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Robin Williams Biography

(1951–)

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Films
1980 Popeye
1982 The World According to Garp

1984 Moscow On The Hudson
1986 Club Paradise
1987 Good Morning Vietnam
1989 The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
1989 Dead Poets Society
1990 Awakenings
1991 The Fisher King
1991 Hook
1991 Dead Again
1991 Aladdin (voice only)
1992 Toys
1993 Mrs Doubtfire
1993 Being Human
1995 Nine Months
1995 Jumanji
1996 The Birdcage
1996 Jack
1996 The Secret Agent
1996 Aladdin and the King of Thieves (voice only)
1996 Hamlet
1997 Father's Day
1997 Flubber
1997 Good Will Hunting (Best Supporting Actor Oscar)
1998 What Dreams May Come
1998 Patch Adams
1999 Get Bruce
1999 Bicentennial Man
1999 Jakob the Liar
2002 Insomnia
2004 The Final Cut
2005 House of D
2005 Noel
2005 Robots (voice)
2005 The Big White
2006 The Night Listener
2006 R.V.
2006 Happy Feet
2006 Man of the Year
Television
1974 Happy Days
1978–82 Mork and Mindy
1987 Seize The Day
1996 In Search of Doctor Seuss
Theatre
1988 Waiting For Godot

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Sally Field

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Robin McLaurim Williams was born on July 21, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois. One of America's funniest performers, Williams attended one of the most prestigious drama schools in the country—the Juilliard School in New York City. While at Juilliard, he made friends with Christopher Reeve. He later experimented with comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles, developing a successful stand-up act.

Williams first became known to American audiences as the zany alien Mork in the television comedy series Mork and Mindy (1978–82). He made his big-screen debut playing the famous spinach-eating sailor, Popeye (1981). The movie led to a string of successful film roles for Williams, including Good Morning Vietnam (1987) and Dead Poets Society (1989), both of which earned the actor Oscar nods.

While his career was taking off, Williams faced many personal challenges. He developed a drug and alcohol problem while working on the sitcom Mork and Mindy, and would struggle with addiction for more than two decades. He also became involved in several tumultuous romantic relationships; while married to actress Valerie Velardi, he was briefly involved with another woman. Williams and Velardi divorced soon after, in 1988. The next year he married his son's nanny, Marsha Garces, who was pregnant with their first child together.

Despite personal setbacks, Williams continued acting. He provided the voice of the genie in Disney's animated film, Aladdin (1991), and appeared in the hit films Awakenings (1990), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), and The Birdcage (1996). In 1997, his performance as the psychiatrist in Good Will Hunting (1997) won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Then in 2001 he would return to voice acting as the voice of Dr. Know in Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001).

After a series of comedic roles, Williams took on some darker material. He played a creepy photo developer in One Hour Photo (2002); the murder suspect in Insomnia (2002); and a writer and radio host who gets caught up in the mystery surrounding a troubled fan in The Night Listener (2006). Williams returned to his comedic talents shortly after with Man of the Year (2006), a send-up of U.S. presidential politics.

In the summer of 2006, Williams suffered an drug relapse. He admitted himself to a rehabilitation facility for alcoholism treatment that August. The actor quickly rebounded and, in 2007, he starred in the zany comedy License to Wed with co-stars Mandy Moore and John Krasinski.