The FINANCIAL — If there was any doubt about Robin Williams’s impact, one need look no further than the massive outpouring of grief and love following the news of his death. He touched millions during a career that spanned five decades. His relatives, friends in Hollywood and even politicians expressed their shock at word of Williams’s death.
“Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between,” said Obama. “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,” he added.
“There wasn’t anybody Robin Williams couldn’t touch. His humor was just that expansive. He was an absolute genius, with an extraordinary zest for his profession,” said John Kerry, Secretary of State, Washington, DC. “It’s safe to say that there was more going on in him in one minute than most people in a week. He loved people and he committed himself to any issue that concerned him. Robin wasn’t just a huge creative genius, but a caring, involved citizen. I’ll always be grateful for his personal friendship and his support for the causes that we both cared about deeply. We will all miss Robin’s uncanny impressions, zany observations, and cutting-edge quips that found the truth as well as the humor. Teresa and I join the millions he inspired around the world in offering our deepest condolences to his family at this immensely difficult moment,” he added.
Recently, Ben Affleck, Williams’ co-star from “Good Will Hunting” opened up about his “friend.”
“Heartbroken. Thanks chief — for your friendship and for what you gave the world. Robin had a ton of love in him. He personally did so much for so many people. He made Matt and my dreams come true,” Affleck wrote on Facebook, referring to his “Good Will Hunting” co-star Matt Damon. “What do you owe a guy who does that? Everything. May you find peace my friend. #RobinWilliams,” he added.
Damon also released a comment on the passing of his former co-star. “Robin brought so much joy into my life and I will carry that joy with me forever,” he said. “He was such a beautiful man. I was lucky to know him and I will never, ever forget him.”
His longtime friend, Whoopi Goldberg, tweeted, “BillyCrystal is right … There are No words.”
Glenn Close, his co-star in “The World According to Garp,” called Williams a friend, and more.
“Robin was a world treasure,” she wrote. “As we mourn his tragic death, we must remember him for the great waves of laughter that he was able to [e]llicit from us, how his humor and insights — though they came from a place of pain and uncertainty — connected us and reminded us of how flawed and fragile … how human we are … how we are capable of moments of inspired transcendence and others of unspeakable despair.
Williams’ daughter, Zelda, posted a quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the French writer and poet.
“You — you alone will have the stars as no one else has them. … In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night. … You — only you — will have stars that can laugh,” the quote read.
She added, “I love you. I miss you. I’ll try to keep looking up.”
Steven Spielberg, who worked with Williams on Hook and was a longtime friend, said, “Robin was a lightning storm of comic genius and our laughter was the thunder that sustained him. He was a pal and I can’t believe he’s gone.” Here’s how other stars remembered the comedian.
“I’ve never known a sweeter, brighter, more considerate person than Robin. Robin’s commitment as an artist to lifting our mood and making us happy is compared to none. He loved us all and we loved him back,” said John Travolta.
The actor best known for his roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poets Society or Good Morning, Vietnam, Robin Williams died at 63 on Monday August 11, 2014. Robin Williams is known as an actor, who first made America laugh and eventually touched “every element of the human spirit” in a remarkable range of performances.
Williams was found “unconscious and not breathing” just before noon Monday inside his home in Tiburon, Calif., following a 911 phone call, according to police in Marin County, Calif. Firefighters found Williams in a seated position with a belt around his neck at his house in Tiburon, California. His left wrist had been superficially slashed and a pocket knife was found near the body.
Coroner investigators suspect “the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia,” according to a statement from the Marin County, California, Sheriff’s Office. However, an investigation into the cause of the death is still underway.
Williams had been battling severe depression, according to a statement from his publicist, Mara Buxbaum. “Williams sometimes suffered from depression and struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for much of his career.”
Hollywood actor ‘will be laid to rest in San Francisco’. Susan Schneider, the third wife of Robin Williams has planned a “very private” funeral in the Bay Area, and family members, including his 31-year-old son Zak, have begun flying into town ahead of the service.
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Starting as a stand-up comedian in San Francisco and Los Angeles, he soon rose to fame as Mork in the TV series Mork & Mindy (1978–82). Williams went on to establish a successful career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting.
Williams’ film career included such acclaimed films as Popeye (1980),The World According to Garp (1982), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990), The Fisher King (1991), and Good Will Hunting (1997), as well as financial successes such as Hook (1991), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Night at the Museum (2006), and Happy Feet (2006). He also appeared in the video “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin.
Williams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Good Will Hunting. He also received two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five Grammy Awards. TV producer George Schlatter, who first saw Williams doing stand-up comedy in 1977 and gave him his first TV spot in Laugh-In, recognized Williams’s talent immediately, telling friends and associates that Williams “is gonna be an important force. Not just a talent, but an important force in show business.” Terry Gilliam, who directed Williams in two films, was awed by his ability to “go from manic to mad to tender and vulnerable,” stating that Williams was “the most unique mind on the planet. There’s nobody like him out there.”
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