Remembering a Legacy: Robin Williams
Seven years have passed since the world lost one of its most extraordinary talents, whether, on the stage, the big screen of movie theatres, or on a television set in your living room, Robin McLaurin Williams entertained people of all ages. His passing seven years ago is still ever-present in the minds of those who enjoyed his work.
As someone who was born in the early 2000s, I never witnessed Williams in his prime, but I remember watching Hook in my living room during Sandy. I set my blanket on the floor and watched as Robin Williams filled my screen and my mind with joy, giving a fantastic childlike performance that entertained me the whole way through.
I remembered that day in 2014, I was in Hawaii and going to a zoo when my dad pulled out and paused for a moment. He stopped walking, reading the story on his phone, and when asked “What’s wrong?” by my step-mom, he responded woefully, “Robin Williams died.”
I didn’t comprehend it at the time; to me, Robin Williams was the funny guy I saw dressed up as Peter Pan, Teddy Roosevelt, or the guy playing a nanny to get his kids back. The magnitude of his death did not hit me until recently, when I was scrolling through social media, coming across an old clip of Robin Williams on Sesame Street with Elmo.
I jumped down the rabbit hole of Robin Williams’ information and read everything I could on him. I then watched some of his older work, such as Popeye, his first film. I watched multiple of his comedy specials, and I was awestruck by his ability to make the audience laugh until they were in tears; his upbeat personality always provided outstanding performances.
But what drove me to look further into Robin Williams was my viewing of the live-action version of Aladdin. It wasn’t a bad film per se, but it was missing one thing, Robin Williams. Though Will Smith tried his best, he was never going to fill the massive shoes of Robin Williams’ Genie. Even watching the original Aladdin, I felt enchanted by Robin Williams’ performance.
I learned that many of Robin Williams’ performances included tons of improvisation; he was an insanely talented man. Williams improvised almost all of his lines in his breakout role in Good Morning, Vietnam, where he portrayed a radio host for soldiers in Vietnam. Williams was allowed to play this role without a script, and he did a phenomenal job, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Though honestly, while his work in movies, comedy, and television were excellent, Robin Williams was also a great guy off stage. He was notoriously very involved with charities and frequently would participate in philanthropy.
Despite the world missing Robin Williams, his works in comedy and cinema still maintain his legacy. He was a great actor, a better man, and someone who could change the mood of a room just by entering it. Robin Williams was gone too soon, but his memory and performances will forever be in our hearts.
“If you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? Carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.” – Robin Williams.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000245/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams#cite_note-78
https://www.azquotes.com/author/15718-Robin_Williams
