From the moment his spaceship landed on the Cunningham's lawn and Richie was introduced
to Mark from Ork, we fell in love with Robin Williams. His passing left a hole that will
never be filled and was felt by so many. Well, wait until you hear some of the stories about him
off screen. This is 10 behind-the-scenes Robin Williams stories that will make you cry. Many
Many people remember that Robin attended Juilliard. However, what they may have forgotten is that while he was there, he became friends with
Superman himself, Christopher Reeves. After Reeves' accident left him paralyzed, Robin showed up at the hospital pretending
to be a Russian proctologist who needed to perform a rectal exam immediately
In an interview, Reeves said, At an especially bleak moment, the door flew open and in hurried a squat fellow with a
a blue scrub hat and a yellow surgical gown and glasses. Speaking in a Russian accent
he announced that he was my proctologist and that he had to examine me immediately
It was Robin Williams. For the first time since the accident, I laughed. Reeves added that his
friend showing up when he did prevented him from falling into a deep despair. We don't know about
you, but we can't think of a better person to save Superman. Every actor, singer, and or performer
comes with what is called a rider. A rider is a list of demands given by the celebrity
before they agree to work for the company. For example, during his 2017 Purpose World Tour
a rider for Justin Bieber's Mumbai show was published and it included a shipped-in jacuzzi
Robin Williams had a rider in his contracts as well, but his rider was a little different
Any company wanting to hire Robin Williams also had to hire a number of people that were homeless
These people were mostly hired as background actors, but occasionally they were able to work as crew if their skill set allowed him
Robin was a longtime advocate for homeless rights. In 1990, he testified before the Senate in support of the Homeless Prevention and Revitalization Act
I think it's an incredible thing that the bill addresses the problem from the inside out
What we been doing for the last four years is basically putting a Band on a very gaping wound The more we know about Robin Williams the less surprised we are to learn how he used his clout to better people lives
Dante Basco, who played the leader of the Lost Boys, Rufio and Hook, has said that one of his favorite movies is Dead Poets Society
I mean, who can't forget the scene where Mr. Keating takes the boys into the hallway to remind them to seize the day
During the filming of Hook, Dante Basco and Robin Williams spent a lot of time talking about poetry
At the end of the shoot, Robin gifted Dante a leather-bound edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass
In return, Dante gifted Robin with a hat that was embroidered with, Oh Captain, My Captain
Leave it to Robin Williams to make a lost boy feel found. Robin Williams' first Oscar nomination came courtesy of his role as Adrian Cronauer in the 1987 movie, Good Morning Vietnam
The movie was based on the real life of the unconventional Air Force sergeant and DJ
and had a script written by the very funny and talented Mitch Markowitz
and directed by cinema legend Barry Levinson. However, it was the amazing improvisation skills of Robin Williams
that put this movie into a class of its own. All of the rapid-fire DJ banter was riffed while cameras were rolling
It wasn't just the funny stuff either, which revealed the genius of his acting and ability to get inside the head of any character he was playing
Robin Williams didn't just study a character and bring it to life. He became the character in a way that hadn't been done before, and we would venture to say, hasn't been done since his passing
Another unforgettable performance by Williams is that of Patch Adams in the film of the same name
Patch Adams was a real doctor who sought to change the way the medical community interacted with patients
In the film, there's a scene where Patch brings joy to the children's cancer ward
During filming, Robin and many other cast members worked closely with the Make-A-Wish Foundation
to fulfill the fantasies of several children who were at the time undergoing cancer treatment
The children appeared with Robin in scenes at the pediatric ward. As a bonus to this, during filming of Patch Adams, when things became stressful
Robin would improvise a comedy set just to make people laugh and lighten the mood
This seems to us to be a consistent theme with Robin. Not only was Robin Williams the greatest cheerleader for his friends he genuinely had their backs During the filming of Mrs Doubtfire actress Lisa Yacoub who played Robin Williams and Sally Field eldest daughter Lydia had a pretty tough time dealing with being a student
while on set. So much so, that the school she was attending expelled her for spending too much time out
of the classroom. When Robin found out about the situation, he wrote a glowing letter of recommendation
to the school. Not only did he ask them to reconsider their decision, but he went on to explain that he
thought she would be a valuable asset to any classroom. While the school found it cool enough
to frame it and hang it up, they didn't think it was enough to change their minds and upheld their
decision. Lisa Yacoub has said that although the letter did not work, she needed someone to stick
up for her, and Robin was the person to do that out of the kindness of his own heart. We've all
known people who are nice only when someone is watching. This wasn't Robin. After his untimely
death, writer and attorney Kate Osher shared the story of the time she met Robin Williams at an
airport. Osher's husband had committed suicide and following his final wishes, she was on a travel
journey to scatter his ashes in places that touched him. She had a rough encounter with a TSA agent
who tried preventing her from passing through security with her late husband's ashes
You f***ing kidding me? She was in an LAX airport bar trying to calm herself when she felt a hand on
her shoulder in a quiet, kind voice, say, Miss, I just want to make sure you're okay. I see you
were traveling alone, and I saw what happened, and I just really want to be sure you were okay
Robin Williams listened to two Kate share her story. His voice got even softer as he spoke the
words we now know were born from a felt experience. Addiction is a real . Mental illness and
depression are the mother of all es. I am so sorry for all the pain your husband was in. I'm so
sorry for the pain you were in now, but it sounds like you have family and friends and love, and
that tips the scale a bit, right? Walking her to her gate, Williams got her to laugh by impersonating
people they'd passed and leaving her with a smile and a warm heart at her gate. In the 1995 film
Jumanji, actor Bradley Pierce played Peter. Because his character was slowly transitioning into a
monkey Bradley was required to sit in a makeup chair for up to three and a half hours The crew who tried to make things better for him even installing a TV so he could watch it in the mirror during the process Unsurprisingly his co Robin Williams was the most supportive of all Having just completed
filming Mrs. Doubtfire, Robin was familiar with the long process of having to have extensive
makeup and prosthetics applied. Because of this, Robin would come in, sit next to Bradley
keep him company, and entertain him. He even taught the actor how to meditate in order to
make the long hours easier to deal with. If we had to sit for hours
we would choose to have Robin Williams by our side. Even crazy talented artists like Questlove
can feel self-doubt. Spending hours and hours pouring out your blood, sweat, and tears can make you exhausted
and that's when that little demon of a voice can creep in and make you ask
am I enough? That's exactly what Questlove was feeling in 2001, right around Grammy time
when he and The Roots stepped onto an elevator where none other than Robin Williams was a passenger
How did Robin greet them? With love, of course. Quest Love, Black Thought, Rozelle
the roots from Philadelphia. That's right. You walked in on this elevator saying to yourself
ain't no way this old white dude knows my entire history and discography
Quest Love went on to say that this encounter made them laugh so hard. They never encountered a legend who acknowledged them
and really knew who they were. Quest Love remembers that day because even though it was a small two minute moment
in life, it meant the world to him at the time. Once again, we were graced with the brilliance
of Robin Williams in the movie The Fisher King. The filming of the scene in the Chinese restaurant
began at 7 p.m., and by 5 a.m. the next morning, they still hadn't wrapped. You can imagine the
mood of everyone on set. When things were at their lowest, and people were at their wit's end
Robin Williams stood up to perform 45 minutes of non-stop impersonations and comedy. Not only
had he gotten to know the cast and crew over the previous weeks, but he remembered so much that he
did comedy specific to each of them. He had people laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes
Not only did he rejuvenate the energy for the shoot through laughter, but through love. By
being able to recall specifics about people like that, you make them feel heard and important
And that was a gift that Robin Williams possessed