Robin Williams: Career and Death

Robin McLaurin Williams, who was a loved actor, comedian and humanitarian, was born on the 21st of July 1951. On first impressions, he appeared to be a greatly talented, amusing, and an energetic person, which would remain to be true throughout this life time. He was a genius from the beginning. In school, he was declared one of the smartest students by his acting coaches, and he had a unique talent for speaking in various accents without any practice beforehand.

He began his fame filled career by performing stand-up acts in various comedy clubs, most notably his first: the Holy City Zoo. He was influenced by comedians such as Lenny Bruce and Peter Sellers, all of whom mastered the art of intellectual comedy. After developing his skills in comedy, Robin Williams received attention from a TV producer by the name of George Schlatter, and eventually went on to have his own television show called Mork And Mindy. 

Moving on from television, he expanded into two other fields, but the more prominent of the two was his involvement in the film industry. All of his performances were met with great critical acclaim, and he was involved a massive number of famous films, such as Mrs Doubtfire and Night at the Museum. The lesser known field is his experience in theatre, though he was still praised with the same enthusiasm as he received on the big screen, debuting with the play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. 

While he was showing that he was jovial to the world, it turned out that the stress of performing stand-up comedy was too immense for him to handle. The heat of the competition lead to him being accused of plagiarising other comedians’ jokes, which he continuously denied. The terrible consequence of his spectacular, intense performances was the development of his drug and alcohol addiction, which would continue to haunt him until his death. Though sober for a time, his alcoholism worked its way back to his life again he was working on ‘The Big White’, a movie filmed in Alaska. 

Perhaps a paradox, he, a comedian, had been suffering for far longer than he could handle and he eventually took his own life at the age of 63 on the 11th of August, 2014. A reason for this may have been that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, which was undisclosed before his death. It was devastating, for his family, friends and his wife, Susan Schneider. He revolutionised the field of comedy. The world has lost one of the most extraordinary people to walk upon it and remembers his great heart and his ability to make people crack a smile, even in the darkest of times.

 “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” - Robin Williams

By: Dashania and Elena