You saw it and your mouth dropped. You couldn't believe it. I've worked with a lot of people and there is and was no one quite like him."

[MattFancy]

I can't think of many actors/comedians that was loved by such a wide group of people. There's people my age (late 20's) and all the way up to people in their 60s/70s who can remember watching him on TV. From Mork & Mindy for the older crowd to Capt Hook and Mrs. Doubture for my generation.

[RichmondRedskin88]

The world seems a lot less funny now..........

[rictus58]

"It's a fragile thing 

This life we lead 
If I think too much I can get over
Whelmed by the grace
By which we live our lives 
With death over our shoulders"
 

[pjfootballer]

Wow, just heard on my way into work. RIP to a great actor and comedienne.

[airborneskins]

I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times.  The first time was in Afghanistan (2002) and the second was in Iraq in 2003.  He came over as part of the USO tour.  I remember that he took as long as he could to stay and sign autographs and take pictures with all of us that wanted them.  He kept telling his security detail to **** off and that he wasnt leaving until he personally thanked every single one of us that wanted to meet him.

 

THe last time that I met him was at a hotel in 2005.  He was visiting a hotel that I was at.  I walked up to him and told him that I had met him a couple of times overseas.  He took the time to stand there and talk to me for like 10 minutes before heading up to his room.  I saw him again later that evening and showed him a picture that he had taken with me in Afghanistan and he autographed it for me.  He even had the bartender send over a couple of drinks for me and my wife.  It was pretty Awesome of him.

 

RIP Mr Williams.

[Burgold]

Nice memory, airborne.  Telling and a fitting memorial for our little corner of cyberspace.  He touched a bunch of us though our real encounters were fleeting.

[Dan T.]

I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times.  The first time was in Afghanistan (2002) and the second was in Iraq in 2003.  He came over as part of the USO tour.  I remember that he took as long as he could to stay and sign autographs and take pictures with all of us that wanted them.  He kept telling his security detail to **** off and that he wasnt leaving until he personally thanked every single one of us that wanted to meet him.

 

THe last time that I met him was at a hotel in 2005.  He was visiting a hotel that I was at.  I walked up to him and told him that I had met him a couple of times overseas.  He took the time to stand there and talk to me for like 10 minutes before heading up to his room.  I saw him again later that evening and showed him a picture that he had taken with me in Afghanistan and he autographed it for me.  He even had the bartender send over a couple of drinks for me and my wife.  It was pretty Awesome of him.

 

RIP Mr Williams.

 

To me, anecdotes like this and youngchew's give us a glimpse of the real character of the man more than the accolades of stars and public figures. Or, better put, they confirm the accolades.  By all accounts, he was a good, decent human being in addition to being an enormously talented entertainer.  It is sad to think that such a good and decent man seemingly couldn't find inner peace in his own life.

[Riggo#44]

Wow, just heard on my way into work. RIP to a great actor and comedienne.

 

pssst...comedienne is feminine. Like actress. Just FYI. It's "comedian"

[Dan T.]

pssst...comedienne is feminine. Like actress. Just FYI. It's "comedian"

 

So you never saw Mrs. Doubtfire? 

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

His career dovetailed with my life perfectly. Mork and Mindy came on the air when I was 6, and was one of the first non-cartoons I ever watched on tv. Evening at the Met hit HBO when I was 12 and I must have watched that thing 50 times. I haven't watched it in years, but I'd bet I still have it memorized. Good Morning, Vietnam may have been the first "grown up" movie that everyone I knew watched.

 

His schtick got a little tired in later years, but he still did some interesting stuff.

 

I may be wrong, but I believe he had started having some financial issues in recent years - as well as health and addiction problems. Marc Maron rebroadcast his interview with Williams from 2010, and it's probably the best overview of his career he ever did. One hour of Williams actually talking like a real human being, which is not something that happened in interviews a lot. Towards the end, there is a pretty heavy discussion of death and suicide, which may be hard to listen to now. But - strangely - it was the one time in the interview he actually did anything resembling "a bit."

[FrFan]

pssst...comedienne is feminine. Like actress. Just FYI. It's "comedian"

Maybe he was referring to his play as Mrs Doubtfire. Quite a performance to say the least.

[skinsmarydu]

Just awful. Sad to think that his last act makes us cry instead of laugh.

RIP Robin.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Mrs Doubtfire was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Aladdin too

Not many ppl have the ability to make you laugh and cry in the same movie

[War Paint]

Just to add to airbourneskins's and youngchew's post, I read this post from a Cowboys message board.  A poster was talking about a time when they met Robin Williams. 

 

Damn.
He once came in to the Best Buy I was managing in Phoenix. Back in 95 or 96. He and his kids were shopping for video games. Really nice guy. Took the time to sign just about every autograph he was asked for. Probably would have stayed longer but his son forced him to leave.
Super talented. World just lost a great comedian.

 

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Just awful. Sad to think that his last act makes us cry instead of laugh.

RIP Robin.

 

It's really interesting where people came in on his career.

 

I was 17 when Hook came out, saw it in a theater, and thought, "Well.....that was really freaking loud."

 

I was 18 when Aladdin came out; I'm not even sure I saw it until I was 20 or 21. It's an amazing performance though.

 

I was 19 when Mrs. Doubtfire came out. My younger cousins watched it constantly.

 

So, there is this entire generation of people where Robin Williams is a "beloved children's entertainer." To me, he was the guy who taught me what cocaine was. And that you can do a five-minute improv bit as a penis. I guess Mork was sort of a child-friendly at times (especially the stuff with Jonathon Winters). But that show had some really dark moments. The episode where Mork met famous comedian Robin Williams was pretty dark, especially that monologue at the end about John Lennon.

[Dan T.]

His mentor, friend, and idol, Jonathan Winters, suffered from many of the same demons. 

[PeterMP]

It's really interesting where people came in on his career.

 

I was 17 when Hook came out, saw it in a theater, and thought, "Well.....that was really freaking loud."

 

I was 18 when Aladdin came out; I'm not even sure I saw it until I was 20 or 21. It's an amazing performance though.

 

I was 19 when Mrs. Doubtfire came out. My younger cousins watched it constantly.

 

So, there is this entire generation of people where Robin Williams is a "beloved children's entertainer." To me, he was the guy who taught me what cocaine was. And that you can do a five-minute improv bit as a penis. I guess Mork was sort of a child-friendly at times (especially the stuff with Jonathon Winters). But that show had some really dark moments. The episode where Mork met famous comedian Robin Williams was pretty dark, especially that monologue at the end about John Lennon.

 

You and I are the same age.  I was 6 when Mork and Mindy came out and is one of the first non-cartoons I remember liking to watch.

 

That show was kid friendly, but clearly somebody was trying to deliver important messages through the Mork closing reports in many cases.

 

Here's the piece on the price of fame that you reference:

 

 

It seems like for people like him, they either find away to escape the mania and partly that means toning things down and appealing to kids or dying pretty young (younger than 63).

 

My mom hated Eddie Murphy when I was young.

 

My kids LOVE Eddie Murphy (Daddy Day Care, Dr. Doolittle. etc.).  You look at those things at my age and remember Eddie Murphy when I was young, and I feel sad.

 

The "good" thing about Robin Williams is he was able to channel some of it into really good things still (e.g. Good Will Hunting and Good Morning Vietnam).

 

I tried to get into his new sit com this year, but I just couldn't buy into it.

 

It seems especially sad to me that somebody that everybody seems to have actually really liked (It is at least my personal impression that people are being sincere) felt the need to commit suicide.

 

RIP Robin Williams.