Roughly six years ago, I visited L.A. for the very first time. It was an experience that I hold close to my heart, but not cause of the city itself, but more a single hour long period. My girlfriend and mother had recently left the hotel to go on a shopping spree somewhere in the city. Hungry and bored, my brother and I hit the town looking for some food. We stumbled eventually upon one of those outdoor cafes you always see in the movies, so we decided to stop and see what those places actually had to eat. We sat down and placed our order, my eyes starting to wander around the place as we waited for our food. Suddenly, I noticed a familiar face reading a newspaper not three tables from us. It was Robin himself, the man whos entire career I knew by heart, one of my all time favorite actors. Without even thinking, I stood up and slowly walked over to introduce myself. Looking back, I feel like a total creep, but I couldn't help it, I was in complete awe of the man. As I got close, he looked up from his Newspaper and just said Hi. All I said was "Sir, forgive me if this seems weird, but I just wanted to say hello and that I am a big fan of your films". Without missing a damn beat, he goes "No, weird would have been if you opened with a sexual joke, I feel you did rather well", and just put on his biggest smile. We kind of just joked a bit as I told him about how I found him to be a huge inspiration and how I never missed one of his movies. Few minutes later, I walked back to my seat, just as my food came out. Didn't get three bites into my sandwich when I hear Robin above us asking if he could join us. Of course I said yeah, and he sat down and we just talked up a storm. We talked about everything from why we were in town, to where I came from, to our families (that man loved his family more than anything else in the world, let me tell you). After a bit, he looked down at his watched and realized he had stayed a bit too long and had to leave. AS he stood up, he asked if I would write my address down. He said that if he was ever in Michigan for any decent amount of time that he wanted to take my family out for dinner and catch up. As he walked out, I thought to myself "He just asked for that to be nice, no celebrity is going to just show up at my house". I was kind of both right and wrong. While he never showed up out of the blue, I did get a Christmas card two years ago that just said "Was just thinking about you guys, tell your family the Williams' say Merry Christmas". That card now is packed away safely along with the card I got last year from Jerry Springer (LOOOONNNNGGG Story there, that is for another time, lmao).
To this day, I cherish the time I got with that man. He made me understand that no matter your past, no matter what happens, there is humor in everything. While I know his past became too much to handle for himself, I feel my future can be brighter because of what that man has taught all of us... find the humor to make a dark situation bright.
While I am never one to be distressed over the passing of a celebrity, Robin has touched the lives of people all over the world, from all generations. I am personally deeply saddened by this loss, and both my heart and thoughts go out to his family during these hard times. Rest in piece you magnificent man you...
I was thinking, to honor him in a way, why don't we share our favorite Robin Williams moments? The man has been in so many TV shows and movies, not to mention stand-up specials, that I believe half the board could contribute and we still wouldnt have gone through his whole career.
My favorite movie with him is difficult to choose. I loved both his funny and serious roles almost equally. However, for funny i would have to say Good Morning Vietnam. That movie really showed off his improvisation skills. They pretty much just gave him directions instead of a full script cause they knew they couldn't contain him in any way. So almost every single joke you hear in that movie was him just being himself on set, and that makes it even funnier. But in terms of his dramatic roles, What Dreams May Come takes the cake. I dare you to sit through that and not cry, I freaking dare you. That whole movie is an emotional roller coaster of the best kind. It does NOT get the credit it deserves as it wasn't a crazy popular film, but he was simply astounding in that movie.
So, what are your favorite Robin Williams films?
