20 Lesser-Known Facts About Robin Williams
Image source: Fanpop
When we hear Robin Williams, kindness, friendliness, love and personal dignity are the leading associations. We are happy to have a chance to see the performances of such a legendary actor and person. Robin Williams knew how to make people happy, and after all these years, his suicide still makes us sad. He is one of the biggest in the history of movies. Below, you will find some interesting and lesser-known facts about this amazing person who gave us unforgettable roles and memories.
1. Everything started at the church.
Image source: Pinterest
His first job as a comedian was as an actor in church. Robin Williams couldn't find a career as an actor after leaving Julliar, and the only place he got was in church. He started stand-up comedy speeches and became super popular with locals.
2. His humor was from the pain.
Image source: Pinterest
Williams was a shy kid with a difficult childhood. The relationship between his parents was always tense. Williams tried to get his mother's attention as a kid, making her laugh. He also was known as a clown at school. But he was hiding the sadness of lack of attention from his parents behind humor.
3. Williams also worked as a meme in Central Park.
Image source: Pinterest
It was found out later that Robin Williams and his friend, Todd Oppenheimer, worked as a meme in Central Park in 1974. Photographer Daniel Sorine captured photos of these memes and saw Williams in one of them.
4. Williams wasn't the first choice to play on Mork & Mindy.
Image source: Pinterest
At first, Mork & Mindy selected a different actor who quit soon because of the script. Later, producer Garry Marshall asked on the set if anyone was funny to play Mork. Only after that Robin Williams got the role in 1978.
5. Williams risked his career in 1988.
Image source: Pinterest
After massive success in Mork & Mindy, Williams made his stage debut as Estragon in Waiting for Godot. It was an off-Broadway play considered a risk for the actors' careers. On that, Williams commented that "Risk! Of never working on the stage again!"
6. Disney could not imagine Genie without Williams.
Image source: Pinterest
Aladdin was one of the biggest successes for Robin Williams. Disney wanted him so much that the team animated Genie, according to one of its stand-up shows of Williams, to make a realistic expectation, and only after that they reached the actor, who also was impressed by it.
7. Williams was paid only $75,000 for Genie.
Image source: Pinterest
Yes, Aladdin became so successful they went on to gross over $200 million, but the salary of Williams was only $75 000. After such success, Disney sent him a Picasso painting in gratitude.
8. Robin Williams was a motivator of the cast of Schindler's List.
Image source: Pinterest
Was the idea of Steven Spielberg to motivate the movie team with Robin Williams. So, he put Williams on speaker to cheer up the crew.
9. Williams Improvised his last line in Good Will Hunting.
Image source: Pinterest
This movie was one of the biggest successes of Robin Williams. The moment when Damon is laughing so hard in the film's final scenes is because of Williams's improvised story about his wife farting in bed.
10. We could see Robin Williams in The Shining.
Image source: Pinterest
For many of us, The Shining without Jack Nicholson is challenging to imagine, but at first, the director of the movie, Stanley Kubrick, wanted Williams for the leading role. After watching Mork & Mindy, he decided that Robin would be too psychotic for the role.
11. Robin Williams tested the believability of Mrs Doubtfire in real life.
Image source: Pinterest
Williams wanted to be very realistic while being Mrs Doubtfire. So he decided to visit an adult bookstore and buy a book. No one recognised him or anything weird, and he assured that the character was very realistic for people.
12. He forgot to thank his mother during the Oscar speech.
Image source: Pinterest
But it was not on purpose. 1998 Williams won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Good Will Hunting. Later in the interview, Williams said he forgot to thank many influential people, even his mother, who was attending the Oscars.
13. He invented the word Shazbot.
Image source: Pinterest
This curse word was an improvisation during the filming of Mork & Mindy. It sounded catchy and was later used in Simpsons and the album Highway to Hell by AC/DC.
14. Williams performed six different animated characters during his career.
Image source: Pinterest
Yes, the acting talent of Robin Williams was terrific but also was his ability to perform numerous voices. He created many great animated characters in Aladdin, Robots, Happy Feet, and The Last Rainforest.
15. We almost saw Robin Williams in Midnight Run.
Image source: Pinterest
Williams said that he was very close to the role in Midnight Run. The actor even met Robert De Niro and the director Marty Breast several times, but in the final moment, they selected another actor - Charles Grodin. Williams claimed that it was hard for him to move on this.
16. Losing his friend was hard to recover.
Image source: Pinterest
Today it is even considered that Williams had never recovered from losing a best friend. After the death of John Belushi, something about Williams changed, and it was only seen behind the scenes. He also was back to old bad habits, such as drinking too much alcohol.
17. Williams met his true love in the store.
Image source: Pinterest
Robin Williams had quite a difficult and dramatic private life. After the divorce from the mother of his children, unexpectedly, he met his true love and last wife in the Apple store. Susan Schneider just wanted to say hi to the legendary actor, which is how their love story began.
18. Robin Williams wanted the role of Hagrid in Harry Potter.
Image source: Pinterest
Williams' dream was to play Hagrid, and he even sent a personal letter to J.K. Rowling, begging to be given the role. But unfortunately, J.K. Rowling only wanted British actors for Harry Potter.
19. Williams made an audience laugh so hard that there was a need for an ambulance.
Image source: Pinterest
The humor of Robin Williams was always unforgettable. While performing on Inside The Actors Studio, one of the audience members laughed so hard that the ambulance took him away.
20. Robin Williams met children cast in the custom of Mrs Doubtfire.
Image source: Pinterest
Williams wore all customs and makeup to check if children would recognize him. Kids did not recognize him and thought he was the mother of Chris Columbus.