Once again I find myself writing something of an obituary and am disappointed in myself for not finding the time to say what I had to say while the person was still alive to appreciate it, even if the chance they would have read it was slim. As all you know, Robin Williams died yesterday afternoon at the age of 63 apparently by his own hand. There will be many tributes and testimonials, much of it justifiably surrounding his towering legacy as a stand-up comedian, a comic actor, and a human being. But for the moment I’d like to concentrate on a somewhat unsung portion of his career. While his contribution to stand-up comedy is paramount, on the same small pedestal alongside Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, and Richard Pryor, I have long believed that his best work in films was not his comic work or his comedies but rather his dramatic performances. By virtue of his comic works and his reputation as one of the funniest men on the planet, he remained one of the most underrated dramatic actors of his generation. http://blogs-images.forbes.com/scott...08/2ch6czm.jpg
I’m not so much saying that Mr. Williams didn’t get accolades and awards for his non-comedic performances. He has won raves and Oscar nominations for films like Good Morning, Vietnam (basically a “chaos of war” drama with interludes of Mr. Williams doing his shtick), Dead Poet’s Society, The Fisher King, and Good Will Hunting. He even won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the latter back in 1998, and we all knew he was going to win as soon as the iconic “just because you’ve read Oliver Twist” scene concluded. But each time Robin Williams took a serious role or made a “ serious” movie, it was viewed as a comedic actor taking an against-type role or attempting to change his onscreen image. It was always viewed as “the funny guy taking a serious role.” There are worse problems to have then being so esteemed in one area of performance art that you are vastly underrated in another. But his greatest contribution to cinema remains his stunningly powerful work in a whole host of so-called “serious pictures.”
When I remember Mr. Williams, at least as a film actor, I am most likely to go to his achingly sad work in Penny Marshall’s superb encephalitis lethargica drama Awakenings. I am likely to remember his quietly devastating work in the sadly underrated What Dreams May Come, which hid a low-key fable of unbearable loss and the challenges of family communication inside a special effects extravaganza. I will remember his low-key villain turns in Insomnia and One Hour Photo, the latter of which contains one of his best performances in a sadly compromised final product. I’ll even defend Being Human, a famously panned centuries-spanning drama that fell on its face but is exactly the kind of ‘aim for the stars, land in the trash” passion project that should be appreciated if not occasionally celebrated. It’s not “good,” but it has stuck with me for twenty years and what I would give for more failures of its ilk in our multiplexes.
A slight digression, but I will remember the mostly slight Mrs. Doubtfirenot for its farcical cross-dressing comedy but for its bittersweet ending which refused to get its divorced couple back together yet served as a reassuring hug to an entire generation of “children-of-divorce” kids. Broadly comic as it was overall, I will always remember Williams in The Birdcage as one of the first times I saw major studio film with a major gay character who wasn’t a walking stereotype. I will remember his serious films that didn’t quite work, such as Bicentennial Man and Jacob the Liar, and even Steven Spielberg’s fantastical Hook, where Williams played Peter Pan as Spielberg wrestling with how to be a globe-trotting filmmaker and a participatory parent. His most recent film, The Angriest Man in Brooklyndoesn’t quite work either, but there is a rawness to its anger and depression over a wasted life, one that now has perhaps a new potency in light of the apparent depression that took the actor’s life. http://blogs-images.forbes.com/scott...08/2h8aias.jpg
I have a few favorite Robin Williams comedies too, such as Aladdin and World’s Greatest Dad(his last great film and my pick for his best comedy), and his 2012 guest-spot on Louie is a thing of beauty. But the impression he made in films like Good Will Hunting and What Dreams May Come have lingered with me longer than the likes of RV, Toys, or Man of the Year or even his more popular comedies such as Patch Adams or Nine Months. To the extent that it matters, and you are free to argue especially after-the-fact that it does not, Robin Williams gave any number of fantastic dramatic performances and made any number of superb dramas, compiling a list that would have been the envy of any of our best-and-brightest film actors even absent his comedies. As surely as he was a comic genius, he was also a (Julliard-trained) master thespian who arguably never got his due as an actor by virtue of the blinding light of his comedic talents.
Even if Mr. Williams had never bothered to make us laugh, and we should be forever grateful that he did, his powerful and achingly human performances in films like What Dreams May Come, Good Will Hunting, One Hour Photo would have likely cemented his legacy as a superb actor. That a performance as good as his career-peak turn as a newly widowed father in the “Bop Gun” episode of Homicide: Life on the Streetserves as a mere footnote to his overall legacy says more about his comic impact than anything else. There will be plenty of writers who will justifiably celebrate the times he made us laugh. I wanted to take a moment to recognize the times he made us cry. I had been meaning to write this for years but never got around to it. I’m sorry it took his passing to motivate me to do so.
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August 13th, 2014, 02:02
Ryan Ruck
Re: Robin Williams: Dead, Suicide, 63
Sad for his surviving family but I can't say I'm surprised considering his seemingly schizophrenic personality.
Guess it must be tough being wealthy beyond most people's dreams.
August 13th, 2014, 12:27
American Patriot
Re: Robin Williams: Dead, Suicide, 63
I can't imagine being wealthy beyond my wildest dreams...cuz I have some pretty wild dreams at times. lol
August 13th, 2014, 12:58
Malsua
Re: Robin Williams: Dead, Suicide, 63
I think it's more tough to have been wealthy beyond anyone's dreams and to have it siphoned off by two vicious harpies who contributed nothing. Williams was cash broke at the time of his death.
While he had assets of 50 million plus...try to buy a sandwich with 50 million dollars worth of property.
August 13th, 2014, 13:18
American Patriot
Re: Robin Williams: Dead, Suicide, 63
We were trying to figure out the wife thing the other night. My wife said he was married to a different person, and the first one was divorced from him now. No one was sure though.
Zelda Williams, the 25-year-old daughter of Robin Williams and the subject of Williams’ final post on Instagram — released a statement about her father’s suicide yesterday, and it is funny and thoughtful and sad and hopeful, which is exactly what you might expect from the daughter of Robin Williams.
From her blog, Contrariwise:
My family has always been private about our time spent together. It was our way of keeping one thing that was ours, with a man we shared with an entire world. But now that’s gone, and I feel stripped bare. My last day with him was his birthday, and I will forever be grateful that my brothers and I got to spend that time alone with him, sharing gifts and laughter. He was always warm, even in his darkest moments. While Ill never, ever understand how he could be loved so deeply and not find it in his heart to stay, theres minor comfort in knowing our grief and loss, in some small way, is shared with millions. It doesn’t help the pain, but at least its a burden countless others now know we carry, and so many have offered to help lighten the load. Thank you for that.
To those he touched who are sending kind words, know that one of his favorite things in the world was to make you all laugh. As for those who are sending negativity, know that some small, giggling part of him is sending a flock of pigeons to your house to poop on your car. Right after youve had it washed. After all, he loved to laugh too
Dad was, is and always will be one of the kindest, most generous, gentlest souls Ive ever known, and while there are few things I know for certain right now, one of them is that not just my world, but the entire world is forever a little darker, less colorful and less full of laughter in his absence. Well just have to work twice as hard to fill it back up again.
“Yesterday, I lost my father and a best friend and the world got a little grayer. I will carry his heart with me every day. I would ask those that loved him to remember him by being as gentle, kind and generous as he would be. Seek to bring joy to the world as he sought.”
From Cody Williams, who is 23:
“There are no words strong enough to describe the love and respect I have for my father. The world will never be the same without him. I will miss him and take him with me everywhere I go for the rest of my life, and will look forward, forever, to the moment when I get to see him again.”
Williams ex-wife, Marsha Garces Williams, with whom he split amicably several years ago, also released a statement:
“My heart is split wide open and scattered over the planet with all of you. Please remember the gentle, loving, generous – and yes, brilliant and funny – man that was Robin Williams. My arms are wrapped around our children as we attempt to grapple with celebrating the man we love, while dealing with this immeasurable loss.”
I will also add that, if you’re a fan of Robin Williams, as others have suggested, listen to his 2010 podcast with Marc Maron, where he talks about depression, about his relapse, and about fame. I listened to it yesterday, and it’s probably the most insightful thing I’ve heard about who Robin Williams really is. (Plus, there’s some really great Richard Pryor stories in it).
