By now you all have heard of the death of Mr. Robin Williams. Mr. Williams was one of my cinematic and comedic heroes. I seem to be losing more and more of them but I guess that comes with growing older. Having never had the pleasure to meet or know Mr. Williams I only knew him through his work and what a legacy he leaves.
I first met Robin when he became the star of his own sitcom, Mork and Mindy. It was watching him as lovable alien Mork that I fell in love with his erratic comedic stylings, laughing each week as Mork just tried to fit in with us humans.
By eighth grade I was reciting his stand up for my class mates and getting huge laughs not because we understood all the jokes but because there were some dirty words thrown in. I continued this practice through most of my scholastic career. Yes I can finally come clean. Most all of my comedy material from grades eight through twelve was stolen from Robin Williams. Thank you sir.
As much as I loved Mr. Williams comedy I loved his dramatic work more. The Fisher King remains one of my all time favorites. Dead Poets Society, Bicentennial Man, Good Will Hunting…the list goes on. I shed tears watching all of these films because Robin Williams is an amazing actor with the ability to steal every scene he was in without trying. I didn’t give two shits about Matt and Bens characters in Good Will Hunting, I wanted to spend more time with Dr. Maguire. Sorry Matt and Ben. Another of my favorites that always makes me cry is What Dreams May Come, an amazing and often overlooked film. I won’t spoil it by giving away the details, watch it, cry and love it.
Thankfully for every tear Mr. Williams caused me to shed, he also made me laugh. He was amazing to watch doing stand up but his big screen comedies were outstanding. Mrs. Doubtfire, The Birdcage and Death to Smoochy are just some of my favorites that had my sides hurting from laughing.
I almost let myself post this without talking about the amazing voice over work Mr. Williams has done over the years. The lovable Genie from Aladdin is my favorite and Happy Feet wouldn’t have been the same without him.
I could’ve just made this a list of Mr. Williams films and said I loved them all and that would have been true. Whether or not the movie was good didn’t matter because Robin Williams was going to be good in whatever role he had in it. Be it starring or bit part, comedic or dramatic or even the occasional cameo on a sitcom or even starring in a sitcom, I have always been a huge fan of Mr. Williams and fear the world will be a little less without him.
It occurs to me just now as I’m writing this that maybe we were fooled all along. Maybe Mork and Mindy wasn’t just the story of a lovable alien trying to fit into our world, maybe it was the truth hiding in plain site. Maybe wacky, lovable, amazing Robin Williams was the alien and all these years he’s just been trying to fit into our world. Maybe instead of dying, he’s just gone back to his home amongst the stars.
The YDKSAF family sends our thoughts and condolences to Mr. Williams family during this difficult time. You will be missed sir…
-YDKSAF
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