Robin Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 21, 1952. He spent his childhood in California and Michigan. While in Michigan, he attended an exclusive prep school, Detroit County Day School. After graduation, he was one of two thousand applicants for twenty openings at Julliard. He was selected, along with actor Christopher Reeves, by John Houseman for one of the two positions in the advanced class. Christopher Reeves became a life long friend.
Williams did not impress the instructors at Julliard with his comic style, but very much impressed them with his mastery of dialects and his dramatic ability. Comedy was his first love at the time, and after graduation, Williams achieved some attention in California with his stand up comedy routines. His work was characterized by rapid transition from character to character. It was a very manic style. After appearing briefly in the cast of The Richard Pryor Show on television, Robin Williams received that big career and life changing break. He was cast for a small role in a single episode of the hit television series, "Happy Days". He played a zany alien named Mork.
The episode, and Williams portrayal of Mork, was so popular that the network developed a spin off series called "Mork and Mindy". The program lasted for four years and by the end of its run, Robin Williams and Mork were household names in America. It was the beginning of a career in acting that would carry Robin Williams all the way to an Oscar for best Supporting Actor. Despite his success in film, he never abandoned stand up comedy. It has been a consistent thread in an often chaotic career. He continued to do comedy specials, live performances, and release albums.
His film career had many ups and downs as he struggled at first to throw off the image of the zany alien, Mork. Many of his early films continued to cast him as an oddball and a comedic figure. In an attempt to change this image, he began to make more serious and dramatic films, often portraying the bad guy. In 1997, he won his Oscar for a role as a psychologist in the film, "Good Will Hunting."
Robin Williams has reached fame as an actor, star of television, and foremost a genius of stand up comedy. This fame has come at a price. He has struggled with both drug addiction, and alcoholism. He has fought against these addictions through his entire career. He spent time in a rehab hospital fighting the effects of cocaine. He said of this period, "cocaine is God's way of telling you that you are making too much money." Comedy Central has placed him at number 13 on its list of the 100 Greatest Stand Up Comedians of all Time.
