Robin Williams: Remembered

 When I was a kid I remember I used to always say "I don't care what happens in the world, as long as Robin Williams doesn't die". I adored the man; he was one of my first favourite actors and was in all my favourite movies at that time - I wanted him to live forever.

  Robin Williams passed away yesterday at 12.02pm PDT. It has been said that it was suicide by asphyxia. When I first heard the news, I went all cold and stopped breathing; the initial emotion I felt was complete shock. Then denial. Then buckets and buckets of sorrow (and tears). It's tragic when any celebrated or honourable person dies, but the whole world's heart seems to be broken by this death. 

  He was born on the 21st of July, 1951, and grew up in the state of Michigan. He had been a quiet, timid child, until he became involved in acting. In drama classes he discovered he had a talent for picking up different dialects easily, and could improvise extremely well. 

  As well as his widely praised film career, Robin Williams has also done work in television, stand up, and theatre. Starting his full career doing comedy shows on tv, he gained a wide audience by appearing in sitcoms such as 'Happy Days', and - especially - 'Mork and Mindy'. Having been in films since the late 70s, he finally reached mainstream success in war-comedy 'Good Morning Vietnam' for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and where he impressively showed how talented he was at improvising dialogue to entertain.

  Williams starred in a bundle of many different films, gaining awards and nominations for ones such as 'The Fisher King', 'Dead Poets Society', 'Awakenings', and 'Mrs. Doubtfire'. Finally, in 1997 he got his first and only Academy Award for playing in a more serious role as therapist Dr Sean Maguire. Even when appearing in such a profound role, he still managed to sneak in some improvised light comedy, most significantly the infamous 'farting wife' anecdote. 

  Either as a teacher, a doctor, a blue genie, or an old lady - Robin Williams has been the entertainer most of us have grown up with, loved, and cherished deeply. He has made us laugh and cry, and now is the time for us to remember, and enjoy the treasures he gave to the world, and the absolute legend that he was too.

Hayley