Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from
Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford Motor Company executive from Indiana. Williams had English, German, French, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.
Robin briefly studied political science at Claremont Men's College and theater at College of Marin before enrolling at The Juilliard School to focus on theater. After leaving Juilliard, he performed in nightclubs where he was discovered for the role of "Mork, from Ork", in an episode of Happy Days (1974). The episode, My Favorite Orkan (1978), led to his famous spin-off weekly TV series,
Mork vom Ork (1978). He made his feature starring debut playing the title role in Popeye - Der Seemann mit dem harten Schlag (1980), directed by Robert Altman.
Williams' continuous comedies and wild comic talents involved a great deal of improvisation, following in the footsteps of his idol Jonathan Winters. Williams also proved to be an effective dramatic actor, receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Der Club der toten Dichter (1989), and König der Fischer (1991), before winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in
Good Will Hunting: Der gute Will Hunting (1997).
During the 1990s, Williams became a beloved hero to children the world over for his roles in a string of hit family-oriented films, including Hook (1991), FernGully - Christa und Zaks Abenteuer im Regenwald (1992), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire: Das stachelige Kindermädchen (1993), Jumanji (1995), Flubber (1997), and Der 200 Jahre Mann (1999). He continued entertaining children and families into the 21st century with his work in Robots (2005), Happy Feet (2006), Nachts im Museum (2006), Nachts im Museum 2 (2009), Happy Feet 2 (2011), and Nachts im Museum - Das geheimnisvolle Grabmal (2014). Other more adult-oriented films for which Williams received acclaim include Garp und wie er die Welt sah (1982), Moskau in New York (1984), Zeit des Erwachens (1990), The Birdcage - Ein Paradies für schrille Vögel (1996), Insomnia - Schlaflos (2002), One Hour Photo (2002), World's Greatest Dad (2009), and Boulevard: Ein neuer Weg (2014).
On Monday, August 11th, 2014, Robin Williams was found dead at his home in Tiburon, California USA, the victim of an apparent suicide, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office. A 911 call was received at 11:55 a.m. PDT, firefighters and paramedics arrived at his home at 12:00 p.m. PDT, and he was pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m. PDT.
