ROBIN WILLIAMS (RANDOLPH) is one of the most gifted and abundantly talented actors of our time. He is the recipient of the 1997 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for bringing compassion and intelligence to the part of Dr. Sean McGuire in Good Will Hunting, a role for which he also received the Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.
Williams first captured the attention of television audiences with his guest-star role as Mork on the hit situation comedy television series Happy Days. His rapid fire, sharply hilarious yet heartfelt portrayal won him instant stardom, with viewer response so great that he was quickly signed for the now-legendary spin-off series Mork and Mindy.
In 1980, Williams made the leap to feature films, debuting in Robert Altman’s Popeye. Audiences then embraced a more poignant Williams in his portrayal of T.S. Garp in George Roy Hill’s hugely successful The Word According to Garp, followed by Paul Mazursky’s Moscow on the Hudson. Barry Levinson’s landmark film Good Morning Vietnam earned Williams his first Academy Award nomination, with Peter Weir’s Dead Poet’s Society, an enormous critical and popular success, bringing him a second Oscar nomination.
Williams next starred opposite Robert De Niro in Penny Marshall’s Awakenings followed by Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King, for which Williams received his third Academy Award nomination. He additionally starred in Barry Levinson’s Toys, Steven Spielberg’s Hook, and Mike Nichols’ The Birdcage.
Williams received a Golden Globe Award for his unforgettable performance in Chris Columbus’ Mrs. Doubtfire and also earned a Special Achievement Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for his vocal contributions as Genie in Walt Disney Pictures now-classic animated blockbuster feature Aladdin.
In 1996 E! Entertainment Television named Williams “Celebrity of the Year” for his singularly outstanding feature film career, which now includes the immensely successful Flubber and the 1998 box office hit Patch Adams, directed by Tom Shadyac. In 1999 Robin Williams executive produced and starred in Blue Wolf Productions’ Jakob The Liar, a story of life in a Nazi occupied Polish ghetto. In 2000 Williams re-teamed with director Chris Columbus in the screen adaptation of the Isaac Assimov story Bicentennial Man.
Born in Chicago in 1951, Williams attended high school in Marin County, California, where he was known for his natural comedic talents. In his senior year, his classmates voted Williams “Most Humorous” and “Least Likely to Succeed.”
After a short stint studying political science at Claremont Men’s College in Southern California, Williams entered College of Marin to study theatre. His innate comedic and dramatic skills led to his acceptance at The Julliard School in New York, where he spent three years under the tutelage of acclaimed actor John Houseman and other noted professionals. In 1998 he performed on stage with co-star Steve Martin in Mike Nichols’ off-Broadway production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.
Williams, who began his career as a stand-up comedian, has won four Grammy Awards, including one for Robin Williams Live at the Met on HBO, the culmination of a 23-city SRO tour. He also won Emmy Awards for the television specials, Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin and ABC Presents a Royal Gala. He is also active in several humanitarian organizations, and has been a primary force in Comic Relief, a benefit to aid the homeless, which has raised American consciousness and 50 million dollars to date.
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