Robin Williams

Williams married thrice. His first marriage was to Valarie Velardi in 1978 with whom he had a son. Their marriage unraveled due to his alcoholism and infidelity.

He married Marsha Garces, his son’s nanny, in 1989. The couple went on to have two children. This marriage too, did not last long and ended in divorce.

His third marriage was to graphic designer Susan Schneider in 2011.

He was born to Robert Fitzgerald Williams and Laurie McLaurin in Chicago as one of their three sons. His father worked as a senior executive at Ford Motor Company while his mother had been a former model. He was of mixed ancestry.

His family moved to Michigan when he was a young kid and there he joined the Detroit Country Day School. He was a very good student and also played sports. Yet, he was bullied much of the time in school.

He was an introvert and spent much of his time alone playing with his toys. Since both his parents worked, the lonely child entertained himself with his imagination.

As a teenager he attended Redwood High School from where he graduated in 1969. He was a popular student in school, always telling jokes and making others laugh.

He had a penchant for acting from a young age and won a full scholarship to attend the esteemed Juilliard School in New York City in 1973. He was among the only two students who were accepted by John Houseman into the Advanced Program that year. Christopher Reeve and William Hurt were his classmates.

He began his career performing stand up comedy shows during the 1970s. While he was performing at the Comedy Club in Los Angeles in 1977, he was spotted by the TV producer George Schlatter who asked him to appear on a revival of his ‘Laugh-In’ show.

His debut TV appearance happened in late 1977 where he performed an extension of his stand-up routines. Even though the Laugh-In was not a success, it definitely led to his talent getting recognized.

He auditioned for the role of Mork the Alien for the show ‘Happy Days’ in 1978. When asked to take a seat, he promptly sat on his head which really impressed the producer, Garry Marshall. The character was so successful that it set off a spin-off.

The American sitcom ‘Mork & Mindy’ was first broadcast in 1978 featuring Robin as Mork the Alien from the planet Ork. The show was a huge success and made him a popular figure in comedy. The show ran till 1982.

In 1979, he gave a live comedy show at the Copacabana in New York, ‘Reality… What a Concept’ the recording of which won him a Grammy Award.

He was best known for his role as a therapist in the 1997 drama film ‘Good Will Hunting’ which was both a critical and commercial success. He shared the screen with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in this much acclaimed movie.